Welcome!
Hello and welcome to my website.
Despite my teenage son telling me that websites are outdated, I am glad to bring the various strands of my work together in one place.
Please find the relevant work you are looking for and if you can’t find something don’t hesitate to get in touch with me via the Contact Page.
Thanks to my various photographer friends who have taken the beautiful photographs on the site – Raymond Evans, Peter Morgan, Jess Rose, Ruth Jones, Jake Weller.
What I do…
I have various work strands, some of which you can find on this website and others which you can find elsewhere (follow links below).
Writing
I have been writing since I was very young – keeping a journal since I was 11 or 12; writing my first ‘novel’ when I was 13; writing poetry and performance material throughout my 30s, including a number of short pamphlets; completing my PhD in 2018; publishing a number of short pamphlets of work online linked to creative projects, and finally in 2025 my first full-length non-fiction book.
I also mentor writers – working with writers who want to develop participatory practice to run their own writing classes, or writer who want to become mroe embodied in their practice.
Speaking
I love speaking with and to people, but it hasn’t always been that way!
As a child I used to love pretending I was running my own TV cookery programme. I baked often with my mother and I would narrate while I was mixing cakes to an invisible audience. Although I was very forthcoming at home and with friends, I found it painful to express verbally as a teenager in school and formal settings and suffered from regular tonsilitis. I found it very challenging to speak my feelings. I joined a youth theatre when I was 16 and persevered through the intense uncomfortableness to develop more confidence in speaking in front of others. It worked and I went on to study Drama at university. I almost became a children’s TV presenter in my early 20s but decided to train as a teacher instead.
Throughout my 30s I regularly shared my work at poetry and literature events. In recent years I have developed 2 podcasts and have been invited to speak at various conferences and events about arts, health and wellbeing. I presented a TedX talk in 2021 about my project Birth Cafe – a Transformational Approach to Birth-Storytelling, which was based on my PhD research.
I offer inspirational talks for events, topics include: Arts & Health, mental wellbeing, emotional health, creativity, birth, motherhood, change, trauma and love.
Performing
I am a performance artist, working primarily in Live Art.
Originally trained in Drama, BA (Hons), University of Manchester, 1997-2000, I went on to train as a Drama teacher in secondary schools at Manchester Metropolitan University, PGCE, 2002. I completed my MA Practising Theatre & Performance at Aberystwyth University in 2012, over 2 years, whilst working 4 days a week and mothering my son. I went on to receive my PhD there, completing in 2017/8, giving birth to my second son in 2015.
During my MA, I started to create solo performances and I loved it! I learned from a range of inspirational teachers including Prof Mike Pearson, Prof Heike Roms, Prof Richard Gough, Prof Carl Lavery, Dr Andrew Filmer, Simon Banham. I was very grateful to have 2 exceptional supervisors for my PhD, that made the whole experience joyous – Dr Karoline Gritzner and internally-renowned theatre director, and founder of the Magdalena Project, Jill Greenhalgh.
I have always worked from a body-based perspective. Along with writing, dancing was my primary mode of expression throughout my childhood. Since 2018, I have focused more on somatic practice and specifically training in the Discipline of Authentic Movement with Joan Davis in Gorse Hill, Ireland (Original Nature: A Practice in Presence, 2018-2021 and Movement of Essence 2024-25). It has been life-changing to work with Joan – it connects my passion for body, movement, consciousness, presence, spirituality all woven into the gorse cliffs of Ireland, which is the same landscape of my childood.
I offer regular somatic classes based on the Discipline of Authentic Movement.
Coaching
My interest in creativity lies less in the ‘formal’ side of art-making, and more in the human-expression of imagination. My work has always been less focused on abstract or conceptual art, and more focused on autobiographical storytelling and presence in the live event. To this end, I have worked with different communities of people since I trained in my first degree – working in prisons and probations centres, schools and other community settings. I have always been interested in the healing process and how creativity supports this. Over the years I have explored various therapeutic routes, but have always worked from an arts perspective.
However in 2021, I trained as a NLP Practitioner (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and found that working as a transformational coach was incredibly satisfying. It is very dynamic as a form, it is present- and future-focused, it creates change and transformation, and often rapid growth for clients. Since then I have trained in a number of other NLP-related modalities including Old Pain2Go (by Steven Blake), Mental Space Psychology and Social Panorama with Lucas Derks, Integral Eye Movement Therapy, developed by Andrew T. Austin. I am now a trainer of IEMT and I sit on the Board of the IEMT Association.
As space, body, movement and language have been integral to my creative expression and practices throughout my life, I have loved finding these change processes that use the same ingredients, but in a more structured, process-led way. Although creativity alone can provide a powerful canvas for change and healing, it can be slow, so I enjoy being able to choose from different approaches depending on my clients.
I work 1 to 1 with clients, often with artists and creatives, as well as offering online and in-person group coaching programmes.
Consultancy
The final thread of what I now offer is consultancy in culture, health and wellbeing. This sector has been growing rapidly in Wales since 2021. I worked with Wales Arts Health & Wellbeing Network as a freelance/part-time Programme Manager 2021-25. As well as managing the core programme, I have also developed How Ya Doing? an award-winning artist wellbeing programme; led our first national Arts & Health conference Weave 2023 & 2025; and managed various creative wellbeing projects supporting healthcare staff in Wales.
I also work in the heritage sector, most recently leading the ArchaeoMargam community engagement programme for Swansea University and writing the Activity Plan for Haverfordwest Castle Flagship Heritage Attraction NLHF application.
I support individual professionals in this sector through coaching and mentoring and I work with a range of organisations and national bodies.
