My love of creating books began with a grade seven project. I wrote the story, illustrated it and then asked the librarian if she would add it to the library, card catalogue and all (she did). I've since created three books: Love Is Everywhere, my little book of hearts that I found on my travels, Finding Heart, the memoir of said travels, and Healthy ReMINDers, my mental health resource book. I've also formatted books for my husband Gomer Robinson.
Finding just the right typeface for just the right photo or image has been a passion of mine for years. And putting those elements into a design that conveys a message, speaks to the heart and radiates a special energy is where I specifically shine. For me, graphic design is an intuitive process. It's a beautiful puzzle that is so exciting and interesting to solve.
My first love. My healing balm. The lens through which I process the world. In nature I slow down. I appreciate the little details.. I listen and am guided to the places that speak to my heart and my spirit and in doing so connect with the spirits of nature. Scroll through the gallery to see some of my favourite shots.
I was introduced to natural dyeing and textile printing from a friend and instantly became hooked. It's amazing how nature provides such amazing colours and I love how leafs and plant material can print on fabric.
A recent passion of mine has been creating Spirit Dolls. I guess you could say I transformed my childhood love of playing with Barbie into this new form of creativity. I combine my love of nature, found objects, crystals, spirituality, essential oils, words, solar dyeing and basically everything I'm interested in to create these one-of-a-kind dolls.
Each doll starts with a person or an idea in mind and then the magic begins. From the branches to the individually hand-sculpted faces, from the fabric to the embellishments, each doll is co-created with Spirit, intuition and intention. The fabrics are either thrifted or solar-dyed using foraged seasonal plants or plant extracts and the wool is sourced from my friend Robin's sheep and my own natural plant dyes. Each doll holds special, personal blessings for it's recipient.
As a child, I would watch my grandmother and my great aunt sew clothing yet I was always intimidated to do it myself. Instead, I would sew straight lines...pillow cushions, my son's baby bedding and other simple makes. Yet the desire to make clothes remained. After I turned fifty, I decided to tackle the fear and, with the help of a friend, I started making my own clothes. It's been quite a learning journey...not just the skills required to put a garment together but overcoming my mind and all the self-doubts and fears that arise from not knowing what I'm doing.
