I am Programme Lead for Animation at SODA, Manchester Metropolitan University, where I lead the Animation programme and deliver teaching across the department, with a particular focus on designing and making for stop-motion production.

I am an animator, designer and creative generalist with a background in animation production and art. My practice is rooted in making, experimentation and visual storytelling, and I am interested in how materials, techniques and different ways of working can shape an idea. Rather than working within a single medium, I often develop the process around the project, combining approaches such as puppetry, paper, felt, bookbinding, set building, prop making and other tactile techniques.

I began my career in children’s stop-motion television production after completing a BA (Hons) in Animation in the Netherlands and undertaking further training at the Aardman Academy. Working in studio environments gave me experience across a range of disciplines and an understanding of the collaborative processes that connect them. I worked as an animator on productions including Bob the Builder, Miffy and Clangers, before moving into freelance practice as a self-employed creative generalist.

I later completed an MA in Graphic Design and Art Direction at Manchester Metropolitan University, expanding my practice through research into analogue and digital techniques and the relationship between making, design and communication.

My teaching and creative practice are closely connected. I am particularly interested in creating an environment where experimentation, collaboration and curiosity are central to learning animation, and in helping students find the most appropriate techniques and processes for the ideas they want to develop. A recurring interest in my own work is the idea of the series, where individual frames, objects or artefacts retain their own identity while contributing to a larger whole.

Sustainability is an important part of both my academic and creative work. Alongside my role as Carbon Literacy and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Lead at SODA, I am interested in how animation, design and making can contribute to conversations around environmental responsibility. This includes exploring the materials and processes we use as practitioners, as well as the potential of visual storytelling to engage audiences with environmental issues.

One example is De Tuin met Stip, a children’s book and wider educational project I developed with a Dutch climate specialist for children aged 5–8, exploring local ecological environments. The project developed into an associated educational programme and has since been adopted by 40 nature education centres across the Netherlands, reaching hundreds of primary school children.

Across my programme leadership, teaching and creative practice, I am interested in making things, figuring things out, and helping students develop the confidence and skills to find their own ways of doing the same.