artistic, background; everything from Victorian novels to the fairy tales of Grimm and Anderson, which were much loved. Shirley especially remembers the illustrations of Rackham and Dulac, and a preference formed very early for pictures full of detail, that 'you could lose yourself in' But in postwar England times were hard, and an artist's life chancy; at eighteen

Shirley accepted an 'Art in Industry' bursary for study at the famous Sanderson wallpaper and fabric studios in London. There she met and married another young fabric designer ( Peter Donald Turner ). After the birth of a daughter ( Jackie Turner ) Shirley worked from home, and it was during this time, lonely and homesick in London, that 'Martha B. Rabbit' first appeared. Shirley wrote and illustrated the story for her little girl, putting into it all the details she herself had loved as a child; the fairies, pixies, and talking animals of her imagination, and the woods and cottages of her Guernsey home. She submitted the manuscript to the English publisher, Blackie, but was rejected, and she did not try again.

The family emigrated to Australia in 1965, and Shirley continued to work as a freelance fabric designer. Shirley had another child three years later ( Konrad Machon Turner ), the designer of the web pages you are currently viewing! Shirley is an artist in every aspect; she has worked with clay, and produced exquisite pieces of work, Clay Gnomes which were snapped up as soon as they were made. Later she dabbled with clay again and produced all types of Australian animals in their native habitats. She also painted beautiful pictures, of all sizes, Terrace houses, country vistas, portraits and fairy paintings.