I graduated from Winchester School of Art in 1977 with a BA Hons Degree in Textiles and Fashion. I spent a very industrious 25 years working in Textiles. Designing for London studios such as Anthea Davies and Allanpalm, selling designs in L.A. and Japan (and everywhere in between) to well known names such as Liberty, Laura Ashley, Yves Saint Laurent, Monsoon, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger.

I never imagined life would change, as I was happy in London; I worked freelance for Allan Thomas and spent my weekends designing at the kitchen table in Norfolk while I watched with envy my other half gardening, planting trees and cutting the lawn.

Change came, as it does, when I visited my step daughter, Emma Leith, in Bath. She had discovered The Mosaic Shop on Pultney Bridge and had started making colourful water bowls for her garden. I brought home a bag of coloured tiles which I mixed with my old china collection and so it began.

My mosaics will always be influenced by my past life as a Textile Designer. Novelty designs (a technical term for anything non floral) was something I loved and I still like there to be humour in each piece I produce.

My work often begins as a still life from which I make pencil drawings. Unlike paint, it's not possible to mix tiles to make the perfect colour. There is a very limited range of tiles for sale commercially so extra colours and textures have to be searched for in junk shops, skips or even dug up from the garden. The extra effort that this entails adds a story to each piece and ensures every mosaic remains unique.