Painter and draughtsman, born in the Isle of Wight, who, as a mature student, did a foundation course at Stourbridge College of Art & Technology, 1983–4, then gained a fine art honours degree at Wolverhampton Polytechnic, 1984–7. Macdonald’s concern with the finer techniques of painting, composition and draughtsmanship, unfashionable in the mid-1980s, were important features of her brand of realism. A series of themes ran through her work, including her roles as wife, mother and artist, the poetry of Sylvia Plath, the life of Ezra Pound, and his and her own interest in the Italian Renaissance. Group exhibitions included The Leicestershire Collection Annual Exhibition, from 1988; Women’s Images, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 1989; Inner Language, an Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, tour, 1989–90; 10th International Cleveland Drawing Biennale and tour, 1991–2; and Re-Visions: Barber Institute of Fine Arts & Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, where she worked on a commission, 1996.