Painter and teacher, born in Dunedin, New Zealand. She was expelled from teacher training college for radical political views, studied nursing and worked for two years in a neurosurgical unit. After travels in South America she arrived in England and studied at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, 1978–82, then Royal Academy Schools, 1982–6. In the following year she was painting fellow at Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Art and Technology, going on to lecture at Wolverhampton Polytechnic and Royal Academy Schools as a visiting tutor, then becoming a tutor at Chelsea School of Art. Among awards was an Italian Government Scholarship to Venice, 1984; Richard Ford Scholarship to Spain, 1985; and a Spectator Competition commendation in 1991.