As a community artist, I work mainly with 2D art such as drawing, paint and mixed media and 3D art such as jewellery, metalwork and sugar sculpture. I have over 20 years’ experience working with communities, children and adults, schools and local authorities. I currently work with organisations including Platform Thirty1, Greater Creative, Derbyshire Mind, Fleet Arts, Derby Museum of Making, Makeshift and Belper Arts Trail. I love to see how creativity positively affects individual and community identity, confidence and wellbeing.

I have a BA in Social Studies with a strong research focus. I have postgraduate qualifications in teaching adults. Socio-economic history continues to interest me and I love researching. Here in the Amber and Derwent valleys, there is a rich history of making and a community pride in this historical identity as makers. 

Examples of recent work:

From 2022 – 2026, I’ve worked with Derbyshire Mind using creativity to enable adult participants in groups and individually to manage their mental and emotional wellbeing. 

In 2025, I was lead artist on the National Lottery funded project “The Street”, which explored the changing history and culture of a former mining community. In partnership witjh Greater Creative and Platform Thirty1, we explored personal, family and village stories, and I created a 5-metre visual interpretation of those wonderful stories. This artwork now has a permanent place in Newton Community centre.

In February 2026 I was part of a National Lottery funded project called “Blackwell Brides” exploring local history of marriage and romance from 1920 – 2020..  I created three non-edible sculptures of wedding cakes from 1930s, 1940s and 1970s. Alongside other community workers, I organised and ran a two-day workshop for almost 100 people to have a go at sugar sculpture.