MOLLIE Richards, who has died aged 98, was an Eynsham artist who painted portraits of animals on semi-precious stones.

Her love of cats – she once owned five – was a dominant part of her life and, having studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art after leaving school, art also became important to her.

Painting pets had become her forte because, unlike her fellow students, she was not allowed to join the life class while at the Ruskin School.

Her mother and father, Nellie and Harry Haines, did not approve of her painting nudes, so while others sketched the contours of the human form, she stayed outside in the corridor and painted flowers and formal still-life studies.

Despite her talent, she put down her paintbrushes after her studies and took up a position as a cook.

She described herself as a “plain cook” and said no one had ever taught her to cook anything “fancy”.

This was coupled with a love of fresh fruit and vegetables, used to make several favourite dishes for her children Helen Peacocke and John Richards, such as apple crumbles.

She worked in kitchens at the Rose Revived, in Standlake, The Kings Head, in Woodstock, and Eynsham Bartholomew School, where teachers and pupils loved her signature apple pudding.

One teacher once remarked his idea of heaven would have been to be born in the middle of one of her apple puddings and left to eat his way out.

After retirement in her 70s, Mrs Richards picked up her paintbrushes again.

At first just a hobby, she spent time painting portraits of family pets – a basset hound and a fat ginger cat – and then looked elsewhere for inspiration.

A coach trip to the Isle of Skye, where she sighted rare birds, provided more material and she began to take her work more seriously. The natural lines that formed in stones – such as agate, rose quartz and even rough amethyst tocks – provided an interesting medium to paint on.

And the little ornaments, such as a robin painted on Indian agate, proved popular enough to sell at markets and local bazaars.

Mrs Richards, who was born in Witney on February 3, 1917, was married to silversmith and sheet metal worker Jim Richards and lived in Eynsham.

She died peacefully at Medley Manor House Care Home in Witney on June 5.

A funeral will take place on June 19, at the Eynsham Baptist Church, in Lombard Street, at 11am.

She is survived by her two children, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.