The
Unofficial Website Pollyanna Pickering
Artist
I trawled an awful lots of websites that appeared when I searched for Pollyanna Pickering and most of them were selling embroidery kits or pictures. Anyhow eventually I found Pollyanna's own website so I pinched the following information from there. Thanks. There was some dispute between myself and The Pedant as to whether or not she should actually appear here as she was not a born Rotherhamite but I used my casting vote as the page designer to overrule his objections.
Pollyanna was born in Leeds in 1942, and grew up in Rotherham. She began her art training at Rotherham Art School, where she met her future husband, Ken Pickering, an industrial designer. She went on to study at the London Central School of Art. After a brief period teaching art to A Level, she went freelance in 1969. She married in 1963, but was sadly widowed at the age of 37 after her husband lost his long battle with cancer. She has not remarried. Her daughter Anna-Louise was born in 1969 and since 1989 has worked as Pollyanna's business partner.
In 1983 Pollyanna won the prestigious Silver Palette award, and in 1988 was honoured to be asked back to sit on the judging panel. Since 1998 she has been a member of the Court of the University of Derby, and in the same year she was presented with the freedom of Bolsover and District in recognition of her charitable work in the area. In October 2000 Pollyanna was honoured to receive the Wildlife Art Society's Millennium Trophy for wildlife painting. This major award confirms her status as one of the leaders in her chosen field.
Lots more at the Pollyanna's website for the interested www.pollyannapickering.co.uk.