As a child I liked to draw, mostly imaginary people and particularly female as I was interested in women's fashion, men's clothing not being very exciting at the time. Later I progressed, without influence except what I may have naturally inherited from my father, to life and portrait pencil drawings of family members including self-portraits, and from that to drawing a variety of subjects, in pencil, and ink. At school the emphasis always seemed to be on painting, in the style of the particular teacher, which left me feeling frustrated and impatient, and I was not considered to be a very good pupil! I have never been able to accept artistic tutoring since, unless in a field which is entirely new to me, and I have completed courses in various areas such as printing, stained glass, pottery/ceramics and art history, out of interest, as well as those I attended in connection with my job as a primary teacher with responsibility for art.

I obtained city and guild certificates in embroidery, studying for these at the London College of Fashion initially and later in Nottingham, and have been able to incorporate some of the more exciting techniques learnt on the course in my art, particularly in greeting card making, we had to draw designs for works which used the techniques and this aspect I particularly loved, also the idea of using L - shaped cards to frame an area of a scene has stayed with me and I can now do this without the aid of the frames. While on the course I also took an art foundation course which enabled me to renew and practice my drawing skills and where I learnt astonishingly for the first time about the colour wheel! I afterwards loved introducing and doing work around this with children in schools.

As a teacher responsible for art, I found the school national curriculum for art quite strange, restricting and too sophisticated for very young children, but in places it taught me something new and did emphasize how art is involved in all aspects of life as it indeed is, in every school subject which calls for drawing! I love children's artwork, and if there is any sort of natural ability it is obvious from the first time you see their work.

I have also designed and painted theatrical sets which has influenced my work from the point of view of simplistic paintings which create an atmosphere.

I enjoy viewing the work of other artists, and regularly visit exhibitions, or browse the art section in book shops. I would say that apart from lesser known and amateur artists and craftspeople whose work I have admired, including friends, my best loved artists and styles are the Pre-Raphaelites, the Impressionists, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Rennie Macintosh, Gaude the architect, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, African, Egyptian and Japanese art and architecture.

My artwork is inspired by realistic subjects which I then abstract or stylise. I particularly enjoy using buildings and plants. I may use photos or my drawings - often computer drawn ones - as a basis, but will then change the colours and add details from imagination or memory, or simply just use the latter to construct a picture. I love taking a quick glance at a scene and simplifying what is in reality very complicated, often by placing a mental "frame" around it, a skill etched on my memory from City and Guilds Embroidery courses. I also enjoy making fantasy artwork, again from my imagination or what is my idea of characters from myth, legend and stories.

I work mainly in watercolour-paint and pencil, felt and gel pens, coloured pencils, inks. I sometimes add texture in the form of a magazine cutting, or other papers or threads/fabric etc. My cats enjoy my art and will help by drinking excess paint flavoured water, sitting on a painting to keep it warm, and grabbing my hand or brush to just make a mark where they see fit. I don't think anyone buying my work would want a subtle cat-hair texture however, so I carefully remove this before offering it for sale!

I would like people to enjoy my art in the sense of seeing a different way of viewing things, and experiencing hopefully the atmosphere and mood that I'm trying to convey.