Maggie's training started at St. Albans School of Art where she had the good fortune to have Quentin Crisp as a model, and to be taught by John Brunsdon (now world famous for his etchings). She then trained as a teacher at Swansea School of Art & University.

She was Head of the Art Department at Barnet Grammar School before taking the leap into independence as a professional artist.

At around that time she was a Fellow at Digswell House (Welwyn Garden City) and was fortunate to be befriended by fellow Fellows Peter Collingwood (weaver extraordinaire, who died in 2008) and John Brunsdon, and exhibited with them at the Bluecoats Gallery in Liverpool. It was whilst there that she also met friends and fellow ceramicists Mick & Sheila Casson (sadly, Mick has now died).

Her own work

Maggie began working as a professional artist many years back, then, and lived and worked in North Wales for thirty years.

Her work there was predominantly as a ceramicist. Her vast output encompassed delicate ceramic figures, ceramic murals in public places, and a range of unique hand-painted wall tiles.

Maggie created many large murals to commission in England and Wales and there's even one in Nazareth. Examples can be seen in Ruthin, Rhyl, Bangor, Ness Gardens, Barmouth Dragon Theatre, Liverpool, Wigan Court House (unveiled by Lady Diana, Princess of Wales), Kingston-upon-Thames and Holyhead.

Another highly regarded ceramic skill lay in her creations of exquisitely detailed figures and houses, mainly with a mediaeval character. A display of several figures in a street scene commissioned by the Welsh Arts Council can be seen at Theatr Clwyd in Mold. Several people have substantial collections, and one was presented by admirers to Margaret Thatcher when she was Prime Minister.

A mural - just one example

The mural can be seen at the entrance to the Medical Centre, just across the road from Ruthin's Craft Centre in North Wales. Just imagine how much research time went into this, well before any of the clay was bashed and moulded, painted and fired. The mural's composed of hundreds of small elements, each of which was individually crafted.

And examples of her figures

"The obsequious Church Warden" is typical Maggie Humphry. It's unbelievably detailed and delicate, and it's full of life and fun. All you see here are the two figures who are the focus of attention at the bottom of the piece - above are the arches, based on those within Lichfield's lovely Cathedral.

The work is 52 high by 16 centimetres wide, and 9 deep. There are still just a couple available for sale. The other's called "An ecclesiastical Gossip", and is just as beautifully worked, and as amusing. The pieces can be free standing or wall mounted.

Just two still available.