Here you can find details of my current and past projects & workshops
Collaborative projects & workshops
The Mother Lode Project: Mother lode: a principal vein or zone of gold or silver ore, or colloquially the real/imaginary origin of something valuable or in great abundance.
This creative peer support programme for mothers aimed to extract the gold from difficult experiences of motherhood through creative writing and photography workshops for mothers with mental health issues by working with professional artist-mothers with lived experience of the same issues. This resulted in a podcast about the intersection of motherhood, mental health and creativity and publication of the participants’ work. It was run in partnership with Recovery Partners at the De La Warr Pavilion, funded by Arts Council England, Mind, East Sussex Arts Partnership and Magdalen & Lasher Charity.
elemental: 2 artists, 4 elements, 6 workshops, 8 women: an experiential exploration of the elements through movement, site-specific artworks and meditation. Create a visual memoir of your elemental journey through earth, air, water & fire and what they mean to you. An ongoing collaborative project with artist Clare Whistler
the worldsmiths: eco-feminist writers – an inclusive intersectional ecofeminist group, sharing writing online and at occasional gatherings in Hastings
One-off creative workshops
Arts on Prescription: creative writing workshops for adults, designed to enhance mental health, wellbeing and promote social engagement
Wild Writing at Wilderness Wood: a creative writing workshop inspired by the woods, for graduates of the Roots and Wings programme and other young women members of the wood (age 12 plus)
Bodies at The Hive: an evening exploring how it feels to inhabit a body, the pressures and pleasures, the pains and insights, how society treats us as women, both inside and outside our bodies through the medium of collage leading on to a piece of writing
Wild Writing at The Hive: be led through a journey of inner and outer landscapes, linking words to memories, dreams and visions. Inspired by the work of Treesisters
Midwinter festival of light: celebrate the ancient festival of Brigid’s day & Imbolc, to welcome in the light at Midwinter by creating a Brigid doll & cross from straw & herbs, baking Barmbrack/ bairínbreac – traditional bread speckled with dried fruit and much more. Collaboration with artist Lucy Brennan-Shiel
Past projects
the temps: a collective of artists, photographers, writers, film-makers & mental health professionals creating impermanent artworks around Hastings & St Leonards on the theme of art as healing in the context of mental illness/mental health
aGender arts & education: founder of this local charity, which works with young people to challenge stereotypes, raise aspirations and help them to feel good about themselves, their identity and others, using creative media to open up critical thinking and encourage positive expression
riart Grrrls: founder of feminist arts collective in Hastings & beyond: challenging gender stereotypes & misogyny through creative media