Initially trained in print and typography at the Plantin Press in Los Angeles, Mary Kuper then went to Chelsea School of Art and has since been based in London, working as an illustrator, writer, designer and lecturer. As well as working to commission as a freelancer and exhibiting her work, since 2002 she has followed a particular interest in ways in which words and language not only tell stories but are stories in themselves. She has worked with the English Project, the Endangered languages Archive at SOAS and the Poetry Library on projects including The Colour of Words: the naming of colours in different languages, Language Shift : Poetry in Endangered language and Seeing with the Naked Eye: The Body as Metaphor. Word Pictures currently at the National Poetry Library is the latest in several sets of images exploring etymology.