BIOGRAPHY
I was born and brought up in St Ives, Cornwall, and both my parents were artists. My father was a successful portrait painter and designer, and my mother having studied fashion was an accomplished craftswoman. My early memories are of sitting on the floor in my fathers studio with paper and crayons. Many of my school friends were the sons and daughters of practising artists and visits to their homes meant being introduced to an amazing range of abstract and figurative art.
I decided to train as an Occupational Therapist which would allow me to use my practical and creative skills to help people's rehabilitation and recovery. For ten years I worked in NHS mental health settings where I was able to use creative skills crossing the fields of art, craft, music and drama. In 1986 I became Director of Restore, a pioneering and creative community mental health work rehabilitation service. During all this time I was creating, working with leather, textiles and wood. The process of making jewellery evolved from painting on wood. After 16 years at Restore I became freelance, working partly as a management consultant, which also enabled me to spend more time making jewellery. After ten years of doing these two rather different roles I now concentrate mainly on making jewellery. I have been a member of the Oxfordshire Craft Guild for over thirty years.
I was born and brought up in St Ives, Cornwall, and both my parents were artists. My father was a successful portrait painter and designer, and my mother having studied fashion was an accomplished craftswoman. My early memories are of sitting on the floor in my fathers studio with paper and crayons. Many of my school friends were the sons and daughters of practising artists and visits to their homes meant being introduced to an amazing range of abstract and figurative art.
I decided to train as an Occupational Therapist which would allow me to use my practical and creative skills to help people's rehabilitation and recovery. For ten years I worked in NHS mental health settings where I was able to use creative skills crossing the fields of art, craft, music and drama. In 1986 I became Director of Restore, a pioneering and creative community mental health work rehabilitation service. During all this time I was creating, working with leather, textiles and wood. The process of making jewellery evolved from painting on wood. After 16 years at Restore I became freelance, working partly as a management consultant, which also enabled me to spend more time making jewellery. After ten years of doing these two rather different roles I now concentrate mainly on making jewellery. I have been a member of the Oxfordshire Craft Guild for over thirty years.
