My art career began with training in art therapy. From there I became very interested in why some people who have had treatment of mental health thrive upon reentering their communities, while others do not. This led me to work in community development, with a focus on what enables health, what prevents illness, and how people maintain connections to sustain wellbeing through the life course. My art practice ticked away in the background, as is true for many artists with dual careers. In 2020, I seized an opportunity that arose out of illness to return to full time art practice.
Exhibitions & Residencies
2024 Open Up Sheffield Studios
2024 Back to Basics, Arteles Creative Centre, Finland
2023 Silence, Awareness, Existence Arteles Creative Centre, Finland
2023 Art from the Pandemic, Gage Gallery, Sheffield
2023 Open Up Sheffield Studios
2023 People and Place, Kreiva Gallery, Bridlington
2022 Frontier Open Exhibition, Sheffield
2021 Great Sheffield Art Show, Sheffield
Education & Employment
1974 BA Psychology, York University, Toronto
1976 Registered Art Therapist, American Art Therapy Association
1975 Director, Arts Centre, The Maples Residential Treatment Centre, British Columbia
1978 Art Therapist, Farnborough Hospital, NHS England
1984 Masters in Social Work, Community Organisation Manage,emt & Planning, Boston University, USA
1984 Researcher & Director, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, USA
1992 Deputy Director and Research Fellow, Public Health, University of Hull, England
1995 Academic Director, University of Oxford, England
2005 Academic Director, Bergen University College, Norway
2009 Reader, Knowledge Mobilisation, University of Sheffield, England
2020 Consultant, Public Health and Community Development and Artist
2020 Art2Life Academy
2022 Connected Artists Programme