“How does Lydia do this!”… It’s always a delight when a client enjoys the work from a live sketching commission, here, an assignment for long-time client Ideas Foundation covering the Disrupt Space exhibition at The Department Store, Brixton. And this time, my client Heather’s comment set off a stock-take of … Read More
Adventures in natural colour… It all started when Cordwainers Dye wanted to join in with an activity I had designed for East End WI joining up drawing with embroidery. In turn, I took part in their bundle-dyeing workshop. And so, a conversation started about colour. Experiments with natural inks are … Read More
Reporting in miniature… My late father and I had a standing joke: that his ideal scale to work at was the size of a building and mine was the size of a postage stamp. So he’d be laughing like a drain that I answered The Correspondence Collective’s open call for … Read More
Creating connection… In Spring 2020, in the first coronavirus lockdown, I ran a workshop for East End WI, using plant drawing to connect women who drew with women who embroidered. Fashion-focused growing and making project Cordwainers Dye picked it up on Instagram and asked if they could embroider a piece. … Read More
From invention to creativity… My practice runs on curiosity. I work with some fascinating science clients and project partners and some of them have been involved in the SunSpaceArt STEAM festival (science, technology, engineering, art and maths) so I’ve dropped in to talks during the day. But when I think … Read More
Weird year: new insights… Well, 2020… over here, the entire pattern of studio life was thrown into disarray. But I was brought up by parents who had to adapt countless times, decades before pivoting was a thing. So in the silence of the first lockdown, I started rearranging things. New … Read More
A flâneuse with a sketchbook… I am never without a sketchbook. Most walks turn into sketchwalks as I spot interesting stories or places on my way. So signing up for the St Joseph’s Hospice Great East End Walk, I hand-bound a sketchbook, filled it with the walk’s landmarks and a … Read More
The value of wandering… All of my creative practice is driven by a curious mind. So every trip, every meeting, every errand presents opportunities to learn and explore along the way, whether on travels as a pre-Covid flâneuse or now, locally. Marvellously-useful though online research is, I know what I’m … Read More
Why personal projects matter… I’m a big fan of making my own work as well as work for clients. Why? Well, think of it as an R&D playground. At the start of the London lockdown, working from home, I decided to report from my garden in place of my daily … Read More
