Porcelain pierrot doll/manequin? Chinese Style? - Gillian Still

. Gillian Still was born in London in 1939. After attending Woking Grammar School for Girls she joined Farnham School of art to study painting. During the three years of training she found that a growing interest in sculpture became paramount. She changed her course to complete her four years at art school in the sculpture department. Her final year of training was spent at Brighton College of Art studying educational psychology, lettering and bookbinding. She completed the course by gaining the London University Art Teachers Certificate with distinction.
Gillian's decision to change from painting to sculpture was one which required her to learn many new skills. It demanded physical strength and stamina and a high degree of technical ability. It was necessary to understand wood and stone carving, modelling in clay, building armatures, working with plaster and to gain the skills involved in casting.
During Gillian's first teaching post as head of the art department at Woking Grammar School she continued to develop her technical abilities as a sculptor and as a qualified welder after attending special courses for army engineers at Aldershot.
Her next teaching job was Lecturer in sculpture at Harrow College of Art. This involved teaching all forms of sculpture, from welding steel girders to modelling in terracotta. At this time her own work was mainly on a large scale in plaster, fibre glass and cement fondu.
At the college Gillian met the sculptor Philip Turner, and by working with him she learned how to produce bronze cast sculpture. Also among the college staff were some of the country's leading potters. Working with them stimulated Gillian's interest in clay modelling and ceramics.
During this time Gillian Still exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of Portrait Sculptors.
In 1965 Gillian moved to Wales, where she combined part-time teaching at Swansea College of Art with bringing up her young family and working in her studio. She has begun to concentrate on small-scale bronze sculpture and ceramic figurative groups. A decision to experiment with a small amount of porcelain revealed both the challenge of this difficult material and her affinity with it. She began to devote herself to acquiring the skills and expertise which now rank her as one of the foremost porcelain sculptors in the world.
Gillian continued to combine teaching with her own studio work and exhibited throughout Britain. During the 1970s she taught less as her own work took priority and her reputation and success grew.
At this time Gillian began to interest collectors abroad and there followed a succession of well-received and successful exhibitions in Germany and Spain.
In 1989 Gillian Still opened the Fountain Fine Art gallery in Llandeilo