For my MA I wrote and illustrated a book using digital collage. I created little models (the Winnie the Pooh island statue is a toy Winnie the Pooh on some driftwood with air drying clay and spray paint). I found a lovely little toy rabbit in a vintage toy shop. He was my main character. I had a lot of photographs from trips around Scotland, Japan and Morocco. I collaged it all together to create a dreamy world where the rabbit is having an adventure and helping all his friends. The plot line is very similar to the Barbie movie! The animals are trapped working in McDonalds and the little rabbit goes to rescue them. I was thinking of the plastic toys in Happy Meals which I realised were a perversion of the idea of “transitional objects” as discussed by the psychotherapist Donald Winnicott. The toys are attaching children to the brand. In this case, McDonalds.

It was in creating this book that I realised I loved making patterns. I had always loved making patterns for divider slides in PowerPoint. It can elevate a deck nicely. Here I realised I would like to take that further.