The Pink Shoe Lady

After studying Shoe Design (Fashion and Textiles) at Leicester Polytechnic I set up a studio collective called "The Camden Set" with five other designers. Our shops were in Hyper Hyper and Kensington Market; my hand-printed garments and leather accessories were sold in Ad Hoc and Clothes Show Live. Eventually I donated my sample collection to the V&A "Street Style" exhibition and began my art teaching career.

Twenty years after taking the degree, I returned to shoes as a theme for my paintings. Printed text and illustrations from childhood support my interest in creating memory boxes which reflect domestic scenes of home and family, often related to the Make and Mend issues which were strongly observed in my own background.

Sourcing the vintage fabrics, maps and ephemera is very much part of my landscape. I visit landfill sites and jumble sales wherever possible. What other people have thrown away, I enjoy engaging with to rekindle the lost preciousness of each object. Taking images out of their original context to investigate meaning and relevance pushes me back to my own beginnings and associations. Junk is treasure. Found is mine.

Fragments of cloth and paper are worked into the painted texture of the panel. The continuous curves of a shoe outline create a closed vessel to unite the completed image. Button detail and hand-blocked text give a direction to each piece.

Starting to sell my work at school fetes led to the South East Open Studio scheme. I now regularly exhibit my work at contemporary art fairs and have a permanent collection at Skylark in Gabriel's Wharf on London's South Bank.

After national magazine features in The Times and Eve, much of my work is now created on a commission basis.

1979 - 1980	Art Foundation	Jacob Kramer, Leeds
1981	BA Hons. Fashion & Textiles	Leicester Polytechnic
1981 - 1996	Fashion Designer	The Camden Set	Kensington Market and Hyper Hyper
			Clothes Show Live
2003	PGCE Art