Workshops

I have been able to run workshops at lots of different venues from schools to festivals to museums. I really enjoy working in the community and helping people unlock their creative potential and helping them find the therapuetic value of practicing textile skills. The workshops often create valuable spaces for people to socialise in a low pressure environment, giving people a primary focus, helping to reduce anxiety. I also find that giving people a project provides acheivable goals, distraction from day to day problems and a practical way to expel fidgety energy without the extreme levels of energy needed for excercise. I truly believe in the power of textiles as a universal tactile language. My proudest teaching achievement would be the volunteering for York Nurturing Community and Refugee Action York on a project called "Space2Sew". This project was a weekly session providing a safe space for refugee and other vulnerable women to learn sewing skills, which we soon realised most of these women possessed. They requested to learn to crochet so that they could make traditional lace to personalise their hijabs. I was able to to teach 5 ladies with only a few shared words of English and Arabic in only 3 hours. This experience was incredibly gratifying and I would love more opportunities to use textiles to support and enhance communities.

I truly value the challenge of figuring out a students learning style and adapting the way I teach to make sense for them. I have had the pleasure of working with people of all ages and abilities. I feel like workshops are an important part of my practice because of how important it is to me to express my identity through the clothes, and fabric I choose to surround myself with.