Anna’s story

I began making things before I knew what art was, guided by instinct and feeling rather than language or outcome. As a child, I gathered scraps from around the house - especially from my mother’s sewing machine - and turned them into small, handmade pieces, stitched and shaped simply for the pleasure of it. Creativity, for me, has always started with a feeling: a gentle pull that asks to be followed.

Art has threaded its way through my life in many forms. In the early years, my creative work existed purely for personal pleasure — painting, drawing and making without expectation or audience. It was when I started practicing law that I discovered the restorative power of stitch. Patchwork came first, then embroidery, and with needle and thread I found a way to slow down, layer meaning, and to bring together my love of mark-making with the softness and intimacy of cloth.

When I had my first baby, I found myself leaning into mark-making through stitch more than ever. In those quiet, often anxious and lonely hours of new motherhood, pulling needle and thread through fabric brought me a peace and stillness that had long been lost. I decided to embrace artistic practice as a way of life completely, took a deep breath and opened an Etsy store. What followed was a poetic reshaping of identity (or perhaps the rediscovery of a forgotten one) - into both maker and mother, simultaneously.

Today, I work as a mixed media artist, moving between painting, textiles and found materials, often allowing many to meet within a single piece. I have a particular love of vintage and reclaimed elements, drawn to the quiet stories they carry and the depth they bring to new work. While I value art for its own sake, I’m especially interested in making pieces that live alongside us — objects to be worn, held or used. Alongside my studio practice, I teach and make in community, believing that creating side by side fosters connection and belonging. In a world that moves quickly and can often feel isolating, making together offers a gentle way to slow down and share space.