Megan Dowsett is a creative consultant working in museums, galleries and the arts, an illustrator who is finding her voice through personal and local projects, and a parent to two young beings who can't help but influence her creative journey.
Through the name Norris and the Flamingo, she shares the sense of adventure that runs through all of life, wherever we are on our journey. A sense of imagination, of possibility and discovery, for children and adults alike.

31 December 2013
8 December 2013
Collagraphs with Little People





1 December 2013
John's Retirement Gift
27 November 2013
Bookshelves at the Riverside Gallery

24 November 2013
Monoprinting with Grown Ups

Here, from top to bottom, we have the work of Ruth and Armi.

2 November 2013
Margaret Nicholson
I indulged in the treat of visiting the Knitting and Stitching Show for the second time in a year, this time at Alexandra Palace. I managed to be completely full of inspiration and ideas before I'd evenhanded over my ticket, largely thanks to a retrospective exhibition in the forecourt of work by Margaret Nicholson.
I don't feel these images do justice to the detail, breadth and style of the exhibition, but they will have to simply give a taste ... Much of her work (eg, above) was the intricate, painstaking work of On Nue, a technique I'd never come across before and will never have the patience to try, in which silk threads are used to couch gold bands onto calico. Despite the hours spent on these however, the work that really appealed to me was the goldwork embroidery - not only the technique, but the designs, inspiration taken from her travels and the journey from design to final execution.
I've treated myself to a few golden threads ...
I don't feel these images do justice to the detail, breadth and style of the exhibition, but they will have to simply give a taste ... Much of her work (eg, above) was the intricate, painstaking work of On Nue, a technique I'd never come across before and will never have the patience to try, in which silk threads are used to couch gold bands onto calico. Despite the hours spent on these however, the work that really appealed to me was the goldwork embroidery - not only the technique, but the designs, inspiration taken from her travels and the journey from design to final execution.
I've treated myself to a few golden threads ...
26 October 2013
Inspired by Madge Gill


Now I have put their work together to make a dress, inspired by Madge Gill's dresses in Lausanne and Sydney, and it's on display in the new Madge Gill exhibition at Orleans House Gallery.
This is my first venture into dress making and I think I've caught the bug. Next stop, acquiring a sewing machine of my own!
19 October 2013
Steamy Science at the London Transport Museum



16 October 2013
The Dragon Book on Tour

12 October 2013
5 October 2013
Down With It at the London Transport Museum

28 September 2013
Book Arts at the Summer Exhibition
Returning to my discoveries in my visit to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, I thought I'd turn to book arts.
I think my appreciation of the book arts will be satiated when I've made a few more artist books myself; for now, even the relatively traditional interpreta-
tions of this art form make me want to get stuck in with transforming a book.
Alexander Korzer-Robinson is a very patient man! I love the way he takes the imagery that exists within the book and, through paper-cutting, transforms it from a book into a stage.
It's always nice to see a familiar 'face'; I first came across Claire Brewster's work in the Mind the Map exhibition at the London Transport Museum a year ago. It seems she still makes beautiful paper cuts, often of birds, usually from maps, thus tying together the favourite themes of myself and Mr Liam my husband!
The work of Francisca Prieto made me want to up my ante, return to origami and take on imagery at the same time.

I think my appreciation of the book arts will be satiated when I've made a few more artist books myself; for now, even the relatively traditional interpreta-
tions of this art form make me want to get stuck in with transforming a book.
Alexander Korzer-Robinson is a very patient man! I love the way he takes the imagery that exists within the book and, through paper-cutting, transforms it from a book into a stage.
It's always nice to see a familiar 'face'; I first came across Claire Brewster's work in the Mind the Map exhibition at the London Transport Museum a year ago. It seems she still makes beautiful paper cuts, often of birds, usually from maps, thus tying together the favourite themes of myself and Mr Liam my husband!
The work of Francisca Prieto made me want to up my ante, return to origami and take on imagery at the same time.
25 September 2013
21 September 2013
Summer at the London Transport Museum

This activity, 'Tackling Tunnels', focussed on the cut and cover techniques used to make the early underground tunnels. Following a storytime narrated by a tunnel labourer, families were tasked to build their own tunnels, strong and big enough for a small wooden train to pass through...

3 September 2013
Madge Gill and Cyanotypes






I remain an eternal fan of the imaginative drawing of children. Above, the sense of design, space and proportion of sisters Jasmine and Kira particularly caught my eye.
30 August 2013
Print Rooms at the Summer Exhibition
To my sadness, I stumbled across the Print Rooms at the tail end of my visit to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and they were, inevitably, my favourite place; filled with inspiration, and with a wall of mesmerising book arts thrown in for good measure. For my own benefit as much as anyone else's, here I aim to list a few of my favourite print pieces, for me to refer back to on a rainy day ... I shall return to the book artists at a later date.
This is Silent Spring by Rebecca Jewell, with pictures of birds printed directly onto a mass of feathers. All the things that most catch my imagination ... beauty, birds and the memory of their song, and an entirely unusual canvas!
I couldn't find the piece that caught my eye in the exhibition, but the work of Mila Furstova is something I would like to explore further. I'm captured by the delicacy of her designs, and entranced by the way she takes her prints and then manipulates them, on a whole range of paper cuts, folds and structures. The piece in the exhibition was a spiral of imagery so delicate that I had to check the label to identify the medium.
There's something reassuring in finding yourself drawn to the work of a well-known artist. As if to confirm that the choices of the establishment aren't entirely arbitrary, but there is some kind of common aesthetic. Stephen Chambers attracted me last time I visited - the world of pattern, decorative detail and fairytale. A whole wall was dedicated to these 'Fantasmi' - a world of gold leaf and pattern from the days of icons.
This piece drew me on two levels ... first for the mixed media painting an printing, the colours, textures and patterns ... and then because I recognised it ... Charlotte Hodes has a piece in the Crafts Council Block Party exhibition currently on show at Orleans House Gallery. It's like seeing an old friend!
This is Silent Spring by Rebecca Jewell, with pictures of birds printed directly onto a mass of feathers. All the things that most catch my imagination ... beauty, birds and the memory of their song, and an entirely unusual canvas!
I couldn't find the piece that caught my eye in the exhibition, but the work of Mila Furstova is something I would like to explore further. I'm captured by the delicacy of her designs, and entranced by the way she takes her prints and then manipulates them, on a whole range of paper cuts, folds and structures. The piece in the exhibition was a spiral of imagery so delicate that I had to check the label to identify the medium.
There's something reassuring in finding yourself drawn to the work of a well-known artist. As if to confirm that the choices of the establishment aren't entirely arbitrary, but there is some kind of common aesthetic. Stephen Chambers attracted me last time I visited - the world of pattern, decorative detail and fairytale. A whole wall was dedicated to these 'Fantasmi' - a world of gold leaf and pattern from the days of icons.
This piece drew me on two levels ... first for the mixed media painting an printing, the colours, textures and patterns ... and then because I recognised it ... Charlotte Hodes has a piece in the Crafts Council Block Party exhibition currently on show at Orleans House Gallery. It's like seeing an old friend!
26 August 2013
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
In the nick of time, I made it to Royal Academy's Summer exhibition. The thoughts, ideas and discoveries of new artists (to me, at least!) are too many for one entry, so I shall share them over a few in the coming weeks. To start with though, the initial wow factor: El Anatsui's hanging installation in the courtyard.
22 August 2013
Carnival Hats


For Art Club's contribution to this year's Twickenham Carnival parade, I was keen to give a creative free reign to my group, who feature a number of talented, imaginative and independently minded souls. I knew they'd relish the opportunity to simply 'go for it' and really, there's nothing I like better than moving about, helping each person solve the troubles they encounter on their own mission.


That said, we needed some coherence in order to be recognised as a group. They were tasked with making hats, as flamboyant as possible, and fitting with this year's theme of 'gardens'. Furthermore, we were requested by the lead Carnival artists to keep a colour scheme of 'hot colours' for our flowers. And so we set to work ...
18 August 2013
More Linocut Magic



14 August 2013
10 August 2013
Art Club Paints on Silk


6 August 2013
Make and Paper ... Mache


Fi, above, brought in a chair and transformed it into a decoupage masterpiece. All in all, we merely touched on the numerous theraeuptic possibilities of papier mache!
26 June 2013
William Morris' Birds
Itching for a treat of day out, I decided to head north to the William Morris Gallery. It's been on my radar a lot recently - having re-opened after extensive refurbishments, I first saw the jobs and then the photos, and now it has the additional prestige of having won the Art Fund prize.
I had a wonderful time - it's tremendously inspiring to follow a story of such business success within the creative realm, and since Morris combined this with a sensitivity to the issues of society, he couldn't really make me happier!
From a sketching perspective of course, I kept my eye open for the birds, and filled my pages with Morris' birds.

From a sketching perspective of course, I kept my eye open for the birds, and filled my pages with Morris' birds.
23 June 2013
Woven Swirls

Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)