I started out with an English degree at Oxford University (1989-1991), neatly sandwiched between a gap year of busking in Europe, and a period of performing with a fire juggling and drumming troupe, FireNoise.  Having been sent almost mad by the intense intellectualism and isolation of an English degree, movement and performing gave me an opportunity to reacquaint myself with my body and relate to other people.  I knew that it was helpful for me, and I was on the point of inventing a school of healing drama, when I discovered someone had already done it.  Thus I came to London to study for a Postgraduate Diploma in Drama and Movement Therapy at the Central School of Speech and Drama.  Here, I studied Jung, and was allowed to indulge my fascination for myths and fairy tales.

After graduating, I returned to Oxfordshire and built up a broad range of creative and therapeutic projects in the community.  I worked freelance for Reach Inclusive Arts (Swindon), Pegasus Theatre, Ithaca Ltd, Oxfordshire Mental Heath Care Trust, Stroud Theatre Company and Coral Arts, amongst other organisations.  Whether working with adults or children, with people with one kind of label or another, my work was focussed on sharing the pleasure of making things together.  We made songs and theatre pieces, collaborated with other artists to make collages and ceramics, and always came back to stories as springboard and inspiration. 

Storytelling
Whilst studying in London, I first encountered storytelling as a performance art for adults, through the work of The Company of Storytellers (Hugh Lupton, Ben Haggarty and Sally Pomme Clayton).  I was bitten by the bug.  My Drama and Movement Therapy training had given me a bulging basket of myths and tales from all over the world, and reminded me of their power as companions, friends, teachers, healers.  I loved seeking out new stories and sharing them with others, never knowing quite how the story would come out.  I picked up performance tips from workshops with Malcolm Green, Ashley Ramsden and Michael Harvey, but mainly learnt by experience, developing my own style. As well as bringing stories into my community work, I made storytelling shows with music, by myself and with a number of collaborators.   More on storytelling . . .

Music
During this time, I was also performing as a musician. Having trained as a classical violinist as a child, I dusted down my fiddle and began to play folk, and to improvise.  My first band, Jabberwocky, toured the festival scene with its quirky psychedelic troubadour vibe and released a CD, Mimir, in 2000.  For a number of years I fronted an all-girl band Tiger Moon, who performed my songs in venues around Oxford.  My solo CD, She is Gold, was released in 2003.  In 2001 I formed a trio called Kismet with Kath Lucas and Melissa Holding, playing Celtic and Eastern European tunes and songs. Years later, we have two CDs to our name and have just formed the Kismet Ceilidh Band, adding Jon Fletcher as guitarist, and offering our services as a dance band. More on music . . .

Ceremony
It’s hard to say where my interest in ceremonies began.  Some mix of an Anglican upbringing, a loss of faith and a discovery of Pagan celebrations.  Some feeling that the body needed to be included in matters spiritual.  Weeks away in Shamanic contemplation in the Welsh hills. Coming home to Oxfordshire not sure how to integrate what I had experienced. All this happening against a backdrop of work in community settings with people from all kinds of backgrounds.  I came to understand that creating inclusive ceremony around rites of passage (birth, marriage, death, transformation) was a way of bringing home the riches of shamanic work and earthing it within families and existing communities.  In 1996 I created my own wedding ceremony, and two years later, a 30th birthday ritual.  People began to ask me for advice when making events of their own, and so a new strand of my work began.  More on ceremony . . .

Birthrites – Rituals and Celebrations for the Child-bearing Years
By way of on-the-job training for becoming a celebrant, I decided to research a book about new ways people are marking rites of passage, from birth through to funerals.  Caught by the fascinating detail of the work on birth and babies, I decided this was a book in itself.  Ten years, (including one divorce, one remarriage and two babies) later, Birthrites was born!  More on Birthrites . . .