During her childhood in West Yorkshire, Marie Walker Last showed an early inclination towards art encouraged by her father, a successful textiles manufacturer and keen art enthusiast. After a spell in the Land Army during WWII, Marie's early artistic inclinations leant towards capturing the landscape of West Yorkshire. In the mid-1950s she became a member of the Northern Federation of Artists, and whilst attending their summer painting schools she met leading artists such as Robert Medley and Terry Frost. Here she was encouraged to move beyond representational depictions of landscape towards more abstract, personal expressions of her surroundings.

In 1956 Marie was accepted into the Chelsea School of Art, where she...