full time Mum to Jude, Etta & Maud; partner to Sam; photographer and designer. I arrived on Tresco as a toddler, over thirty years ago and grew up in a house just a few hundred metres from where I am now bringing up my own children.
Read on to find out how my business was born and how it has evolved.
As a child in the nineties I could often be found carrying a disposable camera and enthusiastically documenting my day, whether I was at home on Scilly, or further afield. By the time I was a teenager, my parents had equipped me with my first proper bit of kit, a Vivitar, just in time for me to embark on a school skiing trip. Unfortunately, I managed to lose the camera on the way home... but undeterred by my early misfortune, I was eventually able to fund a replacement and fuelled by my beautiful Scillonian surroundings my passion for photography didn't stop growing.
My business began as an idea that arrived as the pandemic took hold and the world underwent an ugly metamorphosis. Like everyone, I was fearful of the impact it would have on my family and community and I was heavily pregnant (about to burst!) In a fit of what I think you could call financial nesting, I hatched a plan to release a calendar and try to bring a little extra money in to make the family finances a bit more robust.
With the support of the Scillonian and visitor communities and the invaluable backing of Tresco Estate, my idea paid off and by the summer I was selling notecards and wooden postcards too. Then I started being approached to provide photography for business projects, families and couples - I was thrilled and embraced all the opportunities I could, learning and developing as a photographer through a wealth of new experiences.
Over two years on now, I have worked with an increasing number of local businesses and organisations, set up a community makers' market and have a head brimming with ideas for the future.
The biggest and most unexpected change as my business has grown has been the increasing involvement of illustration and graphic design in my products.
Having a young family can make it difficult to spend much time away from home and even an afternoon on a neighbouring island can be a logistical challenge. Frustrated by my inability to represent all of the islands as extensively as I wanted to with my camera, I found myself taking to other creative means to celebrate Scilly.
Photography will always be a passion, but I have loved the flexibility developing my artistic skills and graphic design capabilities has given me. Its given me more ways to celebrate Scilly creatively and express my love for the islands.
It's also given me a new way to work with local businesses. As well as designing 'The Tresco Journal' exclusively for Tresco Island, I've designed exclusive fabric prints for Bryher Jasmine and digitally illustrated a series of local critters for the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust!
