DoubtfulGuest

I was born and brought up in Scotland but I now live in Leeds in the north of England having been lured here by a bewitching Yorkshire lass (whom I married last year).

I used to be a medical technician and I am now studying for a degree in Nursing. It's been a while since I've done much arty, although I used to spend most of my spare time making collages and such like when I was younger. I've been feeling drawn to creating again; I miss how immersed I used to feel when I was in the flow. I thought perhaps being involved in swaps might act as inspiration and encouragement for me.

Favourite writers of mine include; Will Self, Philip Pullman, Sarah Waters, Tove Jansson, Rudyard Kipling, WB Yeats.

I love folk tales, myths and fairy stories; the darker and more obscure the better. I am especially fond of Russian fairy tales, perhaps because of the beautifully illustrated books of Russian tales that my relatives used to send from Eastern Europe when I was a child. I was enraptured by the idea of Baba Yaga's chicken-clawed shack and the glowing skull torches that guarded it (so much more exciting than dull old Cinderella and Co.) !

My very favourite film is 'Harold and Maude'. Synopses cannot do it justice because the premise of the film is so off-putting to people. Please trust me, however, when I say it is magical and utterly life-enhancing. And eminently quotable !

"Dreyfus once wrote from Devil's Island that he would see the most glorious birds. Many years later in Brittany he realized they had only been seagulls... For me they will always be glorious birds."

Handmade objects

Materials with which to create handmade objects

ROYGBIV; colours of the rainbow in spectrum order.

Turquoise/aqua/peacock blue.

My other favourite colours combination is chartreuse/greenish-yellow with deep pinkish-crimson. I know it's peculiar but I like it.

Natural materials - wool, wood, shells.

Metallics - copper, gold, silver, bronze - especially patinated copper foil and leaf.

Glass beads.

Geodes and agate slices.

Bookplates (especially personalised ones with my email address on).

Anatomical and medical items and ephemera and vintage pharmacy tins.

Invented maps of imaginary places (as a child I always loved books with maps on the flyleaf, like the Narnia books and Tolkien).

Vintage Haggadot (books for Pesach/Passover seder).

Vintage fairy tale books.

Little collections of similar handmade or vintage objects (for example, turned wooden spinning tops). For some reason I find the visual repetition very pleasing. Especially so if they fit in a little glass jar.

I love the smell of beeswax. Also, orange blossom.

Commercial stationery, especially brand names - Disney, Hello Kitty etc.

I like playing with paper and wool. I've just begun experimenting with felting.