Every artist has a bridge piece in them don't they? This is mine. It is not an unusual bridge in terms of design but it is quite striking when seen from the link road in St Helens. And I've tried to capture that in this quilt. The colours look solid from a distance but closer inspection reveals lots of lovely texture created by using breakdown printing in a limited colour palette. It has been made for my upcoming exhibition with Helen Conway at The World of Glass, St Helens.

I am really happy with this piece and may make more 'bridge' pieces but it did make me wonder about genre. I have intentionally tried to work in a more abstract way in recent years but, despite the colours used, this piece doesn't feel abstract. So what is it?

The Tate defines abstract art as 'art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality but instead uses shapes, colours, forms and gestural marks to achieve its effect'. Wikipedia defines it as art 'that uses a visual language of shape, form, colour and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world'. Hmm … well the colours may be abstract but, as I wanted it to look like a bridge, the finished piece cannot be called abstract.

The Tate defines figurative art as 'any form of modern art that retains strong references to the real world and particularly to the human figure'. Wiki says that figurative art 'describes artwork - particularly paintings and sculptures - that is clearly derived from real object sources, and is therefore by definition representational'. And the Tate defines representational as a 'blanket term for art that represents some aspect of reality, in a more or less straightforward way'. The quilt is not a painting, or a sculpture nor does it refer to the human figure but figurative seems like a good fit.

So what about the quilt world? If I wanted to enter it into Festival of Quilts which category would I choose? They don't have an 'abstract' category but their definition of an Art Quilt is 'quilts with both a strong visual impact and a high quality of execution designed to be displayed as artwork and communicating an idea, emotion or concept through the medium of textile and stitch'. Sherdley Road has strong visual impact and you will need to make my word for the fact that it is incredibly well made but it doesn't represent an idea, emotion or concept. It represents a bridge. Which means that it fits with their description of a Pictorial Quilt which are 'quilts depicting a scene or subject eg: people, animal, flowers etc as the main body of the quilt. A figurative or representational piece'. Hmm ….. A lot of the pieces entered into this category are very literal - often photo like representations of their subject. Wonder how my piece would be judged? I guess there is only one way to find out!

Those of you that follow my blog regularly will know that I made a very definite decision several years ago to always work in series. Doing so has helped me to develop as an artist - I spend a lot of time up front working on colour and on creating a palette of cloth but once I have that palette I am free to develop my ideas as I move from one piece to the next. And for my large pieces I do tend to get one to the finishing stages before starting work on the next. Many of my pieces are three metres wide or more. I am blessed with big print benches and a big design wall but it is not really practical to try to compose two large pieces at the same time.

Some of you will also know that I have struggled to make small art .... my ideas always want to be BIG. But with two exhibitions scheduled for 2018 I knew that I needed to stop struggling and start making. Hence my 100 (week) day challenge in which I committed to spending 2 hours each week day evening working exclusively on small art. And after 70 days I can declare the challenge a success! I am now comfortable taking the ideas, colours and palettes of cloth used in my large scale pieces and working with them on a (much) smaller scale. But, just as importantly, I have really enjoyed making 'batches' of work. I am half way through stitching 18 pieces that will each be 12 x 12 inches when finished. I worked on the composition of all 18 at the same time. Each piece has to work on its own but what really excites me is seeing them layed out in a grid. The common colours and repeated use of shape is very powerful and has got me thinking about the power of repeat and how I could use it in a large scale piece. Which is a good if un unexpected bonus!

When I visit a gallery I don't tend to read the artist's statement until after I have looked at their work. I like to savour my own responses to a piece first. But I do read the title because it provides a starting place for my response. So naming my own work is important to me and the subject of many hours contemplation. And the subject of regular discussion amongst fellow artists and on social media.

Naming a series is an even bigger decision because you have to live with it longer. I am not a sketchbook person. All my ideas have a long gestation period in my head before I let them loose on dye and cloth. The titles of my first two series, Hidden Messages and Ruins, became fixed right at the beginning of that process. In Hidden Messages I wanted to develop a series of works around censorship in modern day China. In Ruins I wanted to develop a series of works around abandoned and ruined buildings. The titles were obvious to me and still feel just right. And in both cases I was happy to number the works rather than give each piece it's own subtitle.

I gave my third series a working title of Storm / Still as that seemed appropriate to the emotional rollercoaster I was on at the time. Although I numbered the early works they were either 'Storm' or they were 'Still' and each piece required it's own subtitle. The series name became fixed when I added a page to my website. Strangely I named the colour family that I developed for this series 'Dunure' (after my favourite place in the whole world after my studio). And even named a few small pieces Dunure. But I never thought to call the whole series Dunure and with hindsight I wish I had. Storm / Still feels clumsy to me now and may be one of the reasons that I don't think I will produce more in this series.

So to today. For my exhibitions next year I am working on three series each focussed on industrial and urban landscapes. One part will be more pieces in my Ruins series. Another part will be on buildings and structures still in use today that shape our landscape but are invisible to most. This series has had the working title View. The inidividual pieces will all need their own subtitles as there are site specific. So far I have made one large piece (above) and am in the process of making a series of small works called Canal Street 1, 2, 3 etc. The working title of View is no longer working for me. Instead I am officially naming the series Structures. Yes it has been used by many, many artists but it is the perfect title for what has inspired my work.

The other series is inspired by industries and iconic structures that no longer exist. I already know the subtitle of the large scale piece that is gestating in my head but I'm stuck on titles for the series of small works I am currently making based in the Bold Colliery near St Helens. And I am definitely stuck on a title for the series. I have had a working series title of Gone but that doesn't even work as a working title. I have been puzzling over this all week. I almost settled on Relics. But then I had a 'duh' moment.

The title of the exhibition in St Helens is TRACES. My inspiration is those structures that have left TRACES in our memory. No brainer! This new series is now officially called Traces.

The title of the exhibition in Stockport is FRAGMENTS. The small works are just that - they are small FRAGMENTS of a much bigger series. The series of small works is now officially called Fragments.

And now I need a long lie down in a dark room ....

After four really productive weeks of making small art I have had a disappointing week; struggling to get any level of momentum. I spent the week as I planned to - researching and creating cloth for the third string of work that I will exhibit next year. The inspiration comes from those industries, and those structures, that no longer exist - the coal mining industry around St Helens, Lancashire being a great example. I wasn't working completely from scratch. I have learnt from a couple of failed attempts at printing cloth so I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to achieve and how. And I'd already found a great resource on line - the Sutton Beauty and Heritage site. But I didn't know if it would all come together. I really needed to lock myself in the studio for a whole weekend to completely immerse myself in the process. Knowing that, at most, I could only work for 3 hours in an evening was enough of a limitation that it throw me. And then there was the start of major building work on our home - likely to be a massive distraction for the next couple of months. Here is what I achieved:

• Day 21 - at home all day because of builders I actually spent about 6 hours in the studio but only 1 hour on small art. Not sure what happened to the other 5 hours!
• Day 22 - 1.5 hours researching and making thermofax screens
• Day 23 - 2 hours - took a break from the new work and instead stitched Kilns 4.
• Day 24 - 2 hours printing and experimenting with discharge.
• Day 25 - a scant 1 hour washing and ironing fabrics

Only 7.5 hours in total. I don't have the luxury of time with two exhibitions in the first half of next year so cannot afford weeks like this! So this weekend I focussed on getting my act together / pulling my finger out / got down off the fence and finally made some decisions on this series! The results are rather pale and ethereal. I have finished a piece and put it into a picture frame I had in the studio. It didn't photograph very well and the mountboard is the wrong shade of white but it actually looks rather lovely. Certainly lovely enough to make more. Which is what I will be doing in the 6th week of my 100 (week) day challenge.

Inspiration is a very personal thing. My inspirations are nearly all urban. I love industrial landscapes although it is getting harder to distinguish between pale grey corrugated metal retail parks and pale grey corrugated metal factories. Some would say that both are factories.

But occasionally there is a flash of colour, a wonderful shape or an interesting interplay of lines breaking up the sky. The Pilkington Glass site on Canal Street, St Helens is fabulous. It has the usual grey boxes, pipes and conveyors running between buildings. It also has towers and shapes that are quite unique and, hopefully, still recognisable as I try to use them in an abstract form in the work I'm creating for my joint exhibition with Helen Conway in St Helens next year.

This last weekend was perfect. Blue skies. A balmy 20C. Blossom on the cherry tree. Coffee in the garden. And long, productive hours in the studio.

April and May are my favourite months. A combination of lighter evenings and some long weekends thanks to the Easter and May public holidays make it almost impossible not to hit my target of 20 hours in the studio each week. Being able to dry my breakdown screens outside speeds up the process and gives much better results than I achieve on screens that have dried overnight in the studio. And rinsing out printed fabric is much kinder on my hands when my cold water feed isn't finger numbingly cold.

So this weekend I got up early enough both days to drive my son to work for a 7.30am start. I would like to say that I did this just out of love but, honestly, it was so that I could be in the studio before 8am each day! I spent both days happily printing more fabric for my Ruins series. When screens or cloth were drying I continued to work on small samples. Such a productive couple of days.

And the good times keep on coming ... Easter means a 4 day weekend!! And chocolate!

Knowing that I have two major exhibitions with Helen Conway in 2018 is amazing. Although I've worked in series for the last few years this will be the first time that I get to create a cohesive body of work knowing the pieces will be hung together. And knowing the spaces where they will hang. Yes Helen and I need to make sure that our work will work together in each space but otherwise the sky is the limit!

And we have well over a year to prepare. We will have about 15m each of wall at World of Glass and a massive 30m each at Stockport Wall Memorial Art Gallery. And we only have just over a year to prepare!! Thank goodness Stockport will be in the autumn.

My hope is to create two completely separate bodies of work albeit both stemming from three parallel series inspired by the urban and industrial landscape in and around both venues. But I have to also be realistic. I had an amazingly productive year in 2016 but my output still fell short of what I need to achieve in the next year or so. I blame my very loud and bossy 'voice'. It wants to work big. It insists on piecing lots of small pieces of fabric. And then it absolutely throws a tantrum if I don't complete the work with hundreds and hundreds of parallel lines of stitch. And, much to Helen's amusement, it even demands that I sew in all my ends.

Something has to change. I have to find a way to make smaller (and more affordable) works that I, but more importantly, my 'voice' can be happy with. So I have set aside the month of April to try new things. Can I make art that can be framed? Can I print onto paper? What happens if I print onto rough linen? Can I fuse my brick walls? Time will tell.

It is with very great pleasure that I announce my second exhibition with Helen Conway. It will take place in early summer 2018 in the fanatastic Gallery One at The World of Glass in St Helens. Helen has written a great blog with photos of the gallery and insight into her inspirations and intent for the exhibition. Helen was brought up in St Helens; her family has lived there for several generation. It has provided the backdrop to her development as an artist. In her work she will trace her families lives and tell their stories. She will also explore her own history and the development of her creative process.

My art will continue to explore the urban and industrial landscape. St Helens has a strong industrial heritage. From the glass works which still exist today to the coal mines that now only exist in the towns collective memory. I want to build a collection of works that, whilst abstract, contain traces of man-made structures that the people of St Helens will recognise. Drawing them into the work, triggering memories.

Helen and I have set an ambitious schedule. Gallery One is a big space. As is the gallery at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery where we will exhibit in autumn 2018. We are committed to creating work specifically for each venue. We are also determined to create exhibitions that are cohesive; where there are links between each others art. It is both terrifying and exciting. I hope you'll enjoy the journey!

In my last post I talked about how creativity tends to creep up on me when I am immersed in process. I follow a set process when developing a new series ... I work on the colours first - pinning them on my design wall for assessment. Then I do the printing and pin pieces up until my design wall is covered. I discard fabric that doesn't 'fit' without thinking too hard about why. I then sample different types of construction. In my Hidden Message series this resulted in several pieces going in the bin before I was happy. With my Ruins series (and the series I am developing now) building a background made of bricks felt 'right'. Having stitched some small sample backgrounds I turn to my design wall again. I don't do sketchbooks - I do pinning things to a design wall until something 'clicks'.

Today I pinned up my two sample backgrounds. I rummaged through my boxes of dyed fabric and pinned up a selection of colours. I am not going to decide yet if the foreground will consist of dyed fabric or printed fabric or stitch yet. They are just up there. I added a couple of photos I took last summer of an old gasworks.

Then I used one of my favourite 'tools' - I cropped and enlarged small sections from the photo and pinned the results up. And I got that wonderful tingly feeling! I don't know what size the finished pieces will be or how I will apply the foreground but I do know what I'm going to be spending the next few months doing.