Have you always had an interest in the arts?
I’ve always been making things since I was a kid. My dad was a colourist for a textile firm and that was something that I knew about, even when I was very little. I used to pull the insides out of felt tip pens and put them into a little metal pie dish. I would use the coloured water to die material to make clothes for my teddies. It was probably really hideous and I’m sure it made a real mess but that is an early memory. I was always interested in colour and clothes and fashion. I was always fiddling about, I used to make my own clothes, things like that.
Did you get support at home or school?
I got loads of support at home and I was allowed to muck about and try things out. I didn’t get much support at primary school, but in secondary school there was a great art department. I went to a very small all-girls grammar school and we had a fantastic art teacher, Mrs Snaith, and then when I changed schools I had another fantastic, very supportive, art teacher, Mrs Dixon. They were both very encouraging.
I think I was only ever going to go to Art College, and if that didn’t work out I wanted to be a librarian. Luckily I got the grades to go to Art College.
Which Arts College did you end up going to?
University of Ulster and I studied Fine Craft Design, specialising in embroidery.
Is that where you developed your techniques and skills?
I was, as I said, always mucking about, trying things out, but I was trained in textiles and embroidery. I was never trained in painting because I didn’t do Fine Art. I actually learned to paint after I left Art College.
How did that happen?
I ended up in Queen Street Studios where I started to teach myself how to paint, but there was also a lot of older artists there. Some were part-time tutors at the Art College, and you could just chat away with them. They would encourage you, make suggestions, they would give you friendly advice. They were very helpful and that is where I developed more skills, working on painting, collage and mixed media, until I ended up doing what I do now.
Did you become a professional artist straight away after leaving arts college?
You might have to define what being a professional artist is. In those days, the bad old days, you could sign on and then you could still work at Queen Street Studios.
You might be able to sign up for a Training Scheme and you would go on that for a year, and you could work in a studio, where you could learn how to use a computer and some admin skills. Effectively, you would work as an administrator, but you could still paint at the same time.
You might get lucky and through the scheme you wouldn’t have to sign on for a year, so that made you safe to go about being in the studio working on painting.
What happens then?
Around that time, I started volunteering for Lizzie Devlin, when she used to work in the Old Museum Arts Centre and I volunteered with a Saturday arts class for children. That started me off because I didn’t think I would like it and I loved it. From there I set off towards working in the community through the arts and specifically working with young people.
