Chris Mallaband-Brown

Chris is originally from Walsall and moved to Stoke-on-Trent in 1979 to do a degree in Fine Art. While she was studying she met her partner Richard, “We met 1980 when I was 19, he was 28. He comes from Rochdale. We met in the middle and stayed because Stoke is cheap to live in and we both got jobs. I got a job as a care assistant for 5 years.”

“I didn’t really get much of an impression [of Stoke] until I moved in with Richard and we lived in a few tatty terraced houses. In one house the living room floor was falling into the cellar so we didn’t really use it, we used to skirt round the edge so we didn’t put any pressure on it.”

Chris went onto get a job with Soke City Council, where she worked as a rent collector and then a rent arrears officer, helping people sort out their rent arrears problems. She says, “Eventually I got a housing officers job and then the April before last I finished because I’ve had health problems.

Chris has continued to paint since college and has received the occasional commission, including local murals. She now has a small studio at the ACAVA Artist Studios at Spode, “I just love painting, I love art, so it was a no brainer [having a studio] really.”.

As well as being a part of Spode Chris is involved in various local groups, including two choirs Clay Chorus and Loud Mouth Women, and community plays at Penkhull village. She also enjoys archery, barn dancing and is learning to play the trumpet.

Reflecting on her the city she says, “I’ve been here 39 years and I was only in Walsall until I was 18/19 so yes Stoke is more my home than anywhere else in the world. And I’m familiar with it. I just wish it was a bit more prosperous, you know, it's so sad looking at it, it's so depressing in some ways.” She continues,”I mean most of my friends are from outside Stoke but they live here. There’s a lot of incomers but we feel welcomed, otherwise we wouldn’t stay.”