An Unconventional Start

Born to two artists in an arts center/commune I grew up in a family more unconventional then most. The house was a large old pub with rehearsal studios in the basement, a reception and bar on the ground floor, a dance studio, my mother’s studio and the communal kitchen on the first floor, my father’s room, my room, the bathroom and living room on the second and five more bedrooms on the third.

The house was always full of musicians and bands from punk to reggae and an eccentric mix of performers, actors, writers and artists who used the studios or lived in the house.

My father worked hard running the place alongside a constant stream of community projects, festivals and exhibitions, while my mother worked as an artist in her studio. I was their first and only child, growing up my family were not brothers or sisters but this eccentric mix of people, their other halves and children.

Although I don't remember much from when I was very young there are lots of photos of me covered in paint and muck in the kitchen or garden and the Birthday parties that were held for me in the dance studio playing parse the parcel. My favourite is of me and my best friend in the laundry basket which my dad would slide across the polished kitchen floor as we squealed.