Hello, I'm Jo, I run the HSA, I also get to teach most of the

Classes and Workshops and when I manage to carve out the time,

I'm a practising Artist too. 

Where I came from:

I grew up in a house with a pretty creative family - so it definitely runs in the blood. Drawing and making things was very much the norm in my house, guitar-playing and music was ever-present, my Mum would often be found in her studio and we'd all be making or drawing something to entertain ourselves as children.

The Arts were always my strong side at school, so after studying Sculpture and History of Art, I went on to the City & Guilds of London Art School - I really wanted to go to a place that valued drawing and I got very lucky with this incredible, traditional Art School - I absolutely loved it.  After a fairly exploratory period of my life, living in far-flung places and experiencing as much unfamiliar culture as I could, I settled back in London and went back to the great love of my life: studying Life Drawing – it was the practice I’d missed the most and once I started, it never stopped, from that day to this. 

I decided I wanted to concentrate my drawing into an illustration practice and I was hungry to beef up my creative skills, so in my mid-30’s I sold my flat and went back to Art College (this time in Cheltenham) to earn a Degree in Illustration. I learnt so much!  When I wasn't at college you could normally find me at a small, local independent Art School (the Cheltenham School of Fine Art). The encouragement and knowledge I gained during

our Life Drawing sessions was massively instrumental in me taking on my own classes, not just the drawing itself, but how to run a class, how to position a model, where and how to buy materials, what materials are the best to teach with etc.  I massively credit the brilliant Director of that school,

Viv Ayres, with being a true mentor to me during that time and perhaps

without her encouragement, we may not have the Art School we

have today - my gratitude and great affection towards the

lovely Viv will always be ENORMOUS.

I love what I do and I love the people who come in and out of my teaching space.  Watching an artist's progression, from day one to the final day of term, is a pride and a pleasure I shall never tire of.