Refugee Painting

Born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England (the birthplace of DH Lawrence). Was married in St. Mary's Church, Hucknall, where Lord Byron is buried. Lived for some time in Dronfield, Derbyshire before moving to Knaresborough in North Yorkshire where I now live with my husband. I have 3 children, including twins, who are now all adult, and 5 grandchildren and two great grandsons. I am a founder member of feva - Knaresborough Festival of Entertainment and Visual Arts and each year have a solo show at Studio 3, Finkle Street, Knaresborough. My paintings have an in your face style both in their content and in the bold colours used. There is also an ambiguity which is intentional. I aim for audience participation in that my work sometimes requires interpretation by the viewer. There is often more than one way of reading the images. The viewers have to make up their own minds about what they are seeing. As a painter I try to create sensuous surfaces with paint and texture. I let the ideas make their own way into the image, never quite knowing how my paintings will turn out. I am fascinated by the unpredictability of paint. The highlights of my career to date are 'Shine' where I exhibited with Paula Rego and others as part of Women's International Day, and an exhibition where I exhibited alongside nine RAs and others at the Mall Galleries in London. I have 2 principal collectors of my work - Wetherspoons PLC have 20 of my paintings and a prominent member of the clergy has 22 in his collection.