A little something about me…

I’ve been making ever since I was small! You could always find me happily absorbed in craft projects; quilling, fimo, decoupage… to name a few. I was always experimenting with different materials melting wax to create flowers! ( not sure how safe that was!), marbling with PVA! I can’t imagine a life without creativity !

I still enjoy experimenting with different materials and craft is still at the heart of what I do, but it`s about making the craft my own and I do that through play and experimentation. I now make jewellery, which I treat like wearable works of art, paper art and installations. After studying a mixed media degree in Fine Art in the friendly city of Cardiff, I moved to London to do a two year MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art. I began my degree by painting, but soon started creating miniature paper installations and by the time I started my MA I was creating room sized textile installations. I now use a mixture of fabric, paper, wood, perspex, which I laser cut to create my work.

I am passionate about spreading the word about how wonderful creativity is! so I do lots of workshops and projects with different communities from school children to adults suffering with mental health difficulties. I have recently completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy, which I loved!

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inspiration

Different ways to express yourself….


I`m always expressing myself through what I make and I like the idea of pushing myself to try new things. I found this article and it has made me think about other ways I haven`t considered before….

Expressing yourself is something that is super important in life, but sometimes it can feel like a huge struggle to work out how to do this. There are so many different ways of expression, but it may be the case that the one you usually use isn’t feeling right anymore. It might also be the case that you’re just not sure what the best way to let everyone know what you’re all about it. No matter what the reason, you’ve found this article now, and we’re going to be taking a look at some of the different ways that you can express yourself.

Write A Story

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They say that we all have a fantastic story inside of somewhere. Indeed, many people argue we all have the potential to write at least one full length great novel. You might have tried this before, and you could have been stuck on a blank page. If that’s the case, then there are a few strategies that you can explore to break free of writer’s block. For instance, you can think about laying out a plan. One of the best ways to do this is plan out the story in full with individual chapters and points that you want to reach by the end of each one.

Alternatively, you can also think about writing what you know. This is the advice that is often recommended by experts. It will ensure that your writing feels real and resonates with an audience. Once you get started, you might find that you are quickly on a role here. If that’s the case, you must ensure that you are writing the right way. Research the best position to ensure that you do avoid issues with RSI.

Through What You Wear

You can think about expressing yourself through what you wear as well. There are lots of choices that you can explore here. For instance, you might want to focus on your accessories, such as your glasses. There’s more to glasses than just getting the stylish shape. You can opt for a vintage style and show people that you love the past. Or, you can think about going ultra modern and showing people that you are on trend. 

You might also want to think about exploring printed tees. Did you know there are services online that you can use to create your own printed tees? You can design these with any logo, images, or text that you like. So, it’s a great way to ensure that you are sending the right message about who you are.

If you have the confidence you can be quite bold with your choices of wear and the styles that you opt for. For instance, you can think about looking at older styles or try something completely unique. Famous people experiment with different styles, materials, and choices of wear all the time. There’s nothing stopping you from doing the same thing. If you don’t want to be too out there with the style choices, then you can explore some blogs and fashion guides online. These should provide you with some great ideas. Alternatively, you might want to think about expressing yourself through your hairstyle. If you are feeling a little wild, you can choose a wild hairstyle with spiky hair or hair with a variety of different colours.

Talk To People

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Have you heard of Trey Parker and Matt Stone? These are the creators of South Park, Pulitzer prize winners, Tony Award winners, and Oscar nominated for their movie song. In one article, the duo famously claimed that they never set out to offend anyone. Instead, they just hated agreeing with people for the sake of it. The team were instead more interested in starting conversations and connecting with people on this level.By speaking to people, you can express your point of view and share your views of the world. This doesn’t have to become a massive shouting match. It can, with the right people, be a healthy exchange of ideas that everyone can benefit from.

How you find people to connect with and talk to is entirely up to you. You can think about going out on the streets and meeting new people. Or, you can start conversations in places like a bar or club. You can even join discussion groups online. There are lots of places like this, such as Reddit, where you will be able to express your views and ensure that you do enter into fun conversations. 

Use Videos To Get Your Message Across

Something else that we think you should consider is to use video to get your message across. For example, you can use a platform such as YouTube to share your videos once you have recorded something. Your videos can be about anything that you want them to be, as long as it expresses who you are or what you believe in in some way. Once you gather a large enough fan base, you are more likely to be heard by a whole host of people. There are other platforms apart from YouTube that will allow you the ability to share what you record, but this is entirely up to you. Other social media such as Facebook and Instagram are also good for this kind of thing.

Write A Script

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Have you ever thought about writing a script that reflects something that you are passionate about? The great thing about this is that it gives you great artistic freedom to convey whatever you want to say. It’s entirely up to you what you put out there, and it ensures that you are free to get out any message that you want. Or, you might not even want to get a message out there, you may simply just want to write a play that talks about something random. It doesn’t matter what you do, but expression is important, no matter what.

Journal

You may not be sharing this with anyone, but that’s not the point. When you express yourself, people don’t have to be there to witness it. They don’t have to see it or know what you’ve done, as long as you’ve gotten it down somewhere. That is why journaling is such a fantastic idea. It’s more personal, so it’s only for your eyes and maybe a select few that you choose to show it to. 

One of the biggest benefits about this is that you may not feel as though there are any boundaries stopping you from saying whatever you want. A lot of people hold back when they are showing themselves to the world for fear of being judged, but the privacy or journaling allows you to write without any inhibitions. A lot of people choose to journal and for a number of different reasons, but as long as you feel comfortable saying whatever it is that you need, it doesn’t matter in what manner you decide to express the thoughts that are swirling in your head.

Try Your Hand At Acting
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Or finally, you could think about trying your luck with acting. There are lots of different ways that you can get involved in acting. For instance, you could think about signing up for a drama or acting class. These do tend to work towards performances at certain points through the year. So you will be provided with the opportunity to perform on stage. You might think that you don’t have the skills or the ability to act, but the reality is that you will never know until you try. 

A lot of people think that they don’t have the right skills to act. But once they step on stage, they soon find that they are incredibly comfortable underneath the spotlight. After all, acting is a way for you to become someone else. Or potentially, you can express your deepest desires and most complex feelings in a safe space. If you don’t think you’re ready for the stage just yet, you can still join an acting class. They will let you progress at your own space and won’t throw you in at the deep end.

I hope that you have found this article helpful… I did! If any of these appeal to you, then they are the perfect way to show everyone who you really are, how you feel, what you believe in, and everything else that there is to know about you. Try out different ways of expression, and we’re sure that you’ll find something that you love sooner or later.

 

Preview of the community Mandala…..


This is a sneak preview of the community Mandala… taken from the illustrator design (the programme that it needs to go on to be laser cut), you can`t see all the detail, but the red lines will be engraved and the black lines are to be cut.

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The width of the Mandala will be 2 metres, laser cut from a thin black plastic with a layer of gold underneath, so the engraved parts will be gold.

 

 

 

 

Still working on Installation……….


I have been really enjoying letting the installation evolve, but as usual I have to stop myself from spending too much time on the detail!

It should have been exhibited in June! It will now be exhibited in September, without a private view, but I plan to organise small gatherings instead.

Final middle bit to go in…..

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The middle bit above is in….

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Close up of looking inside….

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Back view…

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More amazing designs to be laser cut as part of the Community Mandala….


It seems a long time ago now…but it was only March (pre-lock down) that I had an amazingly creative morning with All Saints Primary School near Bolton. Last week I managed to get their designs onto the computer, it was a really hot day- thanks Ruby for bringing me presents to motivate me!

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I can really start to visualise what they`re going to look like now…..

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all-saints-5I am very happy to say I have almost got the designing part done! I`ll post a preview of the Mandala in the next couple of days!