Sally Light is the textile artist and maker behind Bodkin Beak. She has a degree in Creative writing and a rich experience of working in textile trades.

Since being awarded a Somerset Art Works Creative Pathways Bursary in 2023, she has been developing her textile practice, initially drawing on her personal memories of working as a mender at Fox Brothers’ mill.

‘At the end of each shift, after spending hours touching cloth, smoothing, feeling for knots or badly spun yarn, pulling out bits of straw caught up in spun fibres, my palms used to tingle. It was as though, even when resting, my hands were alert, it felt like a gift.’

With sustainability in mind, and a compulsion to create from the waste cloth and yarns she has access to through her previous paid employment, Sally has rediscovered her love for rag rug making; a craft she first learnt about when providing creative activities for older people in care homes.

The Gallery page show examples of her textiles that include: rag rug and hooked work, ‘Badges – with – backstories’, ‘Button Spool Books’ and soundscape/art installation.