About
Before we go any further ... I just wanted to let you know that this website is a work in progress. How like life!
The one that I had for years - since the very late 20th century - expired a while ago. I miss it and those heady days when we had to carve html code into wax tablets.
Anyway - I'm gradually putting this together to let you know who I am, show off a bit of what I've done before and convey what I am up for doing nowadays. It's varied and a bit complex - like life!
So, basically ...
I relish the cross-fertilisation and variety of a portfolio career with many strands to the tapestry of work I’ve woven over the years.
The medium might be poetry, live sketching, facilitation or teaching and the setting could be classroom, conference, page, stage, rehearsal room or theatre tech booth.
My Top Strengths
Strategy
I like long words but even more I love making policy stuff sound simple.
“Your wonderful poem, This Is Bad Enough sums up so brilliantly the problems with patient information” Hayley Clark, Librarian
In 2006, I wrote a poem about the communication challenges cancer patients often face. It has been adopted by various organisations working in health literacy and in 2022 it was animated for NHS Scotland Education:
This is Bad Enough
Positivity
Encouragement and gratitude are my rocket fuel.
“Joy is very central to who you are. You are a lifting, uplifting being” Em Strang, Author
I am pleased to be able to support people working in the performing arts through the wonderful Federation of Scottish Theatre Step UP mentoring programme.
Ideation
Ooh! I’ve thought of something, let’s call ideation ‘having ideas’ 😉
“I see you as having boundless creativity, working with many different art forms but not being dependent on them” Daniel Mandel, Creative Coach
“Your delight in being radiates from you. And the breadth of your work - of all the Authentic Artists, you’ve probably had more different kinds of projects than anyone else!” Kath Burlinson, Founder of the Authentic Artist Collective
Conceptual illustration and live scribing for a Policy Hack Day exploring the data challenges faced by artists, arts organisations, audiences and funders.
Connectedness
John Muir said, "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." I enjoy exploring the links between things and ideas. My motto Your life is a work of art is a provocation to remind myself of the connections.
My poem Redinburgh Castle at Edinburgh Castle's 2022 Castle of Light was about the links between the colour red and events in Scotland's history.
Woo
Which stands for ‘winning others over’ or in my world making friends at bus stops. Also handy for projects which mean working for a brief time with an existing team.
“Thank you again for all your help on Friday; not just the live drawing but also jumping in to help the day be the best it could be with your expert producer hat on--we benefitted greatly from your kind help!” Caitlin McDonald, Creative Informatics
I also identify as an Enneagram 7 which means that I’m enthusiastic, optimistic, quick to pick up new skills, spontaneous and resourceful. Do I occasionally take on too much? Yes. Has maturity brought me discernment about what projects to say yes to? Also yes!
As a touring stage manager for Puppet State Theatre Company, I had a new team to work with at every venue. In all cases we got the job done and had a laugh too. In some cases, these connections have lasted through the years.
Find out more here if you think you’d like to work with me …