Creating keeps my equilibrium; it’s how I find balance in the world.
Understanding an artist’s journey offers a deeper appreciation of their work, the influences, decisions, and passions that shape their creative path…
For Lorna, creation begins with a desire to give overlooked materials new life. Trained in jewellery at the Kent Institute of Art and Design, she rediscovered her love of metalwork through recycled tins, drawn to their quiet beauty and untold histories. Each piece begins with observation: time spent studying the colours, patterns, and stories held within a simple container. She cuts and bends the tin into organic forms, transforming the ordinary into something intimate and unexpected. What was once hidden in cupboards or bound for the bin becomes wearable art.
Her journey into printmaking unfolded almost by accident, yet quickly became another essential thread in her creative rhythm. Lino printing offered the meditative satisfaction of carving and repetition, while Cyanotype opened a window to play and surprise. Through these processes, Lorna explores nature’s presence in her work. Whether layering prints or pairing them with silver jewellery, she continues to explore how materials, memory, and making intertwine, always seeking balance between precision and discovery.
LSA: What drew you to tin as a material, and what makes it appealing to you artistically?
I started making earrings from recycled tins as a way to start working with metal again. I originally trained in jewellery at the Kent Institute of Art and Design in Rochester and felt that tin were an accessible material. They are also quite often beautiful and it seems a waste have them hidden in cupboards or just thrown away. The majority of the tins I use are donated, though I have been known to buy a tin because I couldn’t resist. When I acquire a new tin I often spend time just looking at it, as I can only cut and bend the metal it can take time sometimes for the designs to develop, it is only when I see the earring designs that I start cutting. I use a jewellery saw to cut with as it allows me to cut into details and create more organic shapes. It is great to see the variety of designs one tin can deliver and so satisfying when the practicality all the tin has been used. I often have people comment that they would never have thought the earrings were originally biscuit tins.
LSA: What first drew you to lino printing and cyanotype? Was there a moment or project that made you fall in love with those techniques?
My print making came about in an unusual way, a friend wanted to do a printmaking course asked if I would go with them. I fully admit that I only went as I thought it would be a change and for a few weeks, I didn’t expect to then carry on at home and develop into the practice I have now. Initially it was the Lino printing that really pulled me in, I just found the carving relaxing and absorbing. The printing (once I sorted out the method and ink I liked) also has a soothing rhythm to it. I think that in a way it is similar to my earlier experience with jewellery where there are steps in the process and only at the end of the process do get to see how the finished piece looks. Cyanotype was something that I came to notice once I started printing, it is however very different. I consider it more of a playful way of making with less planning and often unexpected results. I do combine the two methods by using the Cyanotype images as backgrounds to some Lino prints of botanical mono prints. I feel nature does appear in my work often.
LSA: Is there a new technique, material, or idea you’re excited to explore in your art practice?
