Growing up in rural North Canterbury sheltered from mechanised cities and industrially designed lives gave me an eye for finding character in nature. Without television and plastic toys my childhood imagination was directed to making stories and structures wherever I was, with whatever was around me. Being part of a creative, practical family built confidence in making, learning, and figuring out how things worked.

Sodden earth clenched tightly in my hand became my lance and the cawing of a crow the eulogy for my beloved lost acorn army. (Acornicupia, H. St Andrew, 1975)

Making things has been a part of my world since I was that child making heads for matchstick dolls before tucking them into matchbox beds with tiny sheets, frustrated at my 4 year old fingers that couldn’t shape a wee ball of bee’s wax into a convincing face, and for the rest of my life I have continued to draw, paint, learn, make and collect things.

I’ve been participating in regular exhibitions for many years and continue to follow my own themes and concepts. I often explore and expand on my designs in the hypnogogic time as I fall asleep, where connections get broader and more fluid, and enjoy following threads of ideas into the world and back again.

After studying jewellery-making I started using precious metals and semi-precious stones and became more focused on details, patina, dimensionality, and exploring how different materials enhance one another.

Alongside my visual work I’m a songwriter, and compose soundtracks for performance and dance.