I grew up in the beautiful coastal countryside of Pembrokeshire, South Wales. Inspired by nature and the creative people around me, I always loved drawing and making things. In 1986 I fulfilled my dream of ‘going to art college’. After studying art and design in Basingstoke I went on to graduate in Fine Art at Brighton polytechnic in 1989 specialising in sculpture.
Following graduation I found myself confused about the role of ‘artist’. My understanding at that time was that my childhood dream of a creative life was rather naive and old-fashioned. I was at a loss as to how to proceed as ‘an artist’.
In 1990 I started the daily Buddhist practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and made Daisaku Ikeda my mentor in life. Buddhism helped me to reconnect with my love of nature and gave me renewed hope and a vision of a way forward. Dr Ikeda writes in his essay ‘The Flowering of Creative Life Force’; “Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway of life itself.” The idea of living a ‘creative life’ deeply resonated with me.
I settled in Brighton where I am now based and have raised a family. After working in various roles in the local community, I eventually studied for an MA in Inclusive Arts Practice and Research (graduating in 2015). This gave me the opportunity to finally start to ‘unpick’ some of my previous misconceptions about the role of art and artists. I now work as a Studio Artist with The Rocket Artists, run a weekly inclusive art group locally, and other projects.
In 2019, I became fascinated with quilt making. The lockdown in 2020 gave me an opportunity to immerse myself in this medium and I still enjoy this way of working. You can see my first collection here.
Eve Turner-Lee 