Over the Winter of 2023-24 I took part in two lovely projects in Dumfries & Galloway. The outcome is this exhibition for Stranraer’s Creative Hub’s first anniversary. I’ve used Stranraer’s Creative Hub as a Lab, which has allowed me to immerse myself in the making process. I’ve been inspired, energised and enthralled by the beauty of the materials, responding to them and allowing each process and my sense of awe and excitement to lead to the next stage of development.

The first was the Solway Coast & Marine Project (SCAMP). Its aim is to protect and enhance the 200 miles of coastline from Stranraer to Gretna, with a focus on our unique wildlife and natural habitats: oyster beds, seagrass, saltmarsh and coastal woodlands. I took part in SCAMP Winter Explorations across the region and created illustrations for the Solway Coastodians report capturing this public engagement.

The second was a mentoring opportunity in early 2024. Ed and Lucy, artists from the Old Mill Palnackie shared their art practice, creating art materials from foraged natural materials to make pigments, ink, charcoal and paper. I’ve used this new knowledge to boil, pound, smash, sieve, press and coax goose and rabbit poo, crab apples, oak galls, alder and pine cones, bones, Belties’ fur and more into media and tools for mark-making, then use them to create 2D and 3D artworks.