Hello! I am Gemila, a Broadstairs based artist specialising in the almost forgotten art of Seaweed Pressing alongside Curated Shell Collage and Seaweed Cyanotype. It is an absolute love of being down by the shore and the mindfulness it fosters that ignites and inspires my creativity combined with a firm belief that we need to both value and protect our British coastlines and celebrate their astonishing diversity.

With sustainability at the heart of my practice, I forage on Thanet beaches at low tide, collecting small amounts of ‘drift’ (detached pieces of seaweed that are floating freely). I take these specimens back home to begin the drying process in my hand made wooden presses before transforming them into delicate works of preserved natural art.

Some of my pressed seaweeds are destined for the creation of striking cyanotypes (an early form of camera-less photography resulting in a distinctive blueprint finish).

Shell / fossil collages are my most recent endeavour and feature carefully curated and painstakingly presented shells, fossils and other beach curios. All are found locally and are chosen based on their interesting shapes, patterns and textures.

 

When not pressing seaweed or running after my three children, I teach women's history of World War One and Two and I am a coastal warden with the Thanet Coast Project.