My play on Venetian masquerade was inspired by this beautiful bird’s beak contour, as well as the black, white and gold palette-it was meant to be. My love for theatre, and carnival art, especially the mystique and magic of the Harlequin character dating back to Italian passion plays, did mean I couldn’t resist making that beak into a venetian mask. The trickster disguises his true wit, what may appear silly and foolish to us hides a myriad of wisdom and secrets beneath those black and white pantaloons…..

Beethology explores the deep connection between bees and human culture. Inspired by ancient myths and traditions, the sculpture draws on stories such as the Celtic goddess Brigid, the Muses, and the age-old custom of “telling the bees” about life’s milestones. It’s a celebration of how bees have long held a place in our imaginations, rituals, and folklore.

I absolutely love a deep dive into the subject matter and story I want to tell, so discovering ways to inject these little details into to an overall design was all of the fun. So this is a little peek into the story of Mick and The Rats, as well as a quirky celebration of Hull’s maritime history.

Pirats is a storytelling illustration inspired by fantasy tales of pirates and adventures at sea. But this time it’s the rats stealing the treasure as they commandeer a shipwreck! Nods to Mick Ronson (of the acclaimed Yorkshire band ‘The Rats’ ) wash up in the waves, luckily to be saved by the pesky rodents. They get their little claws on Mick’s famed Gibson guitar and plectrum, his Vox tone bender pedal, sheet music for the track ‘I Feel Free’, and Mick’s solo album Play don’t worry’ on vinyl!. A wooden spoon bobs about reminding us of 1965 The Rats single ‘Spoonful’ one mischievous fellow clambers over the Mick Ronson biography ’Turn to face the strange’…..and a rat in a bottle looks up to ‘Heaven and Hull’, Mick’s third solo album! Finally, an alien spider hangs precariously from the moon, harking back to Ronson’s guitar wrangling Bowie days in The Spiders from Mars.

As a child I fossil hunted the beaches in awe of tiny treasures and the stories behind each one, so to capture not only my personal nostalgia, but to keep thousands of other stories alive too, my tail ‘Fossil Fables’ was born. Inspired by ancient illustrated sea maps and bestiaries, I conjured sea beasties, voyages, folklore and curious mythologies surrounding this magical region and Jurassic coastline.

Mythox is an illustrative depiction of the captivating city of Oxford. A green-man guards the coat of arms, the motto Fortis est Veritas, ‘strong is the truth’ superscripts the familiar ox fording over water. From ancient roots grows a map of vines weaving together rich and eclectic traditions, eras, and narratives. From old to new and fact to fiction; cobbled passages tell stories of this place around every corner.