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Biography
'Creativity has forever been a necessary constant in my life. I have been fortunate - my work has been exhibited for well over 50years, if you count the first “shows” – one-woman pavement exhibitions at the Edinburgh International Festivals of 1966 and 1967 as a mid-teenager!
Some might say I went up-market in my artistic career from then, with work exhibited by the Royal Academy of Arts, London and by the Institute of Watercolour Painters, and in The Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibitions, The Mall Galleries in London. This I did for some years, before retreating from that world.
I found that I prefer to show and sell work in galleries and art centres in the provinces, so for many years now, exhibitions have been across the U.K. From Aberdeen (I’m a Scot!) in the north, to Andover in the south, in various galleries to the west in Wales, to the east in Lincoln, and most recently in Shropshire, where I’ve lived for many years. Since 1982, my home gallery, The Silk Top Hat in Ludlow, Shropshire, U.K. carried a selection of works. (Sadly now closed as the owner died)
Whilst living for a time in the U.S.A., I exhibited at the Gallery of Contemporary Art (North Carolina), the Mint Museum of Art (South Carolina), and others, winning 1st prize at the (juried) Annual Art Exhibition at the Chattanooga Gallery of Art, Tennessee. (Full resume)
I have illustrated many books and publications over the years, and enjoy contributing as a writer to both books and papers.
More than 30 years ago, whilst working therapeutically with groups of people, I began to combine meditation with creativity; shortly thereafter, the Way Of Creativity was born, a retreat programme which runs throughout the year. The Way of Creativity continues to this day.
I persist in my self-training as an artist, and in my contemplative studies. Creativity – my own and others’ – is indivisible from a lifetime as counsellor, art therapist and mindfulness trainer.
Over many years, I have made solitary walking retreats along the old pilgrim paths of Europe to Santiago de Compostella in Spain. I am a country woman leading a simple and quiet life in the Shropshire hills, and blessed with grown children. In making images, all these rich experiences emerge in the work, as well as an inevitable day-to-day delight in the ever-changing light and moods of weather and seasons.
Whether I am making images or shrines, (and this is a bit serious!) I hope to touch into the universality - yet ultimately the mystery - of life and human experience. I hope to express something of the depth of grace and breadth of gift in any moment....to remind myself and the viewer of the ever-present possibility of transcendence….only you, the viewer, can say whether it speaks!'
