Yesterday I attended the London opening of Picking Up the Thread: The Past, Present and Future of Tapestry, the British Tapestry Group's touring exhibition, which has now arrived at Morley Gallery, just a short walk from Waterloo Station. This was actually my second visit to the exhibition. I first saw it in Dumfries last August, and it was interesting to experience it in such a different setting. Morley Gallery's bright, airy upstairs spaces and carefully directed lighting d

Yesterday I visited New Designers in Islington. It has been many years since I last attended— probably not since my time working in the Design Promotion Department at the British Council. My first thought? Everyone looked so young! There's nothing quite like revisiting a graduate show to hold a mirror up to your younger self. You see hundreds of emerging designers at the very beginning of their creative journeys, full of ambition, optimism and ideas. It's both inspiring and a

One of the joys of being part of the textile community is that no matter how long you've been weaving, there's always something new to learn. Recently I was introduced to a finishing technique called blocking by tapestry weaver Margaret Jones. Despite studying tapestry at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, it was a technique I'd never come across before. If you've ever taken a tapestry off the loom only to discover it has developed a few unexpected waves (and I'm

Last night I headed to the preview of the Society of Women Artists (SWA) Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries, just a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace. The exhibition runs from 23–27 June 2026 and showcases an impressive 446 works. Chatting to one of the SWA members during the evening, I learned that around 200 artists are represented, with roughly half of them being non-members. It's this open-entry approach that gives the exhibition a broad and varied feel. Walking

One of the most unexpected highlights of my recent visit to the Guggenheim Bilbao was discovering the monumental tapestry installations of South African artist Igshaan Adams. As a tapestry weaver myself, it's always exciting to encounter contemporary textile work on such an ambitious scale. Walking into the gallery and finding myself surrounded by enormous suspended tapestries was both surprising and captivating. Rather than simply hanging on the walls, many of the works occu

Where to start? Well, of course, with the building itself, because it is undoubtedly the star of the show. Designed by Frank Gehry, it is quite simply one of the most extraordinary buildings I have ever seen. Organic yet industrial, it rises from the ground like an unfurling rose. Depending on the weather and the time of day, its titanium, glass and limestone panels seem to change colour and character. This was exactly how I first experienced it, catching sight of it as our t

Monday was Varnishing Day for the prestigious Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2026 — a special occasion when all selected artists are invited to attend a service at St James's Church, Piccadilly before gathering at the Royal Academy for a celebratory glass of champagne and, most importantly, the first opportunity to see their work installed in the Royal Academy. Seven rooms in, I finally spotted my work mine - Summer Dive, (No. 1229), in the top right corner by the arch. Se

In May, I stepped away from the studio for a day to immerse myself in London Craft Week. My aim was simple: to see as much as possible in a single day and, perhaps, catch a glimpse of where I might fit within this inspiring world by 2027. After all, sometimes you have to imagine where you're going before you can begin the journey. My first official stop was Sotheby's to see Crafted. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that despite living in London for more than twenty years, I'

In May I travelled back to Dundee for my 30-year reunion at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design. The reunion had been brilliantly organised by some far more organised alumni from the Graphic Design department, coinciding with the opening of this year's Degree Show. I was looking forward to seeing old friends and discovering how the college had evolved over the past three decades. What I hadn't expected was just how excited I was to simply wander the corridors one l