My process begins outside; in my garden, in the woods, on the beach or anywhere else outside. It begins with the noticing of and looking for interesting natural forms, textures and colours. Things which can be very ordinary, or not as the case may be. I am a bit of a magpie and take a lot of photos, as well as gathering bits and pieces to work with.
I love drawing and print as a means for investigating my finds and exploring their possibilities. Very often though the process rests with selection of images and materials and model making has become the crucial step for development of my work and ideas. I use combinations of materials and found objects to make models, which are then cast into plaster moulds. Glass and other materials are cast into the refractory plaster moulds and my glass sculptures are made in such a way that there is a balance between what I have control over and what is left to chance, possibility and physical interactions between the materials used. I love the mix of the known and unknown and the unpredictable nature of what can happen. For me this is wonderful creative play, which can lead to some magical (hopefully and not always!) results.
A note on naming
I have always been aware of naming as a phenomenon. I read Ursula Le Guin's "Earthsea" trilogy as a child and again recently, many years later. I have come to realise how important this was in terms of shaping my thinking and attitudes towards the natural world as well as opening my mind to the magic of the Universe and nature. In Le Guin's novels, the naming of people, creatures, places and mysterious beings holds ultimate power and is a means to control and shape the world. I agree that naming is a truly powerful thing and the names of my works do not become apparent until the creature (sculpture) emerges and becomes whole. I am interested in taxonomy, the categorisation of living things. It is a very human need to categorise and label things, I suppose in order to make sense of the world. Some common names for fungi are spectacularly wonderful and playful- my current favourite is the Hydnum umbilicatum common name- Depressed Hedgehog! There is also an academic hierarchy attached to the naming of things. The names of my works are often a combination of Latin, common (folk) language, pseudo scientific jargon, made up words and composites. They are sometimes comical, tongue in cheek and absurd. "Locmariaquer megalith" is nothing nearly as grand as a megalith- it is a small sculpture made from glass :) "Dog- faced jelly wings" is my favourite sculpture name so far- he is a real little character with a name which fits him well.