Isabel Adonis from Llandudno lets us in on the inspirations behind her recent exhibition at the Llandudno Museum.

"Albert Camus wrote that the work of an artist was nothing 'but a slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art one or two things in whose presence his heart first opened.'

In my case my journey of artistic rediscovery leads me back to mam, to the 'dark' Welsh woman whose passion fed my love of cloth, of painting, of 'making do' with what you had.

I make curtains, dolls and cloth paintings out of scraps of cloth and I paint bright living colours on pieces of waste board.

I made my first quilt after noticing that there were scraps left over from the endless sewing my mother was doing. I had no idea what a quilt looked like, nor had I even heard the name 'quilt' when I began to put those first squares together. And I'm still doing that!

From there I began to experiment with making cloth pictures, otherwise known as appliqué. These are mainly images of the Welsh cottages I love so much. I also use this cottage motif on patchwork curtains and cushions.

Of particular importance to me are the folk dolls that I make. These small black dolls are made to represent an inner black identity that is common to us all, both black and white. Our house in Africa was full of religious artefacts and iconic figures and these are what inspired me to make these 'spiritual figures.'

My original doll is called black girl and represents what is dark and feminine in all of us. The inner space is the repository of sadness, but also the well of happiness. My doll, Yemaya was inspired by the Yoruba religion and Umoja symbolising the great mother, the ruler of the seas and rivers and the goddess of fertility. The colour of her dress is blue and white, the lace representing the froth on the water.

Another one of my dolls is based on Alice in Wonderland. She has a mountain of yellow hair and is dressed in a pale blue dress.

There are also my black and white patriotic dolls. One of my favourite dolls is called Anansi. She has many arms and she represents the multiplicity of functions of the female."