Back then I was trying to develop a practice which countered the male gaze somehow. Painting was not fashionable, political and ideas based painting even less so, most feminist work was conceptual, Jenny Saville was not known at the beginning of the 90’s.

These photos are from catalogues and art journals that my work featured in.

Here is an article I wrote for Versus magazine, a journal produced by two history of art post-graduates in Leeds. One was Heidi Reitmaier, then on the Women’s ArtHistory MA course at Leeds, and she became a good friend.

My installation of 6 paintings was selected for East International in 1993

Which was quite a coup.

Part of it toured round the UK, and it got a good notice from Adrian Searle in the Independent newspaper, which mentioned me by name.

Coincidentally  two other artists from the North East were selected, and we all taught at Sunderland University in the Art Foundation department.

From this I ended up with a solo show at Bradford’s municipal gallery, Cartwright Hall, in 1996, and the curator, Steve Manthorp, applied for a grant to produce this very nice catalogue, with an essay written by Heidi Reitmaier.

I am very grateful to Steve and to Heidi for this.

Copies went to university libraries around the country.

So maybe my work had some effect on other young artists!

It was quite radical for Bradford I think.

Showing in the same building at the time was a collection of PreRaphaelite tapestries belonging to Andrew Lloyd-Weber, and a show of delicate almost miniaturist paintings by the Singh Twins, Amrit and Rabindra, now with MBEs and plenty of recognition, unlike me! I was too radical, and earning a living as a knitwear designer and being a single parent with a mortgage, certainly got in the way of pushing my painting career.