Ethics

Alongside the creative drive, is the conscious drive.

With all of the work I produce, right through to how I package and parcel it, I am striving for a closed-loop, cradle-to-cradle philosophy.

My studio is run on electricity generated by an un-intrusive, on-site wind turbine. The water here, is untreated and sourced locally. In winter, I am warmed by a wood-burner that runs on logs from ash trees felled due to dieback.

In my work, I aim to use materials that are naturally derived - so that they too can bed down and compost away when their lifespan comes to an end. From the paper I draw on, down to the clothes and textile items that I customise. Paintings are often painted onto wood. Often off-cuts. Vinyl prints too, are usually made from off-cuts.

My packaging is as far as possible, all paper-based - from my swing tags and labels, through to my tissue paper, stickers and raffia ribbon. There is very little plastic about the place here. And I predominantly use non-toxic paints, inks and pens.

The cotton wares that I source are made from organic cotton and many are Fairtrade too. I’m currently researching recycled/secondhand alternatives: at least 30% of all new clothes/textiles produced in the world are destined straight for landfill. That’s a troubling statistic.

Still, I’m an ever-refining paradox: an incorrigible communicator tethered by a disinclination to create just more ‘stuff’. And an artist who sees everything as a potential canvas.

My business practices are not yet perfect but I’m always perfecting and improving as I go. Always striving to do my bit to help row us towards a horizon that we don’t all have to frantically paddle back from when we get there.