Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I started grown-up life as a secondary school English teacher with a particular interest in Victorian literature. Artistic expression has always been present in life, but Wilder Frame (my creative floral project) began when my second child was a few months old. We were still in lockdown and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and lost: we’d left our flat and moved in with my parents. Everything felt a bit out of control. I started gardening and I found my childhood flower press and spent that spring pressing flowers with my daughter in an effort to be more mindful and in order to record small moments of beauty. In fact it reignited all the dormant creative impulses. I set up an Instagram account expecting little but I found some fellow flower fans and incredible supporters and have been able to turn this into a job.

What first inspired you to sculpt flowers from brass?

I am constantly trying to find ways to capture the effervescence of flowers, while also recognising the impossibility of such a task. Pressed flowers were my starting point- partly as a result of my interest in the Victorian practice of keeping herbaria- but I also wanted to capture some of their three dimensionality. I love the contrast between fragile flowers and hard metal, and had been looking at toleware by the brilliant Vladimir Kanevsky and Carmen Almon. Jess Wheeler’s online course was a brilliant starting point for metalwork and Helen Horberger’s book, ‘The Art of Making Tole Flowers and Ornaments’ is my absolute bible.

What’s your making process?

I suppose it starts in the garden. Most of what I make is based on plants either found or grown at home. The plants are either deconstructed or pressed and then used to make templates. I chose plants partly because of their structure and what is possible, but also their symbolic significance. For this collection, they’ve been paired with Jemma Lewis’s traditionally marbled paper. In my mind it’s a perfect blend of crafts: marbled paper has connotations of libraries and collection, and each sheet is also a completely unique monotype- like the flower it houses.

 

What do you love most about your practice/career as an artist?

The people I’ve met are magical. I am endlessly grateful for that. Otherwise it’s an interesting dichotomy of love and hate! I adore the freedom to fit work around my three kids but sometimes crave structure and I love being my own boss but feel I really could do with a bit of management.

 

Can you tell us how your work has changed over the course of your career so far?

I am still relatively early in this artistic chapter, and am really enjoying the flexibility that affords. I’m very restless and love exploring lots of different media which is still possible. I feel a bit like I’m still feeling my way to something; perhaps that will be a permanent state or it’s just around the corner- either way I love the sense of exploring!

Favourite arty tip or words of wisdom?

I’m lucky to have met lots of brilliant artistic people through group shows who have been all incredibly generous with their precious advice. Besides advice on how to cope with imposter syndrome, antisocial working and mess, I think it’s key to make sure you find time for artistic play each week. Lots of my best ideas come to me during random side quests or carved out periods of exploring something new. Just because it’s not directly linked to a current project does not mean it’s time wasted!

If you weren’t an artist you’d be…

Back in higher education! I hope I’ll do my doctorate one day, but for now I’m very happy exploring this creative path!

Huge thanks to Fi for taking the time to chat with us! You can view her full collection of beautiful brass botanicals here or view her brand new pieces on marbled paper - 'Sweet Pea on Lavender Marbled Paper', 'Primrose on Aquamarine Marbled Paper', 'Dandelion on Yellow Marbled Paper', 'Violets on Purple Marbled Paper' and 'Californian Poppy on Orange Marbled Paper'.