As part of the Old School Art Collective, my burnt offerings will include pyrography boards, bowls, tealights, clocks and homeware using a variety of new, found and recycled wooden objects. My work is inspired by the natural world, and in particular the scaly, slimy and slithery.

I have been drawing with fire for the past three years, exploring the relationship between the functional forms of the objects I burn and the organic nature of my subjects. I am drawn to the complex tessellated structures of scaly creatures and the sinuous forms of the smooth and slimy, experimenting with the interplay between these essentially organic shapes and the manmade nature of the objects. This year I have developed my work with found and recycled objects which carry with them a history of place, time and use reflected in the depth and patina of their surfaces : I am enjoying embellishing and sometimes challenging these stories with my own burned images. As important as the burn is the nature and beauty of the wood itself : inky dark marks contrast with the pale creaminess of beech; rich deep-toned hardwoods absorb the design, only yielding their full complexity in the hands of the owner; gnarly live edges assert the wildness of the material against the controlling element of fire.

I am proud to be part of The Old School Art Collective again and our exhibition this year represents an eclectic synergy of ceramics, abstract painting, mixed media and wood turning. Our work collectively reflects a range of themes including ‘Oxfordshire Landscapes’, ‘Celebration of Colour’, ‘Home Comforts’, ‘The Animal Kingdom’ and – of course – ‘The WOW Factor’ !