Burning

It's such a vibrant Autumn out there, I can't help but feel positive.....inspite of the clocks changing and the nights closing in. We went up into Derbyshire, to Dovedale, Cromford and briefly back to Wirksworth. The landscape was on fire, suffused with mist and scented with wood smoke.

The colours must have infused my soul as I came back with a richly coloured set of photos. It might be because I've been looking at the woven textile designs of Gunta Stolzl or perhaps because my brain is still working on ideas to weave as bands on an inkle loom, but I'm seeing the world in strips of colour and texture.

I love the texture and restrained pallette of fibre artist Karen Henderson. The sense of process appealed to me too. The process of my work is as important as the content and the art comes from marrying the two. I read an interview in Selvedge magazine with textile artist and illustrator Laura McCafferty in which she said "I use textiles because I was just lucky to find a medium in which I could express myself". I like that sense of destiny. Sometimes I question the sanity of leading a creative life and then have to face up to the fact that it is who I am and all the moments of my creative life have led me to this place....avoiding doing that bl***y tapestry that's waiting for me upstairs!!