Linguist, globetrotter, and continually involved in music festivals and the theatre, I was already painting at an early age and am entirely self-taught. I have lived since childhood in the South of France, arriving in Provence at the age of six. Both my mother and grandfather were talented water-colourists.

During my student years I began by specialising in pastel and charcoal portraits and line-drawings, then became attracted to oil-painting, where my preference is for earth colours and a classicist style.

With my Irish husband Paul Connell, former actor turned decorator, we own a charming property in Provence, where the beauty of the local environment provides inspiration for my paintings. Paul is greatly interested in French cooking and his culinary talents have encouraged me to do a series of delicate water-colours of herbs and flowers of Provence, accompanied by a descriptive text.

Since 2004, I have had three exhibitions in the South of France : one in Provence; one in Menton, near the Italian border, and the third sponsored by the Town Hall of Beausoleil, adjacent to Monte-Carlo.