Joyce Stewart, who was in remission from cancer from which she had suffered for some time, has died at her daughter’s home in Guildford, Surrey, aged 90.

Joyce was an artist, whose career would have gone far but for the fact that it was spectacularly interrupted when her family home was bombed on her 13th birthday.

That incident, in which the family lost their house but fortunately not their lives, and the escalation of the Second World War, put paid to Joyce’s ambition to attend Art College in London.

She diverted to the fashion industry, becoming a very young but skilled seamstress, working from home with her mother, Nell Pritchard.

Joyce came to live in Scotland in 1950 after she met and married Dumbarton man John Stewart, who had served with the Armed Forces in Italy.

But she cleaved throughout her life to her London roots, of which she very was proud.

She had treasured memories of the jubilant Trafalgar Square celebrations of VE Day in London in May, 1945.

With the outbreak of peace, Joyce set out on a career in the Civil Service.

It was there she met John, who, having indulged his passion for art and music, delayed his return to Scotland to experience as many of London’s cultural delights as possible.

He was an opera aficionado and the couple enjoyed their first date listening to a Bach symphony in the Albert Hall.

A strikingly handsome woman and a dedicated follower of fashion, Joyce was tall, slim and blonde.

Joyce stood out when she arrived in the douce whisky distilling and shipbuilding town of Dumbarton, , where, at the time, only the men wore trousers.Naturally, she attracted attention, often wearing bright yellow slacks and trendy colourful clothes, which she designed and made herself.

Joyce found herself a long way from the bright lights of London in a town where New Year was a big event but Christmas was just another working day.

In 1961, Joyce and John had their first and only child, Alison, and six months later they moved into Highbeltains, an unconventional 1920s architect designed house at Barnhill, on the slopes of the Old Kilpatrick Hills., overlooking the River Clyde.

There she evolved into a mixture of style icon and Mother Earth figure, introduced a dog and cat, reared chickens, cooked delicious dinners, baked bread and planted a beautiful garden, where she grew both flowers and vegetables.

Joyce also worked for a time as an administrator in the general office of Dewrance and Company, an engineering firm in Glasgow Road, Dumbarton.

She turned once again to fashion, designing and making clothes for herself and her daughter, who told friends in a eulogy delivered at Joyce’s funeral that her parents “lived the dream” and that she herself had had “an idyllic childhood”.

Joyce’s husband died in December 2011, aged 88. He said that he’d lost his faith whilst serving in the 8th Army during the war and he told people he had found his religion in nature.

Like Joyce, he was buried in the South Downs Natural Burial Site, which is a special place, situated on high ground to the north of Portsmouth.

On a clear day you can see the sea. It is a managed wooded area, providing a peaceful and reflective environment.

Her coffin basket, woven from willow rods and bedecked with a mixture of cottage garden plants and wild flowers, was transported through the trees to her burial place by horse and cart.

A violinist played classical music and some soft Scottish laments, and poems from William Wordsworth and Robert Burns were read by friends and family at the graveside.

Alison said: “My mother’s gift for drawing and painting continued to allow her to produce many landscapes of the country surrounding her mother’s home in Bamburgh, which she visited often.

“Perhaps, more importantly, the Loch Lomond vistas were a constant inspiration, as were the paths, trees, walls and flowers at her home and the nearby Overtoun Estate.

“The output became prolific and Joyce’s paintings hang in many Scottish homes and in houses large and small in other countries. Many of them were sold to raise money for charities.”

“Glasgow was close by and was a constant attraction for Joyce.

“Innumerable days were spent at the family’s favourite Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, and there were many visits to a succession of ballets, operas and classical recitals.”

Treasured family memorabilia includes a prized photograph of Lennox historian, Dr IMM MacPhail taking a group on a Natural History Society ramble up Carman Hill in Renton.

There is also a mountain of photographs of Dumbarton Castle; the River Clyde; the Lang Craigs; Overtoun House; Loch Bowie; Dumbuck Hill and Ben Lomond, all of which were subjects of her painting.

There is even Joyce’s last payslip from Dewrance along with photographs from the company dinner dances.

She was a member of Dumbarton Art Club and her work was exhibited in libraries and other public buildings throughout West Dunbartonshire.

Fellow artist, Elizabeth King, from Helensburgh, said: “Joyce was a very talented artist and a great friend and mentor to so many of us who wanted to paint.”

Mrs Stewart moved away from Dumbarton with her late husband in 2000, when she was in remission from cancer, and went to live with Alison and her husband, David. She is survived by them and her beloved grandchildren.

She was never able to return to the town due to being too frail to make the journey.