Jo, who lives and works in Torrington, loves colour, pattern and soft curvy shapes: her bold buxom women can be found resting on a bed of cushions or sitting beneath trees in a wood.
“I’ve always loved big round shapes and curvy women. I find the shapes more interesting than the images you see of women now, when they are very slim. I’m not saying they are not beautiful but there is something about rounded women. It’s a nurturing thing I suppose, an ideal I have. I don’t see them as wimpy women. They are strong and I am inspired by friends who are strong in their own way and capable. I like to think of my women being like that.”
Since childhood Jo has always drawn big patterned ladies, usually in black and white, but when she moved to Devon a few years ago, she started to play around with paint and experiment with colour.
“I love fabric. In childhood my father was a great traveller and he would bring back things from abroad and I found them very exciting. He went to India and the Far East and it was wonderful when he brought these little things back. I was inspired by them. I just love pattern, texture and fabric. I can’t copy anything, the actual designs come out of my head and they are fairly random. I don’t plan anything, the patterns just come as I’m painting.”
