This page is a journal of my year with AGORA , a group of us associated with Newlyn School of Art spending a year Mentoring on Tour, starting in Newlyn School of Art, then the Phoenix Art Space in Brighton, then the Arnolfini in Bristol and ending the year in September with an exhibition in the Treemenheere Sculpture Gardens in Penzance.

The intention is in response to requests to learn about how I move from initial ideas to develop those ideas, and ultimately make some ‘finished’ work.. hopefully all this helps, as well as focussing my own understanding of my practice

‘When a woman whispers her fears to her ancestors, a thousand grandmothers answer her call’

Old family photos haunt me, I have no idea who they are, other than they are my family, my ancestors. These lost faces feed my practice, I create stories as I work with their photos, making a connection to those who have gone before me. My art is deeply personal, these photos are my only link to my family, and I find drawing painting and stitching, mainly large scale pieces, brings me a sense of my place in the world, even if it is mainly brought from my imagination

Sketches made from the photos, and a zigzagbook created. I thought I was going to work in just sepia tones, but my need for colour got the better of me. This forms the basis from which to work this year.

‘Mentoring on Tour’ is a new program run by Newlyn School of Art with two lead tutors and up to six tutors all together at any session. the two lead tutors are

Jesse Leroy Smith, www.jesseleroysmith.com @jesseleroy66

and Kate Jones www.daisylaing.co.uk @daisylaing @wharfside_art_hub

I have chosen to write this like a blog… so i will put the newest information first… because otherwise the viewer would have to scroll miles to read the newest stories

FIRST SESSION November 2025

Well, the first session has arrived, a bit like a first day at school… a whole new group of artists to work with, although there are five of us who completed studio practice last year… this is a new program and there are 21 of us, painters, textiles, sculptors all mediums really and i am pleased to say a mixture of ages too

AGORA, an important meeting place for exchange of ideas. credited as the birthplace of democracy, where philosophers first debated and discussed those concepts

the three days consists of each of us having one to one tutorials, group crits and a think tank session

The tutors involved with this session and who gave the crits, tutorials and general discourse, apart from the lead tutors are

Marie Claire Hamon @marieclairehamon

Andrew Litten @andrew_litten_artist

Laura Porter @laurakporter @studio.kind

Jessica Cooper @jessicacooperdesign

Jonathan Michael Ray @jonathanmichaelray

Dan Pyne @danpyneartist

First evening a public event, ticketed but free.. each of us hung a small display of our current work. then in the evening there were three lectures/conversations led by Jesse, with the visiting audience

The artists in conversation were

Chelsey Pettyjohn @hideousthings

Todd @atodd.art

Jonathan Michael Ray @jonathanmichaelray

My tutorial with Laura Porter. Laura very quickly understood my focus for my work.

She gave me some very helpful suggestions, mainy to bring my celtic heritage into the work with my ancestors, even though i dont know the people in my family albums, I do know that they were either Welsh or Scottish…. imagery? text?… lots to consider

To be more considerd with my colour palette, particularly with my textile pieces

We also talked about my quest for more residencies, and she gave me lots of websites to look at… I would think I should start with Wales and Scotland to immerse myself in my cultural background, and re-acquaint myself with my childhood memories

Group Crit with Marie Claire Hamon

The group was invited to comment about my work and what they thought I had in mind

Interesting comments from the group, and quite astute observations

I think the comments were typical of a first session , and hopefully the group understanding will increase as the year progresses

Most people picked up on the sentiment in my current work, but were surprisedit was about my own ancestors.

I talked about my work , and how I got to where I am currently, but didnt get to talk about my intentions for taking the work further

Kate Jones lead the think tank sessions, discussing where or work will go after this year, plans, aspirations, future projects, residencies etc, this will continue throughout the year.. and provide continuity going forward

I must admit I didn’t quite understand the intention of the think tank .. this first session was a lot of finding out about each other, and more of a discussion about the program

Looking forward to seeing how this part of the program develops. Currently my intention is to work with some transparency, given that i am trying to use photos of people who are no longer here, possibly move into 3 dimensions, and possibly some animation to bring my ancestors to life, and create my own stories about how their lives might have been.

Back in the Studio

‘Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we might win, by fearing to attempt’ , have courage to attempt this Unknown

Thinking to use text combined with the faces, starting with Dylan Thomas

‘ Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day, rage, rage against the dying of the light ……’

Although this relates to my Welsh background, i am also mindful of the ageing process, and time passing..

i also tried colour

How do I link this to my textile practice…

I have tried two ideas here

I stitched in black on gesso’d canvas and in grey on gesso’d canvas, but neither sample is working for me at the moment… I will let that idea rest in the background for now

Transparency… I am working with old family photos, ancestors who are no longer here, so I have the idea of making transparent work.. i have experimented with using different wet strength tissues.. and then waxing for more transparency.

Writing on one side and drawing the faces on the other, means you can see through and view from either side.. then waxing the paper

trying cartridge paper

introducing colour on cartridge paper and waxing that

this is the work that i will go forward to the second session with in Brighton.

I will add session two to the top of this post so you dont have to scroll through so much to read it … i will add subsequent sess ions at the top as well