Jo Spicer

Jo Spicer serves as a Senior Lecturer in Illustration at Cardiff School of Art & Design, Cardiff Metropolitan University, where she also holds the position of Level 4 Subject Leader. In this role, she encourages students to play and explore as an integral part of developing their personal visual language and artistic identity.

With a professional background in commercial illustration for editorial, book jackets, and advertising, Jo transformed her practice after completing an MA in Illustration at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her creative research centers on the concept of 'drawing dance,' inspired by childhood memories of aspiring to be a ballerina. She investigates connections between drawing, the human body, and dance, focusing on conveying movement and documenting 'traces of dance.'

Jo's methodology evolved from precise, formulaic approaches to more fluid and unpredictable techniques. She expanded her practice by drawing 'off the page' and incorporating tangible, tactile materials, which fundamentally shifted her understanding of drawing as an expressive medium. Through combining drawing with creative writing, she discovered how meaning emerges organically, revealing a consistent personal narrative throughout her work.

Her creative output has been applied in educational contexts, notably when her drawings and poems were used as stimuli for Year 10 GCSE dance students at Fallibroome Academy in Macclesfield. In this collaborative project, dancers reinterpreted her work, transforming its meaning through their personal perspectives. Jo emphasizes that effective learning requires self-trust, vulnerability, collaboration, and openness to unexpected outcomes.