The Blocked Babushka is a blog about creative expression, mainly through different forms of portraiture. It’s about overcoming creative obstacles. It’s also a place for ideas, reflections and connections otherwise unshared, forgotten or lost in the clutter of daily life. For many years I felt blocked creatively as I struggled to express my ideas without attacking them in the process. With a persistence born of absolute necessity, I am no longer the 'blocked babushka' I once was and I would love to share my journey with you.

Babushkas feature a lot in my artwork. I’ve always been drawn to their inner selves, their resilient smiles and decorative insignia. For me they are a cocoon-like fortress, a family of unlimited associations.

The first one I made was for a Uni assignment. We had to create a sculpture in response to the topic Family and Memory. I decided to build a giant babushka doll made of paper mâché based on my memory of a set my Dad gave me when I was little and paint my family home on the front. The way I remembered it, these dolls were larger than life, colourful and filled with puzzling promise. I wanted to compare this childhood memory of the dolls with the adult reality of the actual dolls which were still at my parent’s place. When I had built my big shiny red babushka I was amazed to see how exuberantly colourful she was compared with the actual dolls which were small with plain woody tones and not even red - I could have sworn they were red at least!

Inside the doll I collaged precious memories which my Mum wrote about my childhood. She passed away not long after the doll was finished and I cherish her hand writing and memories - most of them funny. I keep some of her special things inside the doll and every time I read her writing it always reminds me that she was one happy babushka!

Since this first creation and the memory journey it took me on, the babushka has become one of my most enduring symbols for the complexities of life, the paradoxes of smiles and what they can hide, and the way that family dynamics can shape us but we also have the ability to break the mould.