How I became an artist Art can save the world

Born, bred and educated in Hampshire, UK, I am an award winning international artist living and working on my art dream in France,
This did not happen at once, it was a long journey which entailed a lot of patience and determination.


From an early age I loved to draw and my parents instilled in me a love for nature.
Apart from having two elder brothers, I had a solitary childhood in which I was left to
amuse myself with useful activities like reading, sewing and cooking- I made my own
clothes thanks to my creative mother and aunt, both of whom were gifted French (Belgian)
needlewomen. I also had a fascination for the many intricate lace pieces made by my grandmother.
Without realising it at the time, textiles and art became an important aspect in my life.
My father had artistic ability, but never had the time to pursue it fully.
My first painting, aged ten, was a present for my mother, a painting of a horse.
Much to my pleasure, it was framed and placed in honour on the mantelpiece. At school I was also encouraged to develop my artistic talent and received top marks in art and textiles.
My destiny to become an artist was signed and sealed from then on.

As soon as I left school, I applied for a foundation art course and was accepted but
my parents advised me not to go but to continue with my education in order to go to university and obtain a teacher's diploma with honours, which I dutifully finalised in 1975. My parents promised to support me if I still wanted to go to art school and lo and behold, in the final year at teacher's training college, I was offered a place at West Surrey College of Art. I left three years later,
armed with a degree in Textiles and Fine Art, 1978., with honours.
I decide to teach in schools and colleges or order to earn my living and I used the time to find my mojo and technique before I worked full time as an artist in my own right.

I developed an original style which me took ten years to finally master a unique expression and signature, I wanted to fuse my two art specialities into a new genre of art. I came up with
the marrying of painting together with embroidery on paper. This idea was sparked by
a collection of Victorian Embroidered post cards. I wanted to embroider on my own water colours freely so that it looked as if there was another dimensional layer of texture added. I proceeded to experiment with different types of water colour paper and encountered many technical difficulties.
What a battle!! You can imagine the struggle, buckling and tearing of paper, big holes left by the trial of stitching, thread breaking, fluff building under the paper etc;

Through trial and error, I was able to solve some of the above problems.

Due to my husband's relocation, we moved to Paris, where I made the most of my surroundings: the effects of the colourful
country-side, the picturesque floral villages with their window boxes over flowing with geraniums, bustling markets, picturesque landscapes and the gorgeous
wild flower prairies, glorious gardens and architecture all inspired me. I also took part in the famous Parisian
salons where I acquired numerous awards and diplomas. What luck, Paris was just the place to be for an emerging artist. I had saved to travel to exotic places in order to be inspired and to learn about different cultures.
Travelling to Egypt, India and Australia and China, had opened up fresh new visions.
Ideas for compositions expanded from the imaginative,
dreamy compositions to the more exotic and bold. This entailed another approach to the backgrounds of my painting with not only employing water colour
but unusual combinations: gold leaf with inks or acrylic with transfer foils or interference medium with ink.

With over forty of experience behind me, I am proud of my achievements. Numerous awards private collections world wide and
collections in various corporations, representation by curators and galleries in Italy, Canada, Australia, and France.

Artists from the past and present have influenced my art in different ways. For some reason I have an inherent love of Asian
Art and all that is decorative in detail. I like a composition to have presence, an emotion, a message or just an element
of surprise, to unveil gems of beauty in nature etc.

I am a nature lover at heart and

I will finish here by writing my mission:

"With silken layers of stitching on atmospheric painted backgrounds, I encounter
fleeting moments of nature's secrets which I wish to capture forever. Nature's energy is like a medicine which enhances healing and happiness within our souls. I am honoured to share my uplifting experiences and positive vibes to offer hope, love and enrichment to others."