Sally Driver began painting during lockdown in 2020, after a 30-year gap. She completed a foundation course at Bradford College of Art and Design, and a degree in textile design at Nottingham Trent University in the 1980s before hiding out in the Human Resources departments of various UK universities. Sally quit her day job in 2021 to paint full-time.

Her first solo exhibition, “Was There Ever A Bud So Fair” at the Weavers Factory in Saddleworth, consists of two central themes. The first, Still Life, colourfully re-invents the traditional art form of still life, with a vibrant and brash application of paint, rapidly moving brushwork and abstract composition.

Her second theme focuses on female identity through the lens of social media. She peers into the bright lights of z-list online celebrity and influencer life, exploring what these women reflect back to us about our society.

Their interpretations of power, raw ambition, and lust for life manifest themselves with cheap throwaway fashion, doll-like make-up, designer pouts and pornographic poses. Sally deliberately magnifies what she observes - everything gets over-egged and becomes overtly comical, from tattooed eyebrows to high-heels, ankle bracelets and terrified stares from behind frozen botox-ridden faces.