Please tell us a little about yourself.
I am a mother of a young son, Morgan, and live with my partner, Chris, and an assortment of birds and animals in a small cottage on the banks of the River Wye. I am also a musician and started to learn piano and violin at an early age. I have worked a great deal behind the scenes with various arts organisations and when supporting other artists.
What's your story about?
My story is about the years I was on stage rather than behind the scenes. This was with Straight From The Wood, a seven-piece electric folk band that gigged for a couple of years in the late 1980s and early 90s. We played pubs, clubs, benefits, festivals, made and sold a couple of demo albums, appeared on the front cover of Wales' folk and traditional music magazine and had a couple of promising reviews in various national folk magazines. I talk about what happened to some of the band members when we split up, having got bored of waiting to get famous.
Why did you choose to tell this particular story?
I wanted to tell the story because it was a time in my life I remember with huge affection and pride, even though we didn't shoot to stardom, even though it wasn't 'a proper job' and even though I suspect what I did may be frowned upon by many (like my mum!) as a waste of time and energy. I wanted to exhort others to live their dreams even if it is likely those dreams will remain unfulfilled.
What did you find most rewarding about the workshop?
I found the discipline involved in the digital storytelling format meant I really had to pare things down to get to the real nub of the story. Each stage of the workshop was challenging but achieved the desired outcomes with surprising ease and enjoyment. The extraordinarily effective (and lovely!) tutors helped me get to grips with the film-making software in just two days.