Meet the drawing alumna named 2025’s Royal Watercolour Society Young Artist

You work is currently exhibiting at RWA Bristol - can you tell us more about the exhibit and the story you are telling through your work? 

The two paintings are based on small scenes I set up at home, featuring a doll I made wearing a felted dress. They both explore my subconscious mind; I often use physical objects like this doll as a kind of anchor to hold onto when I’m trying to express my feelings or dreamlike imagery. Without that anchor, my drawings can drift too far away from where I want them to be.

Both paintings are very watery - one shows a character floating underwater and the other features two upside-down figures. They reflect how I was feeling at the time: a little lost, a little adrift. There’s a half-hidden figure in one of them that represents one of my childhood imaginary friends.  

Both are tactile, textural works. Before painting, I started doing ‘sensory drawings’, which meant touching the props with my eyes closed and sketching how they feel. For example, to imagine being in the sea, I would drink salty water and listening to certain music. These works were painted to the sound of harpist Mary Lattimore. I sprinkled salt into the watercolour backgrounds to see how it would affect the texture and I liked the results. 
 
What else have you been up to since graduating from Falmouth? 

After graduating I moved to Bristol where I began working at the RWA front desk. Over time I gained enough experience to apply for the role of Assistant Curator, which gave me useful insight into the art world. It was in this role that I managed the Annual Open Exhibitions and worked with lots of artists. 

Now, I work as a support worker in creative workshops, supporting adults with learning disabilities and autism to make ceramics, prints, textiles and even bake or garden. I also teach part-time as a freelance art tutor at the RWA and I’m gradually taking on more freelance artist commissions which feels exciting. I have a few record covers to design which brings my love of art and music together. I’m hoping that in time I will be able to further balance my art practice with my other work. 

What did you value most about your time studying Drawing BA(Hons) at Falmouth? 

The thing I valued most was my peers. Our classes encouraged a lot of reflection, and I learned a lot from seeing how other students approached the same subjects in completely different ways. I made really amazing friends, lots of whom I’m still connected with and often we’ll meet up to go to exhibitions together. 

Our tutors were also great; it was useful to be taught by practising artists. They introduced us to new materials and processes that still feed into my practice today. Producing a large volume of work during the degree also taught me not to be too precious about individual pieces and I began to see each drawing as part of a larger story. My time at Falmouth taught me to experiment and my work wouldn’t be the same without that experimentation and being allowed to not take it all too seriously. 

Discover Drawing BA(Hons) at Falmouth’s School of Art