THE first solo show of a woman artist at Norton next month will be a humbling example to the rest of us of how triumph can emerge from adversity.

Angela Kruger, of Brecon Drive, Redcar, is today bursting with fun and ideas. But not many years ago, after an active life in business, she became seriously ill. During the long period of tribulation which ensued, she was also widowed.

Writing and painting seem to have provided a source of salvation, though she also pays tribute to the support of friends.

Now aged 54, she is about to open a multi-faceted exhibition at Norton Gallery, which is attached to Norton school in Berkshire Road.

The first half, which she describes as serious, is called Angela's work ... not Ashes, starts on October 2. A tongue-in-cheek follow-up, Angela at Play, follows on October 17.

She is particularly keen to encourage children to express themselves and as the adjacent school has 720 pupils, she will mount a separate display for youngsters with paintings, daft poems, a picture puzzle and competitions with prizes.

"I aim to stimulate not only their imagination, but their belief in themselves that anything is possible," she said.

Mrs Kruger is living proof that this is so. From working in accounting and credit control, including managing a team of 20 insurance agents, she was forced to abandon her career when her body began to grow two extra ribs from the neck, called cervical ribs, which gradually caused her limbs to stop working.

"In 1989, I had two operations, one on either side of my collar bone, and I was fortunate enough to regain some feeling and sensation in my arms and legs," she said.

Her late husband, Hans, a former Luftwaffe pilot, had died two years previously after become extremely ill during this time. Mrs Kruger then contracted repeated infections and was diagnosed as also suffering from ME.

Though classed as partially disabled, she believes she is on the road to recovery, and works hard at a gym and swimming pool to recover her strength.

She began writing short stories and poems for adults and children in 1995. Unable to find anyone to illustrate them to her liking, she decided to learn how to do it herself.

"I enrolled in the further education centre in September, 1998, and discovered I had a natural talent," she said.

A month later, she entered a national calendar competition - and won. Her painting, Summer Breeze, was chosen to represent July the following year. "As this is my birthday month, I was doubly pleased," she said.

Her exhibition will include portraits, flower studies and abstract works, as well as landscapes and seascapes and picture poems in the Japanese style.

There will also be sculptures and paintings for children. Her show runs until November 1