Creativity means many different things to different people. For me it's an inescapable yearning to produce, to play, to immerse my soul in a golden moment of raw vulnerability whether it be during visioning workshops, pop-up collaborative food events or in the kitchen and studio.

I was born and raised in rural Scotland and have been lucky enough to have since lived and worked in three continents with my most recent years being spent in Kenya. I am a budding potter and painter, love the written word and still find myself spending hours on end devising new recipes from whichever ingredients I can find (or forage)! In many respects, we grew up living off the land in Scotland which meant my sisters and I cultivated a deep connection to and appreciation of the environment. I try to keep this interconnected mindset central to everything that I do whether I find myself in an office, on a farm, at the wheel or by a cooker. 

If I look back at my story, a central theme seems to be an unwavering curiosity about all things food and health. A curiosity that has been kept alive through the work I have taken on, as well as through the magical, daunting and imaginative journey of @giveascrap. And, in many ways, @earthyplates is also deeply rooted in food, with the origins of ceramics being born out of agricultural communities needing to store and preserve grains, food and other items AND, I do believe if we are lucky enough to be able to eat out of a handmade creation we subconsciously slow down and have greater appreciation for what is on our plate. Before ceramics, this personal project was a means of designing and sharing nutritious recipes and healing information about ingredients. 

Stemming from my own health journey and moved by the work of Joanna Macy, currently and going forward, I am particularly interested in approaching systems change work through a new lens; namely one of assuring human vitality and building our human capacities to lean into the dynamic challenges of today (i.e. from the entry point of how we produce food to how we consume and relate to food). The question I am exploring is ‘how might we better live in harmony with the environment and each other if we existed as thriving, intraconnected communities?’