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Over the past few years, I’ve been grateful to work on a range of creative projects with heritage sites, museums, and community groups. These commissions are often quite different from my personal studio practice, which is part of what makes them so rewarding. They allow the voices of participants to shape the direction of the work, giving communities ownership over their stories and ideas.
My process-led approach means I rarely begin with a fixed outcome — instead, I let the project grow into what it needs to be through conversation, collaboration, and hands-on making. Whether responding to local collections, landscapes, or lived experiences, I aim to create projects that are thoughtful, rooted in place, and genuinely co-created. Some recent examples are shared below.
This image shows a work in progress for a temporary installation at Cannon Hall Park and Gardens, created with the help of Richard Turner. The project faced challenges due to COVID restrictions in 2020–21, but we were fortunate to have completed the public engagement phase beforehand, which gave us everything we needed to continue developing the piece in the studio. The final hanging installation, inspired by the De Morgan collections, was made from sustainable materials and displayed in the parklands.
De Morgan-inspired installation suspended in the trees at Cannon Hall Park and Gardens. The individual pieces moved with the breeze, catching the light and creating shifting shapes below. We worked with a professional arborist to install the work safely and sympathetically within the landscape.
Elmer the Elephant sculpture in progress, with studio assistant (my dog) overseeing the work. I collaborated with Old Martha’s Yard, a community-run garden in Hoyland, Barnsley, to design and paint this sculpture as part of the Elmer Elephant Arts Trail.
Elmer in progress. Volunteers at Old Martha’s Yard kindly shared their stories and gave me a tour of the garden, pointing out their favourite flowers and spaces.
The design needed to be bold, joyful, and full of colour—capturing the community spirit and reflecting the plants and blooms they love most.
The piece travelled across Barnsley before returning to its permanent home in the garden—surrounded by the people who helped bring it to life.
Volunteer Textile Hanging. In this project, I worked closely with the volunteers at Barnsley Museums to capture the essence of their contributions. I transferred their drawings onto Lino blocks and created block prints on fabric using eco-friendly inks, in colours inspired by the Barnsley Museums sites.
With the help of Sally Hunter-Philburn, we carved special words into separate blocks and printed them along the edge of the piece to form a decorative border. The finished textile piece now hangs in the corridor leading to the volunteer hub at Worsbrough Mill, offering a reflection of the volunteers' stories and the impact they have on the museum community.
Detail Shot. Here’s a closer look at some of the illustrations inspired by the volunteers’ stories at Barnsley Museums. You’ll see things like a watering can, flowers, and a harvest mouse, all reflecting the themes of growth, care, and community. The clasped hands represent the theme of friendship and support, which was a key part of their experiences.
A special wall mural created in collaboration with Experience Barnsley Museum for their Tailor Made exhibition, which showcased the textile industry in Barnsley. The design is inspired by a pattern from a McLintock's quilt, also featured in the exhibition.
The design included McLintock the mouse—a well-known character tied to the manufacturers.
This was a one-day commission for UPLIFT (2018), part of Creative Recovery’s work in Barnsley. I was invited to create a temporary installation inside the lift at the Digital Media Centre, responding to the group’s motivational messages by writing and drawing directly onto the mirrored surfaces.
It was a fun and unusual challenge—drawing in a moving lift—as people stepped in and out during their day.
Fragments, this large-scale fabric piece was created as part of a year-long community commission with the Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership. The project explored the biodiversity of the River Dearne.
I worked with a local school and visited RSPB Old Moor to learn more about the river’s ecosystem. The children created nature-inspired drawings, which I then hand-carved into over 100 individual A6 lino blocks.
These were printed using eco-friendly inks, showcasing the children’s artwork and celebrating the local environment.
Community consultation at an event.
Detail of individual pieces making up the finished piece.
Sketchbook workshop in progress — this session encouraged participants to experiment with mark-making, observation, and creative play, using natural materials and mixed media.