biography

biography

I was born in Morecambe, Lancashire in 1965 with bright red hair and my Grandma said to my Mother "You're going to have trouble with this one"!

The youngest of three girls, I was brought up with mud fights on the beach, fishing with my Dad and drawing just about anything when it was raining or dark outside.
I hated school apart from textile design and art and couldn't wait to leave to go to the local art college, where I gained a commendation in Applied Art and Design and won the Festival of Britain Prize for young achievers.

I furthered my interest in design to degree level at Manchester Polytechnic (that shows my age!), where I studied printed textiles. I was lucky enough to win one of twelve national places on the Young Designers into Industry Scheme. After one year's experience working within a company, I decided to work on a freelance basis designing fashion fabrics and wallpaper for an international market.

This wasn't as fullfilling as I had hoped and after many years sought a more expressive medium for my creativity.I took up painting in 2000 and have been painting professionally since 2002, after winning the Derbyshire Open.