Born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire in 1965 she gained her Fine Art degree in 1986 from Liverpool John Moores University. 

She has lived in England, Wales, France, Spain, Nepal, and Malawi. In 2012, she was a founding member of Kala Nest, an artist collective in Kathmandu, Nepal, that promoted local artists and artisans. In 2016, in Lilongwe, Malawi, she set up Abantu Emporium as a collective for artists, designers, fashion designers, and craftspeople to exhibit, promote, and sell their work. Since arriving back in Scotland, she has not only worked as an artist but also served as a local authority Councillor for the Scottish Borders Council, having been elected in 2022. 

Artist Statement 

''We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.'' Oscar Wilde

This quote has been my motto and attitude for as long as I care to remember. No matter what life has thrown at me over the years, somehow, I have managed to keep looking up at those stars and dreaming.

Life is multi-faceted, full of delights and distractions, despair and depression. Everything is a complex interplay with connections wherever I look.

In response, I make multi-layered paintings primarily using acrylic paint on canvas.  I combine this with other media, heightening colour intensity to elicit an emotional response.  I also use watercolour on paper, ripping the picture apart and recombining it with another to reveal what’s underneath – the inside, the hidden, where the darkness is the counterpoint to light. 

Most important for me is love—love for people, places, our planet, our universe—the fierce joy of just being alive. I find my inspiration in the tensions between love and hate, joy and despair, life and death. I am passionate about everything I do, and this is apparent in the potency and power of my paintings. 

Exhibitions

• 2024 One OC, Hawick, Scotland
• 2024 Chattleyard Gallery, Scotland
• 2019 House of Basse’iah, Lilongwe, Malawi
• 2018 Latitude 13 Art Fair, Lilongwe, Malawi
• 2018 Glasgow Contemporary Art Fair, Glasgow, Scotland
• 2018 Africa Fashion and Art Fair, Lilongwe, Malawi
• 2017 Frisson Art Gallery, Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg, South Africa
• 2017 Africa Fashion and Art Fair, Lilongwe, Malawi
• 2014 Solo Exhibition, Classic House Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
• 2014 Watercolour Artists of Nepal, Group Exhibition, Park House Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
• 2013 Lochaber Art Group, Group Exhibition, Ben Nevis Distillery, Fort William, Scotland
• 2010 Friends of the Lime Tree Gallery, Group Exhibition, Lime Tree Gallery, Fort William, Scotland 
• 2001 North Wales Artists and Designers Association, Group Exhibition, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, England
• 1989 - 2004 North Wales Open Art Exhibition, Annual Group Exhibition, Theatr Clwyd, Mold, Wales
• 1989 - 2004 North Wales Artists and Designers Association, Annual Group Exhibition, Wrexham Arts Festival, Wales