Matilda Webb

Matilda loved reading as a child and was inspired to start writing by Roald Dahl, who she met when she was 7. She has since written both children's and adult fiction and non-fiction. She is delighted to have just completed an absorbing eight-year project, researching and writing an in-depth biography of St Ives self-taught artist Alfred Wallis. Available from her dedicated website, the book is titled Alfred Wallis Child Pauper to Artistic Luminary, and combines rigorous research, a compelling narrative, and many colour illustrations to tell the remarkable story of this iconic artist. Wallis rose from extreme hardship to greatly influence the British Modern Art scene of the 1930s and today is one of Britain's best loved artists. Alfred Wallis painted autobiographical events close to his heart so the key to understanding his paintings is to understand his life, and this richly illustrated biography offers many new insights to do just that.