HIGHAM, Mary

1940 - 1986

Deidre Anne Higham, who painted firstly under the name of Mary Higham, was born at Redgrave, Suffolk in 1940, eldest child of Richard Stagoll Higham (31 March 1903-1996), a pig & poultry farmer, and his wife Diana Nelson Caton (21 October 1913-28 September 2014), only daughter of Richard Bewley Caton of Bacton, who married at St Mary's Church, Bacton, Suffolk on 1 September 1934. After an unhappy stint at boarding school, she was home-schooled by a tutor who taught her the essentials and at the age of 15, Mary studied under Cavendish Morton and at the early age of 16, exhibited at the Royal Academy and was a member of the Ipswich Art Club 1958-1959 where she exhibited in 1958 from Fir Tree Farm, Redgrave, three oil paintings, 'Cabbage', 'Marine Still Life' and 'Still Life of a Melon'. Deidre married at Redgrave in 1959, Timothy Alexander Austen Macpherson (1936-3 May 1986), an army officer, and spent two years in Germany where Mouse painted a wide range of wildlife for private commissions and large backdrops for the various Officers Mess parties. Tim retired from the army, and they went to live at The Grange, Walcot, Sleaford, Lincolnshire where Mouse set up her studio in the attic of their farmhouse. Mouse Macpherson, as she was now known, spent time in Scotland, and continued with her painting of the wildlife and exhibiting her work until her tragic death. They had three daughters, Joan Louie (born 1962), Katherine Anne (born 1963) and Iona Jane (1965-1986). Deidre Anne Macpherson, her husband Timothy and youngest daughter Iona, whilst on a holiday flight to the Maldives, were three of the fourteen passengers killed in the Sri Lanka Colombo airport Tamil guerillas terrorist bombing of a Lanka Airline aircraft on 3 May 1986. 'Mouse' MacPherson signed her work with a tiny mouse. Her daughter, Mrs Warburton-Lee, is making many of Macpherson’s original pieces available as prints and charming cards through 'Wildlife by Mouse'.
Website: https://wildlifebymouse.com

Royal Academy Exhibits
from Fir Tree Farm, Redgrave, Suffolk
1957 718 Winter: Still Life

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Works by This Artist