P IG 1986 - 1997
What do you do? How would you describe your career?
I’m a freelancer illustrator, portrait painter and ‘folk’ artist. After graduation, I worked a few different jobs – waitress, care-worker, barmaid – to cover the rent while I tried to find a way into the artworld. After a few years, I got a job at Damien Hirst’s company Science Ltd and was part of the large team of artists that make his work. From spot paintings, to kaleidoscopic butterfly ‘grids’, to photorealistic oil paintings – we produced work that was sent to high-profile shows and art buyers all around the world. I worked there for nearly 7 years across a lot of the different departments, eventually setting up and assistant managing one of his big studios in London. It was a great experience and an interesting insight into the contemporary art world but it ended up killing off my own creative practice, so I left London and moved home to Stroud where I got a job at Darbyshire framing company (just 2 minutes down the road from Wycliffe)! I was project manager of a studio there and slowly started to get back into my own painting – finally being able to go freelance and concentrate fully on my own artwork about four years ago. Since then, I’ve been taking oil portrait commissions (people and pets!), working as a commercial illustrator and also making and teaching folk art and dance.
Has 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on your work?
I’ve found this year incredibly challenging so far, as I’m sure most people have too. A few projects I had lined up fell through which was scary but thankfully the jobs kept coming in and my working day has remained remarkably similar to what it was like before Covid. I’m quite hermit-like normally and spend the working week at home painting at my desk with just my cat for company, so lockdown wasn’t too drastic a change for me. I’ve found it difficult at times to get into the creative frame of mind, as the pandemic has triggered my anxieties and I find it difficult to concentrate when I’m feeling like that. On the positive side it’s brought everything into sharp focus and made me acutely aware of what is truly important in life. My partner and I spent loads of time in our garden in the first lockdown and we started to learn how to grow veg! It’s brought about a renewed connection and appreciation of nature and the surrounding countryside too. We’re both always super busy with lots of different projects on the go, so it felt good to have to completely slow down and shift focus. It has made me so grateful for the amazing community we live in – the street that we live on has formed a creative collective to help support each other during this time, our local pub The Prince Albert have been incredible too and it’s made me even more proud to come from this area. I want to protect and support the community as much as I can and it’s made me even more passionate about our local area.
When were you at Wycliffe and what A levels did you study?
I joined the Junior school in 1989 and ended up going all the way through to 6th form at the Senior School, leaving in 1997. When I started at the Junior School i was in one of the first years that accepted girls, after Wycliffe went fully co-ed, so it was a really interesting time to be there. There was only a handful of girls in the whole of our year and I was often the only girl in various different lessons.
My brother, sister and I were all lucky enough to have been awarded something called an ‘assisted place’, where children from low-income families were given grants to attend public school. I was also awarded a music scholarship which made it possible for me to continue piano lessons. I remember my siblings and I having to sit the assisted place exam and it being so nerve-wracking as to whether we’d all be able to get places. Fortunately it all worked out ok!
I studied Art, Music and History of Art for A-Level. At the time, i remember there being some worry and resistance from the careers department at this choice as it was too ‘art’ heavy but I stood my ground and am hopefully proof that a career in the Arts is possible.
What activity, course or class at Wycliffe was pivotal for your career or your development as an adult?
I don’t think there was any activity, course or lesson that I disliked at Wycliffe (except for perhaps Maths haha!). I soaked up pretty much everything that I could do, i loved learning and there was an incredible variety of subjects and activities on offer at Wycliffe. I remember it being hard to narrow down my choices for A-level. This excitement and diversity of interest has definitely filtered into my adult life.
I really loved all the amazing sport that we did – looking back, i was so lucky to be able to play sport pretty much every day of the week and loved being on the hockey, tennis, netball, cross country running teams. It was the same with music – there were amazing opportunities to get involved with all the various music groups and I loved playing in the orchestra, singing in the choir etc.
Was there a teacher who was a role model or went above and beyond to support you?
There wasn’t really one specific person but I’d say the teachers that I had for A-level really stand out as having supported me through that intense time. Mr. Hubbard and Mrs. Mason in the Art Department and Mr. Swain, Miss Lee, Mr. Webb in the music department were all amazing.
Particular memories from school? What did you find challenging (if anything)?
I definitely err on the side of shyness so I found any public speaking or performing quite challenging. I remember completely seizing up out of terror and forgetting how to the play the piano when I had to do a solo performance in front of the school one time! But I’m glad I was pushed to do these things, as it’s definitely given me more confidence in that respect. I found the exams stressful but I think it’d be unusual if I didn’t. I look back on that time and can’t believe I managed it – I wouldn’t know where to start if I had to sit exams like that today!
What did you study at university and where?
I got straight A’s in my A levels so I felt a bit of pressure from school to pursue the academic side of the Arts. I went to study History of Art at York University after a gap year but soon realised that I should be doing practical art, so I moved back to Stroud and enrolled on an Art Foundation Course. It was such an amazing year! I then went on to study at the University of Brighton and then graduated from the University of the West of England with a 1st in illustration.
Where does your love of art come from?
My love of art comes from my family. My brother, sister and I are so lucky to have the most amazing parents who gave us the confidence to create and who were totally supportive of us pursuing careers in whatever we loved doing the most. All three of us are now artists! My Mum is a brilliant self-taught artist and she encouraged us to paint and draw as soon as we could pick up a pencil. Both sides of my family are quite eccentric and full of artists, writers, musicians, crafters so I think it’s something that’s in the blood but has, most importantly, always been championed, celebrated and never belittled or made to feel like a second rate career choice.
What’s had the biggest influence on your style over the years?
Again, I’d say my family is the biggest influence – the books Mum and Dad read to us as kids, the music that was in the house, the art that my brother and sister make – my childhood is still a big source of inspiration. My parents are both ‘folkies’ – Dad used to Morris dance as a young man at University and this in turn got me really interested in folk culture. This has played a huge part in the kind of artwork I make – I’m far more excited by folk/outsider art and craft than by the money-orientated, swanky gallery world.
What do you love most about the Stroud area?
I love the people and the amazingly vibrant community. I think there’s something really special about Stroud – there are so many incredible, creative people living in the area and I feel so lucky to live here. My Dad was the local vicar in Stroud, so we grew up with a strong feeling of being connected to the community and I still feel that today.
I find the history of Stroud really fascinating and it’s been so great getting involved in community art and folk projects that celebrate this area. The countryside is obviously breath taking too. My partner and I live in Rodborough where we’ve got a spectacular view from our back garden, right out to the silvery River Severn in the distance. I can’t imagine living anywhere else now.
Who has been your most interesting client / project / work?
Every commission or project brings something new with it and for me, that’s part of the joy of being a freelance artist . I love taking on new challenges and trying my hand at different things – from teaching Morris dancing to school kids to painting pet portraits – it’s all interesting. Perhaps my most high profile commissions have been with Gucci. It’s been such a formative experience and they’re an amazing company to have worked for. I got to travel to Italy a handful of times to meet them, including a trip to Milan fashion week to watch one of their shows and a stay in Florence while I was working on a project with them there. I even got to wear some Gucci clothes which felt utterly surreal and like a dream come true!
What’s the strangest thing you’ve done in your career so far?
Most things I do seem to be on the stranger side of life – it’s more unusual that I find myself doing something ‘normal’. Things that instantly come to mind are dancing on stage at The Royal Albert Hall with the band Belle and Sebastian dressed as a sheep, building a giant Wicker Man for a celebrity birthday party, painting people’s pets in Tudor clothes, wearing my homemade beast/folk heads on the Underground in London, working on murals I designed at the Gucci Garden in Florence at 4am wearing Morris kit and bells…the list of surreal things are endless! I’m attracted to the weird, wonderful, eccentric and love life’s ‘magic’ makers – people who create worlds of wonder and enchantment around themselves.
What’s the biggest challenge in your career?
It’s a bit of a rollercoaster being self-employed as I’m not able to predict when or where the next job is coming from. You have to be really self-disciplined – I find it hard to be strict about time keeping and not let my job dominate everything while I’m working from home. I’ll often paint every hour of the day and into the small hours if I have a deadline. It’s easy for home and work life to merge and I quite often work every day of the week. I also find it really difficult to be strict with setting the right price for my artwork, especially if friends are interested – i always end up under charging or doing things for the love of it.
Tell us a bit about the Boss Morris Dancers?
Boss Morris is an all-female Morris dance group (or ‘side’ as it’s known). It’s my absolute passion and such an amazing thing to be part of. Morris dancing is our traditional English folk dance and is stereotypically thought of as an old man’s, beardy, deeply uncool past time! We’re challenging this out-dated stereotype through our costumes, music and dance and enjoy taking this amazing tradition to people who have never engaged with it before. It’s been an incredible, creative outlet for all of us and we’ve done some surreal and wonderfully unexpected things – from dancing up the sun at 5am on May Day morning on Painswick Beacon to hopping on stage with Hot Chip at Glastonbury Festival!
Would you be willing to offer careers advice to a recent leaver/current pupil? Provide mentoring support? What would be your advice to someone wanting to pursue art as a career?
Of course! I’d love to offer any advice I can to recent leavers or current pupils. I’ve always found decision making quite difficult, so I’d love to do anything to help anyone interested in pursuing a career in the arts. My advice would probably be to stick faithfully to what interests you and what gets you excited creatively. It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed, intimidated, discouraged to get your work out there – especially with the massive influence social media has on our lives now. Don’t feel pressure to create perfection, just get making and explore and try things out. I’d say it’s obviously important to work out a way to make money from your creative practice but it shouldn’t be at the heart of what you do. Tune in to your inner vision, keep connected to other artists, don’t take yourself too seriously and find or build a community that best supports and encourages you.
