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Pat Elliott Shircore was born in England but spent the first three years of her life in Hong Kong, an experience which, although now barely remembered, must have had a lasting influence on her future. As a child, her family travelled a great deal before settling first in South Wales and then Richmond in South West London.
She trained at Kingston College of Art in graphic design and illustration before setting up her own company with a wide client base. In 1980 she left Britain and spent two years travelling extensively drawing, painting and photographing in South East Asia, Australia and China. In
fact her visit to Hong Kong was intended merely as the launching
point from which to get the necessary paperwork to take the
slow boat to Shanghai; it turned out to be very much more
than that. To
her surprise, Hong Kong seemed instantly familiar to
her, and its central position within Asia meant that
the surrounding countries, with their enormous cultural
diversity, were easily accessible. In the twenty-odd years that Pat has lived in Hong Kong, she has worked mainly in the field of publishing and has contributed front cover illustrations, book and magazine designs, even cartoons, for a varied assortment of clients, specializing in corporate histories. It
was at this point that she invested in a sophisticated computer
system and since then much of her work has been produced
digitally. Her
involvement with the historical records of companies
in South East Asia allowed her privileged access to little-known
photographic archives and this has led to an even greater
interest in the wider story of the development of the
region, especially Hong Kong. Pat
lived and worked in Shek O for 12 years,
one of Hong Kong Island's last remaining villages where
rural Chinese traditions are a way of life for the local
inhabitants. Old wooden charcoal rice ovens stand in
alleyways and the temple is
still the focal point for many families; on any random
day a lion dance, paper horse or mound of barbequed pigs
could be blocking the road. It
has provided a wonderfully colourful yet serene environment
for Pat to develop her work, within a community that
has evolved and survived intact all the changes of the
last hundred and fifty years.
Pat now lives in lovely Tong
Fook Village, near Cheung Sha on Lantau. | 
