I am a Professor of Applied Theatre for Health and Wellbeing in Paediatric Services, and a silk painter whose work is rooted in memory, ritual, and emotion.
I paint on pure 100% silk using aquarelle and mixed techniques that I learned as a child, working side by side with my mother playing with colour, water, and quiet magic long before rules existed.
Stories sit at the heart of everything I do. My work in applied theatre has taught me how narrative, imagination, and play can help us process what is difficult, overwhelming, or traumatic. I draw on my love of fiction and fantasy to translate everyday experiences into poetic forms that offer reflection, relief, and emotional release.
Through colour and texture, I seek to create a gentle, healing debriefing space (relaxed, sensory, and human) where we can step outside guidelines, metrics, and rules and simply feel.
When I paint, I never rehearse. I go straight onto the white silk, trusting the process and stamping my emotions through bold, vibrant colours. The soft tones of English nature are given a twist, infused with a Mediterranean splash of colour. Water leads the way, reacting unexpectedly with wax, salt, copper, silver, and gold. No structure, no limits, no expectations.
If my work speaks to you and you would like to know more, I warmly invite you to get in touch at psextou@gmail.com
I also love painting scarves and shawls for everyday use. Silk is a living fabric: it keeps us warm in winter, cool in summer, and moves effortlessly across all dressing styles and identities.
Painting is my ritual of wellbeing and remembrance, a way of staying connected to my belated mother. I paint for myself, I share my work with friends, and I surrender to the freedom of watercolours—going with the flow and embracing the unpredictability of colour on wet silk.