Margaret Ingles was born in Canberra, Australia, and has a background in sociology and anthropology, education, and the visual arts including photography. After meeting her husband she moved to Tasmania where she spent seven years, and where her two daughters were born. With a lifelong dream for travel and adventure she and her family moved to Nepal in the late 80's and spent the next 20 years living and travelling in Asia and beyond. Much of the time was spent participating in the conservation and development field where people and their relationships with nature and natural resources provided a central theme. With so many diverse and rich life experiences, her photography, drawing and painting became especially important, providing a way of reflecting, recording and interpreting the life she was having. Photography was both an end in itself, and an important part of the creative process of her paintings.

Whilst many of her ideas come from her travels, her home is equally a source of inspiration. Margaret creates her art in an old Thai house on a pond located in the centre of Bangkok, the setting for her home and studio.

As a lover of realism in all its forms, Margaret's focus is always the subject. Inspired by the beauty of the external world, her ideas, imagination and symbols converge on canvas, celebrating equally the ordinary and the extraordinary. She is a dedicated oil-on-canvas painter and enjoys a variety of subject matter - people, places and nature - although certain subjects have dominated from time to time like her door and window theme.

"Doors are ubiquitous and whether open or closed, they are the portals between worlds in both a literal and metaphorical sense…They are rich symbols of the unlimited possibilities that lie beyond the threshold!"

Margaret's other main focus is on nature in art, especially the relationship between humans and animals and their environments. She is a member of the Artists For Conservation organisation. The AFC is a non-profit, international organization dedicated to the celebration and preservation of the natural world. The organization's mission is to support wildlife and habitat conservation, biodiversity, sustainability and environmental education through art that celebrates our natural heritage.

Margaret is also a member of the International Guild of Realism, and the Australian Guild of Realist Artists, both dedicated to advance realism in fine art through museum exhibitions, art gallery shows, workshops, education programs, marketing support and internet exposure.

Margaret has exhibited her paintings and photographs internationally, and her work can be found in homes around the world.