From the archives: Listening to the materials with Alice Fox

Natural fibre artist Alice Fox discusses her process-led practice, working with rust, plant dyes, foraged fibres and hand-bound books shaped by materials found and grown. A former nature conservationist, she describes turning her allotment into an ongoing residency, exploring self-sufficiency in art materials. This conversation covers sustainability, self-publishing, and letting the properties of natural materials guide the work.

Show Notes

Key takeaways from this episode:

• Self-sufficiency as creative discipline. Alice's allotment project shows how growing and gathering your own materials deepens the meaning and intimacy of finished work.

• Turning setbacks into momentum. Alic's early Arts Council rejection, resubmitted and later funded, is a reminder that persistence often precedes recognition.

• Letting unpredictability be part of the process. Her approach to natural inks and dyes, some fugitive and some lightfast, models comfort with unpredictable, organic outcomes over controlled results.

• Documenting process through self-publishing. Her series of self-made books demonstrates how sharing the journey of a body of work can be as valuable as the finished pieces themselves.

• Protecting your practice from overcommitment. Alice's reflections on teaching versus studio time offer a useful model for artists balancing income-generating work with creative focus
  

During the live interview, we shared some images of Alice’s artwork. If you’re listening to the podcast version, we’ve made these images available for you below. 

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Explore the images from this episode: