Avril Jones

Born in 1957 in Helensburgh, Scotland, my family moved to London when I was two. At age seven I took my first photos with the family Brownie Box, completely unaware that photography would later take on such importance in my life. I've lived in South London, mid-Kent, Scotland again and, since 1997, in the Surrey Hills. I have an adolescent husky-collie-whippet lurcher. She is a lovable hooligan and I hope when she grows up she'll become a very helpful assistant.

Despite popular advice to 'specialise' in a singe genre, I just can't restrict myself like that. I thrive on variety and different challenges. I love flowers and gardens. I love the coast. I love architecture. I love vast open landscapes. I love macro - being able to photograph what the human eye cannot see. I love people and animals. I photograph subjects that arrest my attention. I'm led by my heart.

Drawn to all things creative, I also make abstract paintings and painted jewellery. I am experimenting with combining photography, painting and other materials.

I'm mostly self-taught, with the aid of a few short courses and a BTEC Diploma in Photography (with Distinction), on which I enrolled as a mature student because I felt the urge to gain a qualification in the practice that had become such a compulsion.

Soon after leaving college I joined the Royal Photographic Society and, in 2011, gained their Licentiate distinction.

I participate in group exhibitions at the permanent gallery at Denbies Wine Estate near Dorking, Surrey. Also with other groups at other venues.

I contributed an artwork to the six month exhibition within The Belfry Centre, Redhill, which culminated in a blind auction to celebrate the centre's 25th anniversary. All artworks were on gallery wrapped canvases sized at 48" x 36". Each artist nominated a charity to receive the proceeds of their work if sold. My image, 'Breathing Redhill', achieved an excellent price and the proceeds went to the Godstone Group of Riding for the Disabled.