Postcard From the Barn-Autumn 2025

The barnicle-like galls

Decorated leaves, work in progress & new workshop

Someone at an exhibition recently said these oak leaf decorations reminded her of 'tiny barnacles,' and that's about right in my view too—silk button galls possess that same mysterious, sea worn quality that makes you want to reach out and touch them. Well perhaps not when you read on!

The spheres emerge when gall wasps choose an oak bud to develop in, persuading the tree to grow rounded structures as protective chambers for their developing larvae.

Like barnacles clinging to rocks or the seed beads I used to use when jewellery making, each gall appears deliberately placed along the branches, clustering in organic arrangements that seem both random and intentional.

What fascinates me most is their tactile quality and I did wonder what printing with them might be like, although I did want to know that the larvae had all reached maturity so I left them and simply drew and researched about them instead. That same smooth, almost ceramic finish that barnacles have, ranging from creamy ivory to warm amber tones as they mature.

As an artist, I'm drawn to how they embody this tension between the organic and architectural, between parasite and art object. They remind me that compelling sculptures and other art can sometimes emerge from relationships we might find unsettling if we thought too deeply about them—tiny wasps manipulating mighty oaks into creating jewel-like nurseries.

Stamp & Print: A Set of Decorations, Bringing the Outside In

Speaking of decorations, I will soon be running a creative workshop at Attenborough Arts Centre.

I'm looking forward to running this creative workshop at the Attenborough Arts Centre in Leicester! Join me in Studio 4 where we'll use foliage, paint, gel printing plates and botanical stamps to create a gorgeous set of hanging decorations inspired by nature.

It's going to be a really fun session – I'd love to see you there if you can make it!

📍 Studio 4, Attenborough Arts Centre, Lancaster Road, Leicester

Click the link to find out more details and visit the Attenborough Arts Centre website to book your place.

find out about the decorations workshop

Oxcombe Ceramics and Art exhibition

The Oxcombe art and pottery event proved to be a wonderful success, drawing enthusiastic visitors over four days and generating both sales and welcome feedback.

Among the pieces that found new homes was 'Below the Earth,' an earth pigment work where a couple immediately connected with its strata layers in grey, highlighted with oxidised pieces of hand-pierced silver. I was also delighted that several works from my Farm Marks series sold, along with 'Balanced'—one of my ceramic bowl pieces I've been particularly fond of.

Beyond the commercial success, I discovered a new spot on the farm for pigment collecting—a find that will undoubtedly enrich the work of my 'The Red Seam' series. During a lunch break, I returned to Shelley Rhodes' "Fragmentation and Repair," a treasure trove of textile inspiration exploring techniques like kantha stitching, visible mending, and the beauty of imperfection through patched and layered fabrics. The most magical coincidence occurred while reading the chapter on Japanese boro—the art of mending with purpose—when a visitor appeared wearing the most exquisite pair of homemade jeans, patched and stitched with such care they could have walked straight from the book's pages.

The weekend became a celebration of kindred spirits, as potters and artists gathered to share conversations about life, creativity, and craft against the idyllic backdrop of the farm, where chickens wandered freely, geese called out, and hay bales dotted the landscape—the very place where I gather pigments that give The Red Seam series its distinctive character.

Work In Progress- Traces of the Day

I'm immersed in creating a new collection of earth pigment works, and the response has been great—watching people connect with these pieces at markets and exhibitions, seeing them find something that speaks to their own experiences.

There's something quietly powerful about that moment of recognition - when someone pauses before a piece and you see understanding settle in their expression. Whether it's those layered storm skies that mirror geological time, or the delicate metalwork that captures rain in silver and thread, these pieces seem to speak to something already present in the viewer. They find their way to people who understand their own internal weather, who carry landscape in their memory.

Now I'm scaling up, working on larger linen with this gorgeous coppery pink pigment that makes me think of autumn's arrival—that moment when I light the first fire of the season and pull my favourite green woollen striped blanket back onto the sofa beside me.

There's something about this particular shade that holds both warmth and anticipation, the way October light catches on copper beech leaves, or how clay earth looks when it's bathed in late afternoon sun. These new pieces hope to be an invitation to settle into the changing season, to remember the comfort of coming home to warmth, when the world outside is turning inward.

Quick sketches

Keeping a sketchbook is unfamiliar ground for me. Until now, my books have been strictly utilitarian: sample collections for students and recipe notes for mixing ratios of ink or pigment. However lately, I've been encouraged to create more spontaneous sketches that feel different—exploratory, immediate. They're becoming a part of developing new work for one of next year's exhibitions, which centres on trees and woodland (more on that later) and I'm excited about where this process is leading.

What 10 books have made an impression...

I have added a couple of newly visited books to my virtual library - the new books are at the top of the pile (blogpost) Do you think I should change the title as the shelves are now groaning rather than being a neat pile of ten!

take me to the books blog