"The natural world has always been my inspiration.

My earliest memories are walking around a winter garden with my mother and looking at snowdrop spears peeping through the frozen earth: and there began my love of gardening. 

I was always intimate with my country landscape and fascinated by the wild flowers, birds, mammals and insects. I was also introduced to the decorative arts at an early age and loved the old bits and bobs that profusely decorated my country home. Little did I know that my memories would influence so much of my adult life. 

We moved to Cornwall in 1976 and with no qualification to supplement the family income, I had to find a way of earning a living. I started a small cottage garden plant nursery and the many scented plants led me to research the science of perfume. I made potpourri and this led to scented sachets and cushions which I sold to the National Trust.

I then experimented with pressed flowers and leaves and I created my first flower pictures. This changed my life.

They were seen by a London photographer and my garden and work appeared in the first edition of Country Living. I was asked by several publishers to write a book about my work. 'The Complete Book of Pressed Flowers' became an international bestseller and was translated into many languages. This was folllowed by five more books.

I exhibited and sold my work world-wide. I was asked if I would be willing to do a television programme about my work and garden. I agreed and 'Consuming Passions' was shown at peak time in the UK and also on the continent. But I needed a change and experimented with mixed media collages. Success was not immediate but I perservered and gradually my present work evolved. All my flower collages reflect my wild garden and I use so many different components: velvet, silks, embroidery, semi- precious stones, beads, minerals, fossils- anything that catches my eye. These pictures have sold world-wide. But then I needed another change and along came my insect pictures. I have always been fascinated by insects. Their elaborate appendiches, intriguate markings and often metallic colouring are of great inspiration to anyone involved in the decorative arts. My collection of old and vintage jewleery and beads has proved a treasure trove in the decoration of insect bodies. 

Over the years I have collected insect books and of course old prints of insects. The formal presentation of insects appeals to me and it is the first time I have used this organsied way of creating my collages. 

I have had many rich years working in my little studio. Looking out on my precious garden, listening to the birds and catching a glimpse of the ocassional butterfly and bee has been such a privilege."