Creative Education and Collaboration: A Year of Teaching, Making and Learning
A moment from the “Wild Roots” workshop at Ramsey Apple Day.
I went into 2025 with ambitious goals: to facilitate 40 workshops, gain a teaching qualification, and complete a year-long printmaking certificate at the Curwen Print Study Centre. By the end of the year, I’d run 47 workshops, completed my teaching certificate during one of the busiest periods of the year, and graduated from Curwen.
It wasn’t without its challenges, but I came out of the year stronger, clearer, and more determined to build on this work.
Here are some of the things that truly lit me up and that I want more of in 2026:
Collaboration
I love working as part of a creative team. Different perspectives bring energy, depth, and momentum to a project. I’m grateful to have worked with generous partners over the years, and especially for the regular collaborators I share values with; people who consistently make the work better.
Working with children
Walking into a classroom and being met with a sea of smiles never gets old. Children’s curiosity, humour, and creativity continually surprise and delight me. Creating a collaborative installation with two primary schools in North Cambridge at the Museum of Zoology was a highlight of 2025, and the kind of work I’d love to develop further.
Teaching and learning
This year reinforced how deeply teaching and learning feed each other. Setting my own learning goals strengthened my teaching, and teaching others sharpened my creative practice. I love seeing someone leave a workshop with a new sense of what’s possible for them.
Playful making
Completing the CPSC certificate gave me permission to let go and work more playfully. Making prints quickly meant I couldn’t be too precious, which opened up new directions, materials, and ideas. The support, technical expertise, and encouragement of the group and tutors pushed me to take creative risks and trust the process.
Stories that connect
Story has always been central to my work. I create artwork and workshops that connect narrative with landscape, people, and wildlife. My long-standing interest in folk tales and local stories - rooted in earlier academic research - continues to shape how I make and teach.
Working with the seasons
My creative practice is rooted in natural rhythms, both local and global. I mark time through the seasons and the cycle of the year, engaging with local traditions like Eel Day and creating experiences that support mindfulness, connection, and wellbeing. This way of working matters to me, personally and professionally.
Happy faces from the “print your own lampshade” workshop in September 2025.
Looking ahead, I’m excited to keep growing this work and to develop new collaborations rooted in creativity, learning, and connection.
Want to work together. Let’s start a conversation.
