Sybil Andrews
Speedway
1934

Born in 1898 in Bury St Edmunds, Andrews was unable to attend art school after finishing secondary school as her family lacked the funds to pay for tuition. Andrews first apprenticed as a welder and worked at an aeroplane factory during World War I, where she helped in the development of the first all-metal aeroplane for the Bristol Welding Company.

During this period she took an art correspondence course and after the war returned to Bury St Edmunds where she was employed as an art teacher at Portland House School. She continued to practice art and met architect Cyril Power, who became a mentor figure, and then her working partner until 1938. Between the years of 1930 and 1938, Andrews and Power shared a studio in Hammersmith where they developed a great collaboration, influenced each other and adopted similar printmaking techniques.