As an artist-in-residence at New Mills School, Arts Council England have granted funding for the project “Wild about Ceramics”: the pupils from the school will explore themes of declining wildlife, through ceramics and mixed-media. These workshops will culminate in artwork being displayed in the gardens and exhibited throughout 2019.

This project uses the art of clay to engage young people with issues of ecology and biodiversity. My ceramics installation “APOIDEA”, currently on display at Manchester Museum, is the starting inspiration; it is displayed alongside museum specimens and artefacts, and part of a digital VR experience of how an Orchid Bee pollinates plants. I am in residence with New Mills School, working with students, art and science teachers, and the school gardening group, exploring the exhibition’s themes of declining wildlife, whereby I will be renewing ceramic practice within the school. Additionally, I am working alongside the school’s John Muir Award project, and with the RHS Tatton Park Garden project.

Images from and information about the project will be updated regularly and displayed under this heading.