I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. When I was at school, I pushed Art aside to concentrate more on academic subjects. It was only when I was introduced to batik in 1970, whilst I was studying for a Post-Graduate Certificate of Education in Bristol, U.K., that I realised that I had missed out on my artistic education.
For the first eight years of my teaching career, I was lucky to be appointed the Art specialist in a number of primary schools in Bristol, UK. I taught drawing, painting, collage, weaving, batik and pottery but it was the technique of batik that really captivated me. It has a magic that no other technique offers. So I started to exhibit my batik paintings in exhibitions and at craft fairs.
Then I moved to Sussex, UK. In 1986 I joined both the Sussex Guild and Batik Guild. (I'm now Vice Chair and the Overseas Representative of the Batik Guild).
From January 1986 - July 2013, I was Head of Art at Cumnor House School in Danehill, Sussex. Many of my students won art awards to their senior schools as well as awards in national competitions. I taught all kinds of Art to children aged 5 - 13, but I made a point of introducing every child to batik so they could explore the many possibilities that this wonderful technique has to offer.
Now that I am retired, I don't know how I managed to combine my own batik work with full-time teaching. Thank goodness for school holidays! I am still based in the UK, but spend the summers in Nova Scotia, Canada, (my maternal grandmother was Nova Scotian) and a few months each year in Maryland, USA.
I have been fortunate to exhibit throughout the world, including Canada, USA, China, Japan, Indonesia, Europe, and of course in the UK. I have lectured and taught workshops in Japan, China, UK, Europe, USA and Canada and my work is in private collections worldwide. I have written three books on batik, including 'Creative Batik' (Search Press, 2001/2016). Please go to my Publications page for more information about my magazine articles, books and DVD. In the last 20 years I've had four solo exhibitions in the Foyer of the Barbican Library, Barbican Centre, London, UK. During 2014 and 2015, I taught batik workshops to teachers throughout the UK for Specialist Crafts. I taught a two-day workshop at the Bath Textile Summer School in 2017 - and a three-day one in 2022
I have exhibited 4 times in the Barbican Library in London since 2005; exhibited in Chester, Nova Scotia; exhibited with the Batik Guild in Naples Botanical Gardens in Florida, USA, in 2024; was a finalist in 2 competitions in the International Artist magazine (2024 and 2022); published a 10-page stage-by-stage article in the International Artist magazine in February, 2015 and in The Artist magazine in June, 2025.
I am now concentrating on advancing my personal batik work. I lecture, give batik demonstrations, teach workshops to adults and children and participate in exhibitions throughout the world. It's amazing how batik continues to be my passion. Retirement? What retirement?!
