I was born during one of the worst winters on record in Sharoe Green Maternity hospital, Preston.

Brought up on a post-war housing estate, archived drawings (aged five) already show a keen eye for detail such as washing on a line and fluff under a bed.

By the age of nine I was copying photos of the stars from the Radio Times and had decided to become an artist, feeling that my inherent shyness precluded a career as an air hostess.

I studied at the Harris Art School in Preston, a grand neo-Classical building with sweeping steps leading to Avenham Park and the river.

An extra year's Foundation Course was spent at the palm-clad Falmouth School of Art.

Thence to London, leading to a Diploma in Art and Design from the Central College of Art, studying under such illustrious names as Cecil Collins, Colin Cina and Paul Huxley.

I now live in the North West region of England and have a house in Brittany

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