Having been a presenter and conducted workshops at SAMA conferences in 2008 (Miami) and 2010 (Chicago) it will be wonderful to return to the States in 2014. I lived in New Hampshire for 3 years as a small child and so any return to the USA holds special meaning for me. I have many great friends and esteemed colleagues there.

I genuinely love teaching – especially when I am doing only a few stints of it each year and when those I am working with are similarly excited by the subject. Next year I am off to conduct an expanded version of the Design and Cartooning for Mosaics course I ran at the 2013 MAANZ (Mosaic Association of Australia and New Zealand) Symposium in Melbourne in August.

Dwarfed in my studio as I am by a large reproduction of Napier Waller’s cartoon for ‘I’ll put a girdle round the earth’ and having trained and practiced as a painter for so many years, cartooning is naturally a great passion of mine.

Below: 2011 Arts Open, Helen Bodycomb (seated) photo Adrian Saunders