With the sound of gently crashing waves in the background, Beate is cocooned in a space of creation, innovation and inspiration. 

Water has been a constant influence in Beate’s life, from growing up by the tributaries of the Rhine in Germany, to the Celtic sea which fills the in-between of her formative home and settled home, in Wales. Now the Atlantic, the soundtrack to her creation, reminds her of the potential her work and pieces hold.

Beate’s time spent teaching in higher education focused on research and developing and sharing practices with future generations of artists. Always a curious soul, she encouraged applications for European funding in order to acquire tools such as textile printers, the early emanations of a Macintosh, and laser cutters: at that time only the second University in the UK to utilise such tech. Beate inspired her students with the use of innovative technologies, her curiosity for what's next, remains ever-present. 

Beate’s Hidden Words bowls, one of her most inspired works, were first created in May 2019 in the Künstlerwerkstätten, Art Institute of Erfurt, Germany. The hollow centre of each bowl holds an absent space, a space for potential, an in-between, where innovation broods. This in-between is where Beate finds herself, comfortably spanning the cultural differences of Germany and Wales, between seas, between languages. 

The nature of the activity and excitement in the arcades of Paris, and opulence in Milan,  provided the inspiration for her pieces, Sprachwandel (Translation: language change). With sweeping steel arches, hollow circles, and tiny arches of felt netting, all draw from the beautiful, complex features and characters of such animated spaces.  

Beate’s cheerful disposition has been channelled into her art, by contemplative and curious thought and practise. Metaphorically speaking, her work is in a near constant state of flow, forming dialogues between dissimilar materials, from nationally sourced soft velvet paper to plates of steel. Her work carries continual symbolism and powerful themes. These notions flow freely from her working hands: from etching to inking, to patience and perseverance with the arts of fire, ceramics and enamelling.