Artwork for MissFire Metal
Strelizia - Bird of Paradise
Iris
New Zealand Kowhai
Digitalis -Foxglove
Nigella - Love in a Mist
Ginkgo Mirror Surround
Gloriosa Lily
Oriental Lily
Details
My work is a study of nature, evidence of a lifelong obsession with flowers and plants. Exploring the diversity of form and intensity of colour. Also investigating the emotional response and memory triggers brought about by each subject.
I find steel to be the most challenging of materials, aiming to transform an industrial, hard, cold material into something satisfyingly free, fluid and graceful, devoid of straight lines and uniformity. Inspired by the Art Nouveau period.
A desire to evolve and improve drives me to continue in my chosen creative practice.
Being an artist, and working with metal, is the only life I know, a job you never go home from. Continually seeking inspiration for the next piece in the world all around me. For me it means freedom to live a life out of the ordinary and beyond conformity, breaking traditions and challenging stereotypes. Making the work is the fun part, hanging out in my workshop with every opportunity to play with fire, make noise and create beautiful things for appreciative clients.
I work under the creative name MissFire. I consider myself to be an Artist in Metal but also answer to Artist Blacksmith and Metal Sculptor.
I use a combination of hot forging techniques (fire, hammer and anvil), and metal fabrication (welding, cutting, grinding), to imitate the shapes from nature behind each of my designs.
Work is produced in a variety of scales, from towering statement pieces for the garden, to delicate and elegant small-scale sculpture for the home.
Once the desired shape is made I use specialist paints to achieve vibrant, eye-catching colour finishes, building up layer upon layer. I often contrast this with a visible area of burnished steel so that the texture and beauty of the natural material can shine through, but the eye is drawn to the bold colour pop!
BA (Hons) Three Dimensional Design: Metalwork and Jewellery - Surrey Institute of Art and Design - 2001-2004
GNVQ Art and Design - Gloucestershire College of Art and Technology - 1999-2001
City and Guilds AutoCAD - Farnborough College - 2005
2019 -
Hellens Garden Festival. Much Marcle
Showborough House Affordable Garden Art Exhibition, Twyning
RHS Spring Show, Malvern
FarOpen Art Trail Open Studios
Cat's Eye Carving, Taurus Crafts, Lydney
