and Some colouring in of important words. @tina.bullen What is the power of 'and' #AbbieCairns #TinaBullen #Power #And #CreativeColchester

Some bodies and some directions. Which way is which? #AbbieCairns #Figure #PenOnPaper #Art #ArtSketch

More pencil lines and a little faceless face. #AbbieCairns #Figures #3Dto2D #Drawing #CreativeColchester

creepy crawly canvas Pen on wooden canvas. I think I want to add more lines and layers. And I haven't decided if I am annoyed by the pencil lines yet. #AbbieCairns #Figures #3Dto2D #Drawing #CreativeColchester

The figures continue to emerge. Lots of lines, lots of limbs. Some overlapping. A work in progress. #AbbieCairns #Figures #CreativeColchester #Art #WorkInProgress

Share your reflections, connect with fellow educators and researchers, and contribute to shaping the dialogue. This week we ask how are school leaders in your context justifying digitalisation? Paper: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... #SpotlightSundays #JVET

I am in my collage era. I am really enjoying ripping up paper and sticking it back down. I think it is all about time. #AbbieCairns #Collage #Time #CreativeColchester #EssexArtist

Notebook sketches on time. Biro on paper. #AbbieCairns #Sketch #Doodle #Time #BiroOnPaper

One month to go until the 4th Artist-Teacher in Adult Community Learning Conference with the National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD)! @nsead.bsky.social www.eventbookings.com/b/event/maki...

The figures are emerging. Some notebook doodling. #AbbieCairns #Figures #Sketch #Art #WorkInProgress

My studio is full of piles of bits that I can't bring myself to throw away. Maybe it will be art one day. #AbbieCairns #Studio #ArtStudio #LeftOverArt #OldArt

Just a little stretch #AbbieCairns #PatchColchester #lines #Figure #DigitalDrawing

Installation day Patch Colchester Lines Open today until 28th February! Patch Colchester 24 Trinity St Colchester CO1 1JN #AbbieCairns #PatchColchester #Lines #LineDrawing #ColchesterArtist

I’ve been waiting for this to land! FE’s Teacher Educators. A timely and much appreciated report. #furthereducation lnkd.in/eA4chaAS

Big fan of shiny things. Like this letter P. #AbbieCairns #TinaBullen #Shiny #TextArt #ArtCollaboration

In the studio yesterday being a punk tina.bullen Some text, some tape. A definite happy place. #AbbieCairns #TextArt #TapeArt #Punk ##TineBullen

From digital to biro, getting ready for the canvas. A little art process. #AbbieCairns #Sketch #Figure #Yoga #ArtProcess

This week’s Sunday spotlight shines on the theme introduced during this week’s New Text Tuesday. This week we ask do you think vocational lessons benefit from more structured conceptual scaffolding, or does it risk oversimplifying practical knowledge? #SpotlightSundays #JVET

Be more tree. Digital line drawing. #AbbieCairns #CreativeColchester #LineDrawing #Yoga #DigitalArt

Essential tools. I am never too far away from a pen or a pencil. Thought, I prefer a pen! Some lunchtime line drawing. #AbbieCairns #LineDrawing #PenAndPencil #ArtistTools #CreativeColchester

Some bits of some art. A little tape collection! Tape by Abbie, doodles by tina.bullen #AbbieCairns #TapeArt #Studio #ColchesterArtist #TinaBullen

Some warm orange on a cold morning! #AbbieCairns #Orange #Paint #Collaboration #TineBullen

Let's get digital! (Because the studio is far too cold!) These little figures are taking over. These are some quick photo edits to remove background and play with placement. What next?! #AbbieCairns #CreativeColchester #ColchesterArtist #Figures #DigitalArt

I am pleased to be exhibiting at Patch Colchester this February. Patch Colchester, 24 Trinity Street 2–28 February 2026 Mon–Sat, 10–4 If you are local, do stop by! #AbbieCairns #PatchColchester #LineDrawing #ColchesterArtist #Exhibition

I have got arrows on my mind and some big plans for these little sculptures! 3D to 2D to... something else! The originals are currently on exhibition at Colchester Library. Catch them while you can. Exhibition: Collaboration of Artists Dates: 9 January – 27 February 2026

to offer an evidence-informed, practice-focused resource for FE practitioners, teacher educators, and leaders. How to express interest please complete the short form here: forms.gle/wFqEcZfo2FJR...

and values throughout their careers. The book explores professional identity within the contemporary FE landscape, drawing on research by Deci and Ryan (2013), Briggs (2007), Freire (1998), Smithers (2017), Rushton (2021), and others. It aims

Call for Participants: Case Studies for The Motivations, Values and Identity Toolkit for Further Education Teachers I am seeking FE teachers to contribute case studies to a new book that examines how teachers understand, sustain, and navigate their motivations, conflicts,

Exhibition: Collaboration of Artists Dates: 9 January – 27 February 2026 Venue: Colchester Library Gallery #AbbieCairns #ColchesterLibrary #ColchesterArtist #Art #Figure

I decided to get tangled up in it. Or rather, I decided to tangle up my falling figure with it. This installation makes this old work new again, allowing it to tell a difference story and live a new life for the next couple of months!

I enjoy a playful approach to my art practice and took the opportunity to continue to play as I installed my work in the new gallery space at Colchester Library! The hanging system relies on there long plastic-wire lines and instead of trying to hide the left over length,

It has been a privilege to be invited to exhibit in the inaugural exhibition of the newly renovated Colchester Library Gallery. Exhibition: Collaboration of Artists Dates: 9 January – 27 February 2026 Venue: Colchester Library Gallery

Today was installation day at Colchester Library! Pop by before the end of February to see a collection of my work!

pick Inky pens and watercolours. Tina, I have been playing! 2026 is the year our collaboration efforts will be exhibited! #AbbieCairns #TextArt #ColchesterArtist #EssexArt #TinaBullen

development across the FE sector, including vocational, adult, prison, and academic pathways. If you are quick, you can access the full article via one of my 50 free eprints here: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/QRYEX...

Drawing on qualitative interviews with nine FE teachers, the study examines five lenses, time, passion, professional influence, personal fulfilment, and remuneration, to illuminate role multiplicity, CPD engagement, and workforce

The paper applies the Network of Enterprises (Wallace and Gruber 1989), responding to critiques of its individual focus by foregrounding the structural and systemic conditions shaping FE teachers’ professional identities.

I am pleased to share that my latest article has now been published online in Research in Post-Compulsory Education (Taylor & Francis). Cairns, A. (2025). Lenses influencing professional identity in Further Education in the UK.

That was fun!

Zentangle offers an accessible, low-threshold approach to drawing that supports focus, wellbeing, and confidence! I am looking forward to slowing down, thinking with patterns, and ending the term creatively with learners.

Ready for a festive holiday Zentangle session with my WEA - Adult Learning, Within Reach learners 🎄 This session focuses on structured creativity, mindfulness, and personal expression through pattern-making.

Last few days to catch the Colchester Art Society: Winter Exhibition! Closing 22 December 2025 The Minories 74 High Street. Colchester. CO1 1UE Open 10am–4pm Pop upstairs to find my Ice Skates. A layered line drawing. Wooden canvas. Quiet marks. Winter pause. Material play.

A self portrait. Another deep dive into identity. Yoga and art unit! Digital line drawing. #SelfPortrait #Portrait #Hands #Feet #Head

Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, each pencil became a metaphor for different strengths, ways of knowing, and forms of expression. A simple object, but a powerful prompt for principles such as celebrating diversity, fostering creativity, and empowering learner choice.

These objects opened up rich conversations around connectivism, growth and development, humanism, child-centred approaches, and the historical contexts of education. I chose a set of coloured pencils. Through the lenses of diversity and inclusion and

Together, we shared our objects, located them within particular theories or paradigms, and discussed how these ideas might shape the educational manifesto they will later create. The range was wonderfully expansive: apps, plants, bridges, woven mats, and even an abacus!

Week 2 of my MA module, and we began by thinking with objects. Learners were asked to bring an object or image that represents the school of educational thinking they most align with, accompanied by a short written justification.

Faceless. #Sketch #DigitalSketch #SundaySketch #portrait #SelfPortrait #Line #LineDrawing #Face #Identity #FaceLess #CreativeColchester #ColchesterArtist #EssexArtist #EmergingArtist #AbbieCairns

Now for a pause, before they start the new year with a focus on pedagogical intervention.

broadening the theoretical frames used to think about learning and practice. The session culminated in the creation of zines inspired by Ronnie Houselander, using visual, playful, and critical making as a form of pedagogical inquiry.