This piece is based on a photo I took when walking my dog in the local area when the wild flowers were blooming. I particularly like rosebay willow herb for its colour and architectural qualities, and of course the bees love them too. Wild flowers are so important to our bee population for their growth and that makes them important to us as, without the bees, our crops would eventually fail.

For me, this piece represents personal growth as it is my first attempt at free-motion machine embroiders (as part of a set of 3 pieces). I have used a sewing machine all of my life but never in this way and I enjoy challenging myself so I’m happy with the results.
Much of my recent work has focused on the combination of paint and stitch, initially on fabric but now also on paper. Sometimes I stitch by hand and other times I use free-motion machine stitching, sometimes both as in this piece. I have always loved working with textiles and paint and really like to combine them both, something that I’m keen to explore more in future.