Contemporary Community Textile Artist Derbyshire UK
Collaboration Kindness Carbon Sensitivity
Projects Menu
Creative Projects | Rooted In Place, Heritage & Community
About My Projects
I am a contemporary community textile artist in Derbyshire, specialising in heritage projects that weave together local stories, flax traditions and collective making. My community textile art explores how place, wellbeing and fibre arts can connect people, celebrate everyday experiences and promote sustainable practices. From collaborative flax growing and processing, to mindful stitching and creative activism, each project and workshop grows through participation, curiosity and care for community. You can read more about my background on the CV Page.
I organise my projects around three themes: creative wellbeing, community voice and heritage. These reflect both my approach and the priorities of Arts Council England's Let's Create strategy. Together, they show how textiles can connect places, people and new opportunities.
If you would like to collaborate on a community textile project or share a heritage story, please visit the Contact Page. I welcome new connections and ideas from across Derbyshire and beyond.
Contemporary Community Textile Artist Derbyshire
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Contemporary Community Textile Artist Derbyshire
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Contemporary Community Textile Artist Derbyshire
Nature, Wellbeing & Creative Health
These projects explore the quiet, nurturing power of making. Whether walking through forests or stitching mindfully, I use natural fibres and repurposed material to support reflection, wellbeing and environmental care.
Walking Forest is a ten-year community art project linking environmental activism, forest ecology and local communities across the UK. As one of thirty Anchor Women, I contribute to this initiative, which will culminate in 2028 by creating an intentional woodland honouring women activists and inspired by the Suffragette Arboretum. Through collaborative art and storytelling, Walking Forest celebrates collective action and care for Nature.
‘Beneath the Trees’ was a vibrant urban village fete created by Coventry Arts Collective, featuring music, food, dancing, performance and storytelling for all ages. As the selected community textile artist, I worked with passers-by to create a banner from waste fabric, celebrating creativity and collective making alongside artists, makers, crafters and workshop leaders.
A series of calm, inclusive textile workshops invited participants to stitch with intention, using thread and mindful making as tools to support wellbeing and community connection.
Walking Forest is a ten-year community art project linking environmental activism, forest ecology and local communities across the UK. As one of thirty Anchor Women, I contribute to this initiative, which will culminate in 2028 by creating an intentional woodland honouring women activists and inspired by the Suffragette Arboretum. Through collaborative art and storytelling, Walking Forest celebrates collective action and care for Nature.
Community Voice & Social Change
Through textiles, I create spaces for dialogue, resistance, and collective hope. These projects focus on gender justice, radical kindness, and reimagining how we care for one another and the world.
In 2021, I invited women and girls worldwide to join a community textile art project during the COVID lockdown. Inspired by International Women’s Day and the #ChooseToChallenge theme, this initiative brought together more than 100 women who used collective making to express their commitment to challenge and connect, even while staying at home.
In 2021, I launched ‘String Of Consciousness’, an international community textile project supported by Arts Council England, uniting over 100 women and girls through stitch from International Women’s Day to Mental Health Awareness Week. Hand-stitched ribbons with messages of hope were woven into a lotus lantern for Coventry’s Festival of Lights with Foleshill Creates. This illuminated artwork, carried by women through the streets, symbolised resilience and collective creativity during COVID.
In 2021, I launched ‘String Of Consciousness,’ an international community textile project supported by Arts Council England. Over 100 women and girls contributed hand-stitched clooties and ribbons, which became artwork for Mental Health Awareness Week. Evolving into the ‘Coat of Kindness’ and then a quilt, this project now hangs permanently at the Marlene Reid Centre, celebrating resilience, creativity and community wellbeing.
In 2021, I invited women and girls worldwide to join a community textile art project during the COVID lockdown. Inspired by International Women’s Day and the #ChooseToChallenge theme, this initiative brought together more than 100 women who used collective making to express their commitment to challenge and connect, even while staying at home.
Heritage, Place & Identity
I'm passionate about uncovering the textile stories hidden in our landscapes. These works explore local craft, working-class voices, and the legacy of making, all rooted in the everyday creativity of place. My flax work was recently featured on BBC Radio Derby which highlighted the growing interest in our local heritage.
This project is underpinned by ongoing soil care and learning in public, documented in a recent blog post on soil, mycelium and the Community Flax Project in Derbyshire.
The Riddings Community Flax Project is a contemporary textile art initiative in Derbyshire rooted in the heritage of Amber Valley and the village's deep flax history. Once a place of global industrial significance, Riddings provides the setting for this community-focused creative trial. The project explores how I can connect local people with their shared history, promote wellbeing through Nature and creativity, and revive interest in sustainable textile practice.
The community garden at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum was created to nurture wellbeing and celebrate the skills of migrant communities living near the Herbert. This project shows how working with plants and green spaces can bring people together, support personal growth and make a positive difference within the local community.
Inspired by Array’s tradition of protest banners and activism, I saw an opportunity for meaningful community engagement. Their síbín, a welcoming informal space, displayed banners celebrating local activist groups. As a former banner maker, I was energised by this creative legacy, even when there was no budget. Guided by values of hospitality, campaigning, laughter and a commitment to leave no one behind, I created a legacy project rooted in collective creativity and community action.
The Riddings Community Flax Project is a contemporary textile art initiative in Derbyshire rooted in the heritage of Amber Valley and the village's deep flax history. Once a place of global industrial significance, Riddings provides the setting for this community-focused creative trial. The project explores how I can connect local people with their shared history, promote wellbeing through Nature and creativity, and revive interest in sustainable textile practice.
My featured work brings together flax heritage, community participation, creative evaluation, and contemporary textile practice. Each installation explores local identity, shared memory, and the role of co-created textiles in reawakening place-based stories.
Exhibitions & Creativity Legacy
Some projects grow quietly. Others shine on national stages. This work showcased how community-rooted textile practice can contribute to wider cultural legacy and civic pride.
In 2021, as community engagement officer for The Turner Prize at The Herbert in Coventry, I developed accessible programmes connecting local communities to contemporary art. My work championed inclusion, creativity and participation, supporting a legacy studio for neurodivergent artists and collaborative exhibitions that celebrated community engagement in the arts.
Beneath Our Feet is a participatory heritage project I created for Derbyshire Makes, exploring the history of flax, linen and industry in Derbyshire. Communities are invited to reconnect with these materials through creative making, archival film and flax basket workshops developed with Abigail Wastie.
In 2021, as community engagement officer for The Turner Prize at The Herbert in Coventry, I developed accessible programmes connecting local communities to contemporary art. My work championed inclusion, creativity and participation, supporting a legacy studio for neurodivergent artists and collaborative exhibitions that celebrated community engagement in the arts.