A TALENTED artist who spent time living in both the Lake District and Morecambe Bay has passed away, aged 90.

Josephine Whitehead was born in Whickham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1926 to Ridley Burkett and Mary Alice Gaussen. She had an elder sister, Mary Elizabeth Burkett.

Her education was disrupted by the start of World War II when her whole school was evacuated to Holwick Hall in Teesdale.

Here she gained her matric and studied piano to grade eight. She continued to practise the piano every day until well into her 80’s.

Mrs Whitehead went on to study for a degree in Fine Art at Durham University, specialising in sculpture.

While at art college she met her first husband, Pete Driver, and married soon after graduating.

Having lived with him at various locations including Skokholm Island, the marriage ended and she went to live in the south of France which her parents had by then retired to.

She was also expecting her first child at the time, Christopher, who was born in Perpignan.

Within two years she had a decision to make, whether to stay in France and Chris become a French citizen, who would then be called up for French National Service, or return to England.

Answering an advert in The Lady magazine she returned to England in 1955 to take up the position of housekeeper in the village of Silverdale on Morecambe Bay.

The position involved driving and her employer put her through her driving test. It was while driving her employer that she was spotted by a bachelor of that parish.

Mrs Whitehead married her second husband, Stanley Bamford Whitehead, in Marseilles in 1958. Two years later, their daughter Ruth was born.

For many years she was content to bring up her family, looking after their home and pursuing her artistic interests in her free time.

It was not until Chris and Ruth left home that she started on a more intensive pursuit of her artistic passion.

For many years visible across the bay from Silverdale was the growing structure of Heysham Power station.

She produced a series of works capturing the building of the station from a variety of locations including on top of the power station.

She was also commissioned to paint a large mural. She chose four scenes of the power station and these are depicted on a wall at the back of the canteen, which are still there to this day.

Finally, the upkeep of the house and the substantial gardens at Silverdale proved too much for the couple and after 40 years in the village, moved to High Lorton to be closer to their daughter.

Here much of Mrs Whitehead's time was spent looking after her husband but she still found time to paint the fells around Lorton. In 2003, Mr Whitehead died at the age of 94.

Mrs Whitehead moved to Keswick, attracted by the theatre of which she was an avid attendee. She continued to paint and motorbikes became a recurrent theme in her work.

She died peacefully at home on July 4 with her partner Peter Todd and daughter after a very short illness. Her funeral was on July 14 at St John’s Church, Keswick.