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Autumn Orchard I am excited to say my gesso, tempera, glass cabouchon and freshwater pearl piece, "Autumn Orchard" has been accepted into Oriel Myrddin's Open Exhibition 2026. Finding out later on a Friday afternoon has, of course, thrown me into a panic - it's over 4 hours each way on a train, so post it has to be. So I need to find a mountain of bubblewrap, and sell my soul to Parcelforce. And where are the mirror plates? And comp slips? Should I do some new ones? And the u

Lectures and workshops have finished, and the weather has welcomed us back from Easter break. A couple of solid weeks writing digital portfolios and agonising over which images to use and submissions will be all over. I am already thinking ahead to a summer of work, experimentation and then Year Three beckons! If you have an questions about my art work, please get in touch via the contact page. Most work is for sale, prices starting from £10.

It was a beautiful last day in the Forest of Dean. I am heading back to Aberystwyth for four weeks to complete studies, do some extra work and complete some lithographs that I have been working on. It has been wonderful having the company of my dog, planning my new darkroom, and looking forward to the summer proper. Meanwhile, this view, across the Severn, with the shires and their foals, was truly inspiring this morning.

The start of a darkroom. One step at a time! It's a huge list, but I'll nibble away at it, and eventually, I will be happily spending weekends in the dark, ignoring the world as far as possible. Perfect!

erg I was hunting in the attic for darkroom kit, and came across Him Indoors' Grandfather's collection of microscopy supplies. There were some interesting things, all of which are going to be difficult to dispose of! I have mercurical chloride, ethylene-glycol-monoethyl-ether, Canada Balsam, Asphalt, and a selection of beautiful glass vials with (probably) noxious dyes in them. I did find the darkroom kit, all of which will need rewiring. After all, it did belong to my Dad!

I have been working away for a while, but in coming home there is always a welcome. This is what adopting a rescue is all about: mutual love, trust and respect. And dog hair on everything. I have gained as much from The Stripey Hound joining the family as she has.

Unless it's going to produce delicious patterns like this, where white spirit is reacting with lithographer's ink as I clean up from a printing session. This picture speaks of so much - the labour of the process, the years that this piece of glass has been here and the years it has ahead of it. And I will be working from it again, in a few short days.

I have been trying a little natural toning , using anything which contains tannins. Natural toners work by staining the white in the print, as opposed to chemical toners, which use bleach to remove, and then replace, existing tone. Today, it was wine! A nice chewy shiraz, and I found the easiest way to be mess-free and use as little as possible was to put it and the print into a ziploc bag. Results will follow...

Fridays at the moment have a quiet rhythm of the slow and methodical process of lithography. The studio is filled with laughter and focus and the daft bickering of women with mutual understanding. After a hectic and rather depressing week, when I have been questioning whether my artistic ambition is good enough, thanks to a throwaway comment by my head of department, it has been a day for reset.

Always wear a hat This week has been very full: I have been learning new skills in the Lithography Studio, in collaboration with an international cohort of fellow artists, a solid day of life studies which I find both relaxing and creative, when most of the week has become very technical and process-driven, and a frustrating week of out of focus photographs and a light leak in a developing tank that means I am reshooting two medium format films. But from this wonderfully calm