3-101-596 - Shirley Markham Collection/Heritage Images

Siamese fighting fish, fabric collage, 1970s. Shirley Markham (1931-1999) studied Graphic Design and Illustration at Central School of Art in London from 1950-1952. After graduating from Central, she worked as a graphic designer, producing book illustrations, cartoons for comics, menus and programmes. She gave up her promising career however when she got married in 1957. Middle-class women at that time were expected to devote their energies to bringing up children and running the home. But encouraged by her friend and neighbour Eugenie Alexander who was a fabric collagist, teacher and writer, Markham produced this collage, her first using the medium. Markham's portfolio remained in the family attic for many years, but now her work is published here for the first time.