Avril Paton, who was born in Glasgow in 1941 during the wartime blitz is the daughter and grand-daughter of Hugh and Donald Paton who were both landscape painters on the Isle of Arran. Mardi Gillies, her mother, met and married Hugh when they were both attending Glasgow School of Art in the late thirties.

After Paton's birth, mother and daughter returned to the safety of the parental home in the village of Corrie on Arran. Her father remained away from the island for the duration of the war, returning to his family , which also included his son Donald, in 1945. The post war years were lean times for many and particularly precarious for a struggling artist.

In 1956 Paton's maternal grand-parents bought the family a small croft and life started to improve for her father, both financially and artistically. He began to hold annual solo shows in Glasgow and made steady studio sales at home. This patern remained until his untimely death in 1966. Paton had left home just before this upturn in the family fortunes to continue her education at Rothsay Academy on the nearby Isle of Bute.

Schooling on Arran at that time finished at fifteen and further education had to be obtained elsewhere. Bute, although not far from Arran in sea miles, involved a complicated journey of ferries and buses as there was no direct sea passage except in high summer. Lodgings were a private arrangement and often unsatisfactory, but the standard of education at the achademy was high and Paton benefited from this. Her teacher, a Mr. Kirk, was classically inclined and expected dilligent application to the study of art history and still life painting in particular; in her he had a very willing pupil.

In 1958 she joined Glasgow School of Art and although her studies went well personal difficulties interviened. The following year 1959, she married and moved to the south coast of England and afterwards London. The marraige produced two daughters, but the couple parted after four years and in 1963 Paton returned to the Isle of Arran with yer two young daughters where she remained for the next twenty years.

It was during her first year back there that Paton became convinced that art, despite the shaky start, was her vocation. She took part in mixed exhibitions over the years and had one joint solo exhibition in Glasgow, but at that time it was not possible to concentrate on her art full time. However, she had the encouragment of some family members and friends to keep her going when it seemed a long road to travel. In the mid sixties an art collector, Harald Von Arnim, became a patron, he purchased her best work and supplied her with materials.

After her son was born in 1975 she stopped painting for two years. When she resumed it was with a different style and focus. In 1982 she returned to Glasgow with her young son and started almost immediately to paint scenes of city life.

Her plan was to re-apply for a place at Glasgow School of Art, to fill in the gaps she was sure existed in her artistic education. To that end she submitted a portfolio in 1983 and was subsequently granted an interview with John Cunningham, the late distinguished painter, a tutor at the art school. To her surprise he told her that to return there was not necessary, and indeed could well be a waste of time.

It was evident to him that she had developed a strong personal style and to return to art school would require her to abandon it and start from scratch, with no certainty that she would arrive at a better place when her studies were over. He advised her to start mounting solo exhibitions as soon as possible, to gradually build a reputation and a solid career.

Paton was pleased to take his advice and started looking for a gallery willing to show her work. Main Fine Art in Glasgow'sWest End gave her her first solo show in 1986 which was a success, others followed. In 1988 Barclay Lennie Fine Art sold her painting 'The Barras' to Glasgow Art Galleries and Museums: this was her first major sale and to a large extent established her credentials as an artist.

In 1994 the Gatehouse Gallery sold her painting 'Windows in the West' a depiction of a prosperous Glasgow tenemant, again to Glasgow Art Galleries and Museums. It was hung in the Gallery of Modern Art for nearly ten years where it proved to be the most looked at exhibit.

It is established that well over 30,000 printed images of the painting and over 100,000 cards have been sold and that from a very small local base: the image has found its way to most of the worlds major countries.

Income from sales of 'Windows in the West' prints and other works have bought Paton the time and freedom to change direction artistically. With the use of different mediums, supports and subject matter her new work is a definite departure.