I work from home, ensconced in the attic, under a giant window through which, when I’m sat at my desk, I can mostly see clouds and tree tops. Birds fly past, and sometimes I can hear them dancing on the roof. When it rains, it’s loud and when it’s hot, it’s boiling! But that is mostly because it’s south facing, and I refuse to spoil my lovely view with curtains. It’s a very calm and relaxing place, and I love to make my sculptures there.

The walls are my favourite colour- electric blue, and in the tiny amounts of wall space are prints and illustrations from some of my favourite artists. And sometimes also an homage, as is the case for the delightful Jim Henson and Kermit by the fabulous Eimhin McNamara. Another favourite featured artist includes Holly Surplice, who manages to capture the same joy and expression in her illustrations as Quentin Blake. I think she’s fabulous. The art on the walls mostly has nature as its subject, and projects joy in the same way I hope to with my sculptures. Why not surround oneself with joyful art while trying to create some?

I used to have an open studio shop at Manchester Craft and Design Centre. Visitors to the centre were lovely, and I had fantastic neighbours and fellow artists, but I was never very productive there. I found it rather stressful being a shop keeper. I think I’m too much of an introvert! And when we closed for lockdown I had to make myself a proper work station at home. And when it came time to return to MCDC I didn’t want to go. I loved it here, under my big window, with no distractions from my own imagination. My workroom is such a happy place for me.

Scheduling has always been an issue for me. I never know what day it is, and I forget to eat or drink left to my own devices. Working from home enabled me to adopt my rescue parrots, and they have genuinely changed my life. Parrots require a lot of work and attention. They are demanding and time consuming. Their cages are located in the room next to my work room. We have breakfast and then I go to work at my desk, while they eat and play with their toys. By noon they’re squawking for attention and I know it’s time for a break, have dinner, drink something, distribute the obligatory pecans and groovy blocks. And then I can go back to my desk for a bit before they squawk again for tea. Parrots are sticklers for a routine. They will not be ignored. It is a little odd to be reliant on pets for structure, but this is genuinely the first routine I’ve had that works for me. It is a little sad when I leave the house, or I’m ill, but they’re never really left unaccompanied, so it works out fine. Parrots are not allowed in my workroom, for their sake and mine; I think they would be afraid of some of my sculptures, and I don’t want them to chew through anything harmful or things I have meticulously been creating!

My work room is quite small, and I have my chair situated in the middle of the room, which means my monkey arms can reach most things I need fairly easily. And because of the lack of curtains, it is also handy to have a chair on either side to hop to when the sun glares into my eyeballs! Three seats is also handy because my two eleven year old nieces are frequent visitors. We like an art project!

My work room also contains a sewing station, as I love to sew. I’m not terribly good at it- I’m probably too much of a rule breaker! I find pinning and ironing rather tiresome, and I prefer to make my own patterns, rather than follow premade ones. Besides, I’m not sure there are patterns for the kind of things I like to make. Recent favourite projects included a set of festive Nutcracker sacks, and Christmas tree dresses for my nieces. Sometimes I make my own clothes and I love the idea of creating my entire wardrobe, so I’m no longer dependent on any other clothes companies with questionable morals. But I have also seen that episode of The Great British Sewing Bee where fully grown humans were brought to the brink of tears attempting a bra sewing challenge, so I’m not sure I have the skills for an entire wardrobe!