I studied art to A-Level at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith. I went on to study fine art at a college of further education in Hertfordshire, returning to Cumbria in 1979 to teach, but ended up deep in compost at Sizergh Castle Gardens with the National Trust, retraining in horticulture. When a car accident ended my gardening career I took up my brushes more seriously. After struggling in isolation for some time I sought out other artists for inspiration and joined Len Roope at Joyce Tebbutt's life drawing studio from where the Beck Road Group grew.

After showing independently and with the group I decided that, with family commitments, I needed a place to work and show nearer home. In 2002 the co-op next door to home became vacant and I threw myself into making it a studio and gallery. In between running the business (Philomena's Arthouse at Brigham)I try to throw paint at canvas, drag pastel across sandpaper and flood paper with coloured water, silk comes into it somewhere and subject matter varies from representational still life, landscapes and portraits to semi- abstract forms. Light and form are the most important challenges within my work and I look to such as Rembrandt and Caravaggio from the past, Matisse, Picasso and Sargent more recently and Lucien Freud my hero of the present.

Working with others has been an inspiration and support and has helped my work evolve.

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