News and Diary

Saturday 9th March - 'Batik - Innovative Approaches' Workshop with the Leicester Sketch Club at Leicester High School.

Saturday 23rd March - 'Batik Portraits' workshop at Knighton Lane Artists Studios, Leicester.

A portrait workshop using an exciting combination of batik processes including wax resist, discharge and resist dyeing.

Suitable for all levels of experience, learners will be taught all aspects of batik including portrait composition from a photograph, historical and multi-cultural traditions, contemporary practice, application of wax resists using kistkas and brushes, discharge and resist-dyeing with bleach and procion dyes and finishing.

Advance bookings essential. £75 inclusive of materials

Saturday 4th May - 'Shibori' workshop at Knighton Lane Artists Studios, Leicester.

Shibori is infinitely more than the tie-dye that became well known in the late 1960’s, but rather a transformational patterning and re-shaping, from two to three dimensional cloth.
This uniquely Japanese cultural tradition refers to any process that leaves a ‘memory on cloth’
however the cloth is in some way tied, pleated, folded, twisted in order to keep some areas from taking dye colour.
Suitable for all levels of experience, learners will be taught all aspects of shibori including traditional and contemporary practice and create works on silk, cotton and velvet using simple and effective processes such as Arashi (diagonal pole wrap resist, named after the Japanese word for a storm) and heat-set silks and polyester in disperse dyes.

Advance bookings essential. £75 inclusive of materials

Tuesday 7th, 14th and 21st May, 6-9pm - 'Nature In Batik' evening class workshops at Knighton Lane Artists Studios, Leicester.

A series of three evening workshops focusing on the wonderfully expressive use of batik processes in the creation of works on the theme of nature.
Suitable for all levels of experience, learners will be taught all aspects of batik including pattern and design observation and composition, historical and multi-cultural traditions, contemporary practice, application of wax resists using kistkas and brushes, discharge and resist-dyeing and finishing.

Advance bookings essential. £120 inclusive of materials

Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd July - 'Sporting/Olympic themed silk-painting' workshop with primary school children in Cambridge.

Saturday 21st September - 'Mosaic Mandalas' workshop at Knighton Lane Artists Studios, Leicester.

A mandala is a geometric configuration of symbols with traditions in various spiritual traditions.
Suitable for all levels of experience, learners will be taught all aspects of mosaic making including design, materials choices, including outlining with lead and cut and shaped ceramic, mirror and glass, mosaic construction, grouting options, cleaning and finishing.

Advance bookings essential. £75 inclusive of materials

Saturday 2nd November - 'Abstract Batik' workshop at Knighton Lane Artists Studios, Leicester.

A workshop suitable for all levels of experience with an emphasis on play and experimentation, exploring the unique interactions between the batik process using wax resist, discharge and dyeing processes on fabrics and papers.
Suitable for all levels of experience, learners will be taught all aspects of batik including abstract composition, historical and multi-cultural traditions, contemporary practice, application of wax resists using kistkas and brushes, discharge and resist-dyeing with bleach and procion dyes and finishing.

Advance bookings essential. £75 inclusive of materials

I'm exhibiting with the Batik Guild at Naples Botanical Gardens in Florida, USA from 4th May to the 30th June 2024 for the 'Patterns of Change' exhibition. 

This is part of the International Year of Batik celebratio

ns and will feature artists from around the world, each depicting a personal expression of their views on climate change.

My selected piece is a batik on silk titled 'Energy Flows'

'This work started with me quite freely making marks, not with any fixed ideas of any outcomes but spontaneously playing with the batik process.
There arose a playfulness in my thoughts that began to take form and as I was working I remembered a vision from my short time staying at an ashram doing seva in the guru's garden, remembering how much he had loved plants.

The converging flows of energy were like water flowing through bamboo, from different angles but ultimately flowing together to the same source.
The process involved repeatedly removing the wax and re-defining imagery to achieve a multi-dimensional overlay of forms, shapes and colours.
It relates to the theme of patterns of change by acknowledging, with a childlike sense of wonder, our need to live harmoniously and at one with nature.' 

A selection of my photographic fine art Gicleé prints, Mosaics, Batiks and other artworks can be viewed at my studio or home by arrangement.

News 

I've now been an active member of Knighton Lane Artists Group in Leicester for just over a year and my new body of work is coming together.

There've been a few surprises along the way with a newly found appreciation of spontaneity and 'a pure state of creativity simply for the love of creating.'

The transition from solitary working from home to getting up in the morning and making the journey to go to the studio is noticably better. My time there is more focused and I have the support of other creative minded people to engage and work alongside.

I'm also enjoying developing the educational aspects of KLA with a programme of workshops.