![\"Carol](\"https:\/\/olioweb.me.uk\/CarisbrookeGrammar-1966\/wp-content\/uploads\/Carol-grab-from-website.png\")
After leaving school I did an Art Foundation Course at The West of England College of Art which was our art teacher Mr Box’s old college. Then I did a three-year BA course in painting and sculpture at Portsmouth College of Art, followed by a teacher-training year at Manchester University.<\/p>\n
In 1971 I began my portrait career, initially by doing quick-sketch pastel portraits in Butlins holiday camps where I also learned how to judge Bonny Babies and Knobbly Knees competitions. In 1991, after twenty years, I finished doing portraits after completing an oil portrait of HRH Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, commissioned by the Worshipful Company of Loriners in the City of London.<\/p>\n
In 1974 I began painting coastal scenes, alongside the portraiture and some commercial graphic design work. I also had spells of teaching, including at the Isle of Wight College and in Parkhurst Prison.<\/p>\n
From 1995 to 1999 I lived in the Cayman Islands where my husband was Governor. I worked with Government ministers, employees and volunteers to help create a National Gallery for the Cayman Islands. I also became Art and Culture Editor for \u201cBritannia” magazine (now renamed “Grand Cayman”).<\/p>\n
I was made MBE in 2000.<\/p>\n
From 2001 to 2006 I taught art as therapy, leading groups of adults with acute mental health problems in working intuitively with paint.<\/p>\n
From 1974 up to the present day my primary focus has been my painting, – mainly coastal scenes – and exhibiting. I’ve had exhibitions in Houston (Texas), Boston (Massachusetts), Springfield (Massachusetts), Hawaii, The Cayman Islands, London, and Edinburgh.<\/p>\n
My husband John and I now live on the Isle of Wight, and my parents and my daughter (born in 1977) live nearby. I have eight step-grandchildren.<\/p>\n