Noun 1. Items for sale that are purely or chiefly ornamental

I’ve been having a really productive couple months with the project my business coach, the brilliant Eleanor Snare set me a few months ago. I’ve been working on some quick research projects, spending a couple of weeks on each theme. I randomly picked the topics from things I saw online and I added all the dates to my calendar to keep track.

I’m now spending time developing new work based on the themes and my early research ideas. I’m starting with Fancy Goods, a project I’ve had in mind for many years but never brought to life. My research had taken me down a path of using bright colours taken from images in Scarborough’s South Bay.

My talented friend Louise Atkinson has also been inspired by my early collages and created these amazing patterns from the images I shared online. I’m hoping to get them printed onto fabric so I can stitch into them and make myself some cushions.

I’ve treated myself to some new sequins from Josy Rose including these tusk shapes. I’ll be working on some new pieces that use beads and sequins to create layers of colour and textures. It’s a tough challenge as I love space around my pieces of work and I definitely have a less is more attitude. I have done a heavily beaded piece before inspired by the couture embroidery course I took last year.

I’m excited to see where these new pieces of work take me and how I can incorporate my original inspiration form the seaside souvenir shops.