Norma Foulds
Cumbrian born Norma Foulds moved to Lancashire in the 1990s to study at the University of Central Lancashire, where she specialised in sculpture.
After graduation Norma began a teaching career, focusing on teaching children with special needs.
Later completing her MA at The University of Northumbria in Fine Art and Education, Norma began to develop her own work, eventually taking a studio space at Higherford Mill, Barrowford.
Norma’s work often uses reclaimed materials in the form of collage, print and textiles.
Routine and repetition are often elements and themes which run throughout her work.
Norma has recently been an part of the AA2A project that places working artists back in colleges and Universities to allow them to use the studio space and equipment whilst mentoring and modelling good working practice to students.
Her most recent work uses the print, handwritten text and stitching to convey her feelings connected to the menopause and ageing.
Elizabeth Emmens-Wilson
Elizabeth graduated from Staffordshire
University in 1992 with an Honours
degree in design.
She specialized in surface pattern
design, but on completion of her degree she had no access to screen printing equipment. So she used what she had access to to create decorative painted objects.
Using kiln fired onglaze ceramic colours she painted designs onto ceramic surfaces.
She later did a graduate placement at a
tile firm in Blackburn. Pattern is a main theme in Elizabeth’s work.
She now works mainly with
reclaimed materials, found ceramics,
purchasing these from charity shops,
using unwanted Christmas baubles or
scraps of unwanted fabric.
Sarah Aspden
Sarah Aspden first started making cards as a way to escape and wind down in the evenings after working in a stressful office job.
After being offered
redundancy in 2017 she took the leap to be self employed. She enjoys selling at real world markets and became a regular at the monthly market at Heaton Fold Garden centre in Bolton. Sarah uses reclaimed materials where
possible to make her embellishments for her products.
She uses reclaimed decorative packaging and off cuts that are gifted from other artists and makers. Sarah has this year taken over the
organisation and running of both the
Heaton Fold Garden centre and the art and craft gazebos at Bolton Councils annual Food festival which takes place on August bank holiday weekend.