My practice has grown out of many places, starting with my upbringing in falling-apart Wolverhampton, my father as an electrician, my early interests in technology and gaming. This grew naturally into an interest in machines, focusing around made up machines originally (like Tilly Matthew’s Air Loom or Gustav Mesmer’s flying machines) but then this gradually grew into a functional interest once I discovered the open source projects based around 3D printing.

It’s a surreal day as my hand block printed fabrics launched with Schumacher in the US today. It’s hugely exciting and something I never imagined, but hard to digest at this unsettling time.

Today I'm feeling ok and optimistic. I have learned that worrying doesn't change much and can be a waste of energy. Instead, I'm trying to focus on pragmatic adjustments I can make to support my own wellbeing and help others during this time. I do have to catch myself if I find that I'm reading scary news/media articles and beginning to spiral though!

For my own habitual need to connect, I do smile and/or say hello to anyone I encounter who will engage with me. I also call at least one person a day to check in with them, whether they are family, neighborhood folks, or friends. Skyping, texting, calling, Zooming, letter writing—whatever it takes to be together—helps tremendously.

My art is urban sketching. I draw everything anything that relates to the city and the people that live in it. My default position is on a street corner with a moleskin and fineliner pen in hand. My studio is a simple desk where I finalise my artwork or if I’m unable to get out and about, create new works using photographic references.

My studio is in my house now. My stuff is encroaching upon all of our living space. I used to have a studio in an old school but it was so cold I used to give up. I swapped from an illustration MA to a Fine Art one at Central St. Martin’s and then did a Fine Art PhD. There’s a snobbery about illustration but I love doing both.

My studio is a small white space in my home. It’s at the back of my house so it feels separate and I have to ‘go’ there, a bit like going to work. It has a north-facing window, so the light is beautiful to work in, and a door out to the garden. I tend to listen to audio books or Radio 4 throughout the day. My work is very time consuming, so I need to go into a work zone in my head – the rhythm of the spoken word helps me do that.

I live in North London, in a busy area of town near to Hampstead Heath, so now that there is less traffic on the roads, a sense of calm has been afforded to the neighbourhood. I am lucky to have a purpose built studio at the bottom of my garden which was built as a music room by the previous owners. It has two small sky lights and it is north facing. I have always managed to have a studio somewhere over the years that I have worked as an artist, but this has been my first north facing studio and it makes such a difference. No more chasing shadows which fall across your artwork as the sun crosses the sky!

I'm a writer, so my work is creative but not art. I've written two books — The Secret Lives of Colour and The Golden Thread — and I'm working on my third now. I also write about design and culture for magazines and newspapers including The Economist, Elle Decoration and Wired.

My portraits of lips are colourful, super glossy and a little bit provocative. I’m fascinated by the mouth as a focal point for communication, and aesthetic expression through lipstick and colour. Before starting to paint, I had a career for many years in fashion and in magazines, which I think really plays into what I like to explore in my painting, as well as the aesthetic I aim to achieve. In my studio now, I have several new pieces in various stages of completion. Since the lockdown began, I haven’t been to my studio, so I’m missing painting a lot. Can’t wait to get back to it!