I was born in Cheshire in 1963 and have always drawn and painted since I can remember. My mother once told me that when I was two I tried to paint with my glass of milk but she rescued it in time. I had a wonderful childhood enjoying the beautiful Cheshire countryside; my parents taught me about wildlife and nature, we spent many happy hours looking for faeries and Indians in the woods. My mother wrote poetry and my father told me many strange tales, how the leopard got his spots and the robin his red breast, tales from history, the plight of the North American Indians the Incas and the Aztecs, some tales he would make up by himself. My imagination would run wild.

I Wasn’t very happy in my early years at school I was quite a plane Jane who wore glasses and always got picked on by some of the others, I withdrew into myself and often sat and daydreamed during class, only coming to life when we did painting and crafts. I always carried a sketchbook and drew pictures of everything and anything, but mostly I would make up stories and draw them. In the stories I was the princess, I could be beautiful, strong and I could kill the dragon, if I wanted to, it was a wonderful way to escape…when I went to high school, things improved and I returned to reality, I became very popular, especially when I drew pictures for my class mates. I did well at school and after my 0’levels in 1979, I went to the London Road School of Art, it was a dream come true, I could paint and draw all day. I attended this heavenly place for only twelve months, after obtaining my A’ level in fine art. Unfortunately due to personal reasons I had to give up my art education. I continued to paint, selling the occasional painting to friends and family.

Then in 1983 I met my husband to be John, he was the one who encouraged me to sell my work through local galleries, often physically pushing me and my work through the doors of these hallowed places. During this time I was working as a full time receptionist for a local firm, my employer allowed me to sketch during office hours as long as it didn’t affect my work; he even bought some of my paintings. In 1993 my daughter Vivien was born, sadly she was born with a serious hip defect and required many months of hospital treatment and operations, I had to give up my plan to return to work, so that I could be with her during this time.

Money was scarce and I knew that I had to make a living in some way. I began to paint from home and started selling through local craft fairs, then I rented a room at the Arts and Antique centre in Knutsford, here I made friends with many of my customers, all of whom still enquire after my work. It was during this time that I realized I needed a much wider audience if I wanted more people to see my work.