My mentor encouraged me to experiment with still life beyond the dolls. I had produced a portrait of my cats using their chewed cat toys for an exhibition I curated at PAPER, The Cat Show, and considered how I could use this method to create portraits of close friends and love ones. I also expanded on this process for a commission I developed a proposal for. Though the proposal was eventually unsuccessful, I had developed a concurrent series of works based on this concept.
In September, I started teaching full-time at University of Salford on the BA (Hons) Visual Arts course. At first this took some getting used to. Starting from scratch I had lectures to write and present, as well as teaching on a day-to-day basis. At first, I was unable to dedicate myself to my painting in the way I might have done previously. However, being based at a University has opened many other possibilities including the use of facilities that I might not previously had access to. With another member of staff, we started using the print room outside of our teaching hours. This has enabled us to significantly develop our print practice.
With the process of making work slowed down, I am able to reflect more on my practice and decide where my work may go. I have continued to experiment and try many new methods of working. I have also had a great deal of time to consider the direction my work has taken.
