“I’m interested in the way materials and skills develop and cross-pollinate. 
In 40 years of making, I’ve transitioned through textiles, hat-making, and millinery to producing artworks. Each stage adds to the mix, from recessive techniques that pop up later as a throwback, to materials that were dominant at first, but gradually became extinct. 

This snap-shot of a personal ‘making evolution’ has some parallels in the natural world and encourages me to see the concept of heritage as a bigger picture, where exploring ideas and skills from the past transforms and regenerates them into possibilities for the future.”

“I work as an artist using millinery skills to express ideas; sometimes a hat, often artworks or installations. It’s through discussing these artworks and responding to people’s interest at exhibitions - away from an actual hat - that I now think of millinery as a language as opposed to a product. It’s exciting to present these traditional skills in new contexts. I’m currently represented by Jaggedart, a gallery renowned for showing work inspired by skilful use of materials and poetic thinking.

I studied textiles at Farnham, developing fabrics combining print with pleats. I approached Jean Muir in 1984 and she commissioned headpieces, catapulting me into hat-making creating sculptural headwear for her collections for the next five years, learning as I went by studying with the wonderful teacher Rose Cory. BaileyTomlin Millinery was co-founded in 1989 with friend Anne Tomlin, selling to stores from Liberty and Saks Fifth Avenue, to Mulberry and Mitsukoshi.”