Born in Brighton Sussex, I was encouraged in my love of painting by the Brighton Evening Argus newspaper who sponsored me from the age of 6 to 10 to attend Saturday morning art classes at Brighton Art School. Although these classes were for adults, I loved being part of it and Saturdays were the highlight of my week. After picking me up from the class, my mum would either take me to the playground on the level via Pip’s ice-cream shop or, if it was raining, we’d nip into Brighton museum which fed my love and admiration for design, art and artifacts and natural beauty.

Despite hating school, I started my adult career as a teacher with a degree in English and Sociology of education. I taught at various schools in London which left me little time or energy for making art. Although I enjoyed the challenges of teaching, I decided to engage more in art and began attending a few classes at adult education colleges. It was a wonderful print-making tutor who encouraged me to apply to art school.

I graduated from St Martin’s School of Art in London (now the University of the Arts) in 1989 and returned the following term to work as a technician and part-time tutor. There followed a few years of teaching various art courses to adults at adult education colleges in London and in 2000 I became head of art and music at the prestigious Mary Ward Center for adult education until I retired in 2016. During this time I taught various classes including Foundation and Post-Graduate courses as well as running the department.

Over the years my work has been shown in various exhibitions and venues, including the Antwerp Biennale, Cartier of Bond Street, The London Ecology Centre, The South London Gallery, Stratford studio shows and many more. However the demands of my last job plus 15 years of being a primary carer meant that, although involved in art through my students, making and exhibiting my own art was no longer an option.

In 2022 I moved from London to Seaford in East Sussex. After such a long break I had no idea what I wanted to do, other than feeling the need to embrace my new life with vibrancy, life and colour. Although located in one of the most scenic spots in the UK, I found it was the people and their interactions that I was drawn to - a departure from my early abstract landscape paintings. Over the last year I have made many studies of people, some from life and some from imagination, which I work up into paintings.