| I
am a mixed media artist with a wealth of experience in youth work,
community development and family learning, with a particular interest
in community creativity and the arts.
My
own art work practice is influenced by issues of identity and the
ghosts and shadows of the past, layers of history weaving and impacting
on the present. The multiple associations we have with one another
through the past, present and future, associations that are both
positive and negative, life affirming yet contradictory.
My
current work is concerned with imagery that reflects and expresses
the making and sustaining of relationships. Relationships that signify
a sense of ‘belonging’ or ‘not-belonging’,
in a personal, social, political or geographical sense.
Harmony,
discord and the striving for a sense of equilibrium within both
self and society are important to me and are often present in my
work. I use a variety of materials and processes but usually in
a limited palette.
Background
Sept
1979 to Dec 2006
Over
27 years working as a professionally qualified Youth and Community
Development worker within the voluntary and statutory sectors providing
learning and development opportunities for all ages. The majority
of these opportunities have been devised and developed around the
cultural and creative arts, including:
Carnivals
Dance & drama productions
Graffiti Art
Wall murals
Children’s arts and crafts
Traditional/cultural crafts
Family Learning workshops in creativity
Sept
1998 to July 2006
Summer
1998 was the year I decided to look to my own creative development
and joined the University of Nottingham as a part-time undergraduate
student to read visual arts and over the next eight years obtained
the following:
Sept 2000 Certificate in Higher Education (Visual Arts)
Sept 2003 Diploma in Higher Education (Visual Arts) Distinction
Sept 2007 BA (Hons) Visual Arts First Class
On
December 31st 2006 I relinquished my career within the Youth and
Community Development field in order to concentrate on my own art.
Holder
of an enhanced CRB clearance certificate
During
the last 18months I have furthered my creative skills with the Leicester
Print Workshop and ran several Family Learning arts sessions with
Leicestershire County Council
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