1. When you were young, what job did you picture yourself having as an adult?
My friend Angela and I vowed that we would be either actresses or nuns.
2. When did you first realise you wanted to be an artist?
I didn’t know that as a girl from a working-class background you could be an artist. I realised I wanted to be one when I was 18.
3. Were you good at art at school?
I loved art at school as I was good at it. Fridays we had double art – bliss!
4. Do you remember the first exhibition you went to?
Our art teacher took us to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. There is a large collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings. I remember The Blind Girl by Millais, a bit mawkish but I loved it.
5. Which artist do you most admire?
I most admire Mondrian.
6. Which talent of his do you covet?
I covet his (apparent) simplicity. Everything is as it should be, nothing could be shifted in the slightest, all is in the right place in the right colour.
7. If you could own any one painting in history, which would it be?
Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie-Woogie.
8. What’s the best exhibition you’ve seen recently and why?
It was at the Arnolfini in Bristol. I can’t remember the exhibition’s title but it had my friend Ronny Payne in it. Before there was a small exhibition of Vuillard at The Holburne in Bath. I really like the way he paints negative space.
9. Is there one place that’s had a decisive influence on your work and if so in what way?
I was lucky enough to go to Japan 20 years ago and I fell in love with the place. Everything was so beautiful, even the manhole covers! Japanese art isn’t an obvious influence on my work but I reference it all the time.
10. Where in the world would you like to spend six months making your art?
I would love to spend time painting in Japan.
11. What subjects are you always drawn to in your work?
I am drawn to the natural world, especially flowers.
12. Which colour do you find yourself using in your work more frequently than others?
It changes over time, at the moment it is yellow but it could be different tomorrow.
13. How often do you create a new picture, on average?
I work on several paintings at once because of the drying time of oil paint, but generally one or two oil paintings month. I do finish a lot more watercolours though.
14. What’s your studio like?
My studio is one hell of a mess!
15. How do you relax?
I’m quite fidgety so I find it hard to relax.
16. What’s your most treasured possession?
My Yogi bear spoon.
17. What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
Two crunchies watching reruns of Gogglebox.
18. If you could go back in time, when and where would you go?
I would go back to Elizabethan times and peek at William Shakespeare whilst he was writing.
19. What plans do you have to develop your art?
I need to draw more. Generally just keep going and learn along the way.
20. How would you like to be remembered?
With a chuckle.
