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BACKGROUND AND WORK LIFE
I originally came from London from a large wider family on both sides and had lots of friends in the street. As a child I learned to draw primarily from colour and trace books and, even at that early age, I was fascinated by perspective, for example, that everything further away was small and got bigger as it came towards you. I remember getting my first water colour box at the age of 9 - our school in London encouraged art, music, drama and, in fact, all the arts.
I moved to Slough in 1966 with my immediate family and it was clear that everything had changed as I really missed my London family and I needed help with lessons in my new school. I became very withdrawn at that time because my parents were going through difficult times, both financially and emotionally. I had a secondary school education gaining 3 GCE's and 6 CSE's. I was greatly inspired by the Impressionists and especially Toulouse Lautrec. Originally I had a commercial working background - offices, receptionist, secretarial, but remember it being an unfulfilling career. In those days I did have an active social life and quite a number of relationships.
In the 70's my parents divorced, but my dad was in touch with us quite a bit. I was always painting and drawing as a hobbyist and took classes in the evening in drawing/painting. I travelled to Jersey and eventually, Israel, which changed my life as it was then I became a Christian. It was a poignant turning point in my life. In the 1980's I went to Art School at 28 to Berkshire College of Art and Design where I achieved an OND and HND in Graphic Design. I learned a lot about illustration, drawing, painting, calligraphy, printing, illustration and typography. I remember we used to draw on these large pieces of cartridge paper with pencil and charcoal - chairs, tables, vases, objects in interiors and then eventually people were added. I learned so much and for a while I worked in design offices as a junior - also as an in-house designer. However, at that time, due to recession, I had to take other work.
in 1990 while temping at the local college, I met and married my husband Dave, a fellow artist and we had two children. We both joined Slough Art Society where we networked with other artists and exhibited at various places. Also I studied web-design - Dreamweaver II, Frontpage and Flash plus RSA CLAIT. I worked in St Mary's School for 18 years supporting children with their learning, especially SEN children on a 1-1 basis. Also designing display boards, backdrops for plays, productions, stage make-up and plays plus greatly used in art lessons, helping children draw.. In addition, I studied NVQ in supporting teachers plus accredited training. I have travelled to France, Spain, Budapest, Prague, Malta, Amsterdam and Romania.
ART
We Joined Slough Art Society in 2000 and met a local group of artists of different age groups and backgrounds. I paint in a wide variety of materials including acrylics, oils, watercolour and pastels. plus encaustic (hot wax), marbling, journaling and collage.
Exhibitions:
CURRENTLY
I took early retirement in December 2018 when I really started to rekindle my painting and drawing skills. I have been studying an art mentoring course: Created to Thrive, and the Experience Course from Matt Tommey, which for me has been a transformational journey and an awakening. I have learned to cultivate my mind and my heart, my art, my branding and marketing and eventually my business and life skills. Experimenting with different techniques and processes have been part of this as I rekindled my encaustic art skills, marbling and charcoal drawing. I had travelled to Croatia earlier in 2019 and also the United States on a conference there in Asheville and have met and communicated with an amazing group of people who work in a range of artistic and creative skills.
Since Lockdown I have been really working on my painting and drawing skills plus interested in making cards and other things. I have been exploring the idea of teaching art as a leisure activity. Lately, since October I have been drawing and painting on a daily basis, the first of which was Inktober and now it is Huevember.
I originally came from London from a large wider family on both sides and had lots of friends in the street. As a child I learned to draw primarily from colour and trace books and, even at that early age, I was fascinated by perspective, for example, that everything further away was small and got bigger as it came towards you. I remember getting my first water colour box at the age of 9 - our school in London encouraged art, music, drama and, in fact, all the arts.
I moved to Slough in 1966 with my immediate family and it was clear that everything had changed as I really missed my London family and I needed help with lessons in my new school. I became very withdrawn at that time because my parents were going through difficult times, both financially and emotionally. I had a secondary school education gaining 3 GCE's and 6 CSE's. I was greatly inspired by the Impressionists and especially Toulouse Lautrec. Originally I had a commercial working background - offices, receptionist, secretarial, but remember it being an unfulfilling career. In those days I did have an active social life and quite a number of relationships.
In the 70's my parents divorced, but my dad was in touch with us quite a bit. I was always painting and drawing as a hobbyist and took classes in the evening in drawing/painting. I travelled to Jersey and eventually, Israel, which changed my life as it was then I became a Christian. It was a poignant turning point in my life. In the 1980's I went to Art School at 28 to Berkshire College of Art and Design where I achieved an OND and HND in Graphic Design. I learned a lot about illustration, drawing, painting, calligraphy, printing, illustration and typography. I remember we used to draw on these large pieces of cartridge paper with pencil and charcoal - chairs, tables, vases, objects in interiors and then eventually people were added. I learned so much and for a while I worked in design offices as a junior - also as an in-house designer. However, at that time, due to recession, I had to take other work.
in 1990 while temping at the local college, I met and married my husband Dave, a fellow artist and we had two children. We both joined Slough Art Society where we networked with other artists and exhibited at various places. Also I studied web-design - Dreamweaver II, Frontpage and Flash plus RSA CLAIT. I worked in St Mary's School for 18 years supporting children with their learning, especially SEN children on a 1-1 basis. Also designing display boards, backdrops for plays, productions, stage make-up and plays plus greatly used in art lessons, helping children draw.. In addition, I studied NVQ in supporting teachers plus accredited training. I have travelled to France, Spain, Budapest, Prague, Malta, Amsterdam and Romania.
ART
We Joined Slough Art Society in 2000 and met a local group of artists of different age groups and backgrounds. I paint in a wide variety of materials including acrylics, oils, watercolour and pastels. plus encaustic (hot wax), marbling, journaling and collage.
Exhibitions:
- Art in the Street, Maidenhead for 5 years running
- Herschel Park - also taught in Art workshops
- Burnham Library
- Uxbridge Library
- The Curve, Slough
- En Plein Air, Windsor for around 5 years
- Pintar Rapido, London - also plein air.
- Cookham Elizabeth House
- Maidenhead Rendezvous Cafe
- Shortly to exhibit at Windsor The Old Court Court - 15th October to 24th October.
- Illustrations for a children's book
CURRENTLY
I took early retirement in December 2018 when I really started to rekindle my painting and drawing skills. I have been studying an art mentoring course: Created to Thrive, and the Experience Course from Matt Tommey, which for me has been a transformational journey and an awakening. I have learned to cultivate my mind and my heart, my art, my branding and marketing and eventually my business and life skills. Experimenting with different techniques and processes have been part of this as I rekindled my encaustic art skills, marbling and charcoal drawing. I had travelled to Croatia earlier in 2019 and also the United States on a conference there in Asheville and have met and communicated with an amazing group of people who work in a range of artistic and creative skills.
Since Lockdown I have been really working on my painting and drawing skills plus interested in making cards and other things. I have been exploring the idea of teaching art as a leisure activity. Lately, since October I have been drawing and painting on a daily basis, the first of which was Inktober and now it is Huevember.