Swan Lake

Adshead attended the Slade School of Fine Art. She and Rex Whistler won the joint first prize in the Slade’s Summer painting competition in 1924 and as a result Henry Tonks arranged for them to undertake a joint mural commission at the Highway Boys’ Club in London’s East End. From then on she began to receive a steady stream of mural commissions, most importantly those for Lord Beaverbrook’s dining room (1928) and the Bank Underground Station (1929). She was soon established as a painter, decorator, painter of murals and illustrator, designing posters for London Underground, decorations for the British Pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exhibition and designed stamps for the General Post Office. She exhibited at the Royal Academy, New English Art Club, Society of Women Artists and Goupil Gallery.