Artist Residency at Fen Ditton Gallery, Cambridge, 1 to 15 August 2024​

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My house on Ditton Lane has been my home since 1983, but it is only since 2020 during the first lockdown, that I began to walk regularly with my husband, Nick, to Baits Bite Lock. When the new bridge was built we explored the long circular walk from Fen Ditton and it was at this point that the actual village of Fen Ditton felt more like home as we spent more quality time here.

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We began to increasingly love and appreciate our environment as we experienced it throughout the seasons. Finding an allotment site in the village also meant meeting and making connections with more local people. Continuing to make these friendships in the village has been a crucial part of my life as I weave a new web of connection to stay grounded throughout some difficult times.

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My daughter Lisa emigrated to Australia in 2008, and my husband and soulmate of 37 years, Nick, died in November 2022. As a response to these and other major changes in my life, I will be developing my thoughts and ideas about what, where or who is “home” when the person or people that you love and share your home with, are no longer there, and the importance of connection and community.

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I will be working at the gallery and starting a new piece of work that explores what home is and has been, with and without my family around me, using found images, family album photos, diaries, and memorabilia. I will be using a range of digital and analogue techniques that include pin hole photography, and cyanotypes.

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Alongside this new work, I will also be showing work that relates to the idea of home, some autobiographical and personal, and some from residencies I have worked on during my career as an artist.