ARTIST Mary Rudkin has inspiration on her doorstep when she turns to the canvas.

For the views from Mary's home - a 200-year-old cottage on the lanes high above Horwich - not only take in Morecambe Bay, Southport and Joddrell Bank on a clear day, but the lush, rolling hillside of the West Pennine Moors.

Not too surprising, then, that many of Mary's most popular pictures reflect the beautiful scenery near her home.

What will surprise many people, though, is that Mary has been busy gaining a reputation as a painter because she is better known locally as a teacher.

Mary's earliest memories from her Horwich childhood involve crafts and creating items. School days at the pioneering private Isis School in Astley Bridge are notable for her because of the crafts' bias. "I suppose, unwittingly, I was pushed into an area of work I was already very interested in," explained Mary.

She took formal art training at Bolton Art College, specialising in fashion design, but instead of going into the world of textiles, for example, she moved towards teaching.

She took a degree in education at BIHE, and embarked on a teaching career which took her immediately into dealing with adults with learning disabilities.

"I went to Falcon View first of all, doing what we would now call Art Therapy. At the time I just tried to fill the sessions with enjoyable arts and crafts, and people responded," she says simply.

Further posts in Leyland and then back in Bolton followed and Mary has now been in the town's Community Education Department for over 10 years, teaching both in mainstream education and to people with learning difficulties. In fact, Mary has made teaching people who are arguably perceived as less able a special interest. She recognises that it is a different, more specialised skill, but adds that it also gives back a particular kind of pleasure.

"People with learning disabilities aren't hampered by preconceptions about art like other people," she states. "They just get on with it, and can create wonderfully original work as a result."

Typical is a course this Summer , funded by the Laura Ashley Foundation, which brought a variety of adults into the Wolfenden Centre to create their own rustic designs. This produced some remarkable work, which not only pleased the adults taking part but delighted Mary and her fellow staff members.

Her busy teaching schedule, however, doesn't leave Mary with as much time as she would like for her own painting.

"So, I tend to sketch wherever I can - in the kitchen, sitting outside, or just out and about walking, particularly if we go somewhere like the Lake District for the day," she said. "Or I take photographs and work from them later.

"I suppose that, because I've got all this lovely countryside on my doorstep, I tend to absorb it quietly rather than make a fuss about going out sketching all the time."

There's no denying that Mary is inspired by our often cloud-filled skies, rugged moors and weathered stone buildings to create memorable pictures. She also enjoys painting flowers, both in soothing watercolours and in brilliant acrylics.

Fans of her work, especially the landscapes, not only enjoy the familiarity of local scenes, but find the fluid style constantly interesting and offering new attractions. Mary herself enjoys the kind of pictures which have plenty on offer, a changing landscape or unusual form.

She loves old buildings, lived-in looking furnishing and second-hand clothes with character. "It's the atmosphere of places and items that have been well-used that I like," explains Mary.

She shares her life and home with partner Nick Jackson, a local journalist and musician, who has encouraged Mary to exhibit her work more.

"Yes, we are lucky to live here," concludes Mary. "It's not only beautiful but the views from the living room window never fail to fascinate me.

"And I suppose that if you can keep looking at life with fresh eyes, and finding new things, you can keep on putting different ideas down on canvas."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.