Mark making is a manual as well as a mental process. Both the doing and the thinking of drawing can be a slow and intentioned process, or a fast and spontaneous process, as my drawings illustrate. I use drawing as a thinking tool – the thinking may lead me to use different means to making the marks and to explore at different speeds and rhythms.

The choice of drawing materials and surfaces is also driven by the thinking process, depending on what I aim to explore through the drawing. This series of drawings is made by using single strands of cotton and wool, and pieces of lace. The cotton and wool have been unpicked from pieces of used fabric, which I used in previous artwork. The cotton, wool and lace came from valued memory items, which each have a personal story. I allow the story to unfold itself as my mind and my hands are guided by my thinking to make the marks at different speeds and rhythms. The process involves dipping the cotton, wool and lace in diluted black gouache or white acrylic and drawing as the thinking leads on a white ceramic tile. I use domestic wall tiles for the series as they provide a ‘home’ – a place of safety – for the memory story.