Born in Greenock in the West of Scotland, my interest in art began when my parents took me to “Miss Francis” – a very special lady who ran a kindergarten school from her house on the Esplanade, five minutes walk from our house. Miss Francis used to tell the children a story each day, illustrating each event in the story with coloured chalk on the blackboard. It was the highlight of my day!
Each child had a tin box of chalks and a drawing book interleaved with tissue paper to keep the chalk drawings from smudging. I still have that drawing book – kept by my father in his filing cabinet for years before he rediscovered it and handed it on to me.
From such early encouragement, I continued to develop my artistic abilities at Greenock Academy and later, at Loudoun Academy, Ayrshire, under the inspiring tutelage of art teacher David Longmuir.
I completed my formal art education at Glasgow School of Art, and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee. After a fulfilling teaching career in Scottish schools, I retired early to concentrate on my painting.