Michelle Wilkinson

I am on a journey of embodiment. My strong desire to connect my moving body with my outer world of seascapes and woodlands has brought me, since 2006, to attend regular individual sessions, workshops and movement training with independent movement artist Helen Poynor on the world Heritage Coast of West Dorset and East Devon www.walkoflife.co.uk . 

My mat-based sessions have been greatly influenced by my practice and exploration of Shiatsu (Diploma from Bristol School of Shiatsu) since 1990 and Feldenkrais with Shelagh O’Neill (Cornwall) and Tricia Woods (Exeter) since 2006.

With an education degree in movement and dance from Exeter University, I spent a post-graduate year at the Laban Centre, London in 1980, where I studied movement and dance in the community. On my return to Devon I attended a variety of yoga classes and workshops both in Exeter and Totnes and from this developed a daily practice, which became an important part of my movement exploration.

Since the early 80s I have been teaching weekly sessions, individual sessions and workshops in movement and dance to variety of people and groups in and around the Exmouth area. These include children, students, professional adults, adults with learning disabilities and retired residents. By 1996 the fusion of my present Yoga Dance work started to emerge and continues to evolve.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the importance of my teachers especially those named here. I would like to recognise them as a source of inspiration and movement scores that I may adapt to use in my own Yoga Dance teaching. I would also like to thank the participants of my sessions and workshops who support and grow my work.

I have been using visual and written art forms as a way of recording my explorations and discoveries and these have been deeply enriched by my creative collaboration with Pauline Dyer since 1998. We move and make artwork from simple found materials in the environment. We record our experiences in digital images, which are printed onto handmade paper and mounted onto wooden frames. In 1997  www.movingnature.co.uk was formed. My work with Moving Nature has brought me to explore the relationship between movement and environmental art. . I now run spring and autumn Estuary Art Workshops.      

Pauline Dyer

Nature has always played an important part in my life from my earliest days near the Blaise Castle woodlands, Bristol and school at Kings Weston House with its magical surroundings. Then later to life on the tropical island of Mauritius, followed by the last 30 years in which I have lived close to the River Otter in Devon. It is here that I have taken much of my artistic inspiration from the walks surrounding the banks of the river and the beautiful Jurassic coastline nearby.  A love of making art led me to a 2 year course in Art and Design at Exeter College followed by 3 years at the University of Plymouth, culminating in a degree in Art History with Design Arts. Over the years I have worked on art projects with children and adults using different media including mosaic, fabric and found objects.  

Inspired by the natural world that I have encountered whilst exploring in my locality,  Michelle and I have been moving and creating art works in the environment.   We then create artworks for sale and exhibition from digital images, which are reproduced on handmade paper such as Elephant Dung paper www.greenelephant.org.uk and other natural materials,