Editing Steven Appleby (section)

==Early life==

The oldest of four children, Steven Appleby was born in [[Newcastle-upon-Tyne]] in 1956 and grew up in [[Wooler]], near the Scottish border.<ref name="Guardian-loomus">[https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/oct/06/steven-appleby-loomus-guide-life?newsfeed=true "Steven Appleby: A life in pictures"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524062212/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/oct/06/steven-appleby-loomus-guide-life?newsfeed=true |date=24 May 2024 }}, ''The Guardian'', 6 October 2012.</ref>{{Failed verification|date=July 2019}}

Appleby recalls a childhood spent making camps, climbing trees, and hoisting flags outdoors, and reading books such as [[Arthur Ransome]]’s ''[[Swallows and Amazons]]''. The worlds of cartoonists such as [[Ronald Searle]] (''[[St Trinian's School|St Trinian’s]]'') and [[Charles Addams]] (''[[The Addams Family]]''), found on her parents’ bookshelves, also made an impression on her as a child.<ref name="Sybertooth"/>

In an interview with ''The Guardian'', Appleby describes her mother, Ibbie, as coming ‘... from Canada, a distant land of snow and french toast, far away across the sea, where she skated and skied in the day and danced to big bands by night.’ Towards the end of the Second World War, having fallen in love with Steven’s father, Walter, she came to Britain on a [[convoy]]. ‘She travelled alone to live with my father’s family in a tiny village on the coast of north Northumberland while he was still away flying planes in Burma. Together, after the war, they bred boxer dogs, performed with the village amateur dramatic society and laughed at ''[[The Goon Show]]'' on the wireless.’<ref name="Guardian-loomus"/>

Appleby attended Wooler Church of England Primary School, where she won prizes for Plasticine modelling until, aged eleven, she was sent to [[Bootham School]], York, as a boarder, where she pursued her interests in music and art. She played keyboards in school bands and, inspired by ''[[Jesus Christ Superstar]]'', wrote and performed (with Nick Battey) Inwards & Outwards, a rock cantata.<ref name="Sybertooth"/>

After school, in 1974, she took a foundation course in art & design at [[Manchester Polytechnic]], followed by one term on the BA graphic design course (with [[Malcolm Garrett]] and [[Peter Saville (graphic designer)|Peter Saville]]) after which she dropped out to play with school friends in a band called Ploog, which was influenced by prog rock and complicated pop that she has described as ‘far beyond their playing capabilities.’<ref name="Sybertooth"/> In 1977 Appleby returned to art education. She studied graphic design at [[Newcastle Polytechnic]] (1978–1981), then illustration at the [[Royal College of Art]] (1981–1984),<ref name="studioint">{{cite web|url=https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/steven-appleby-interview-loomus-guardian|title=Steven Appleby: interview|first=M. K.|last=Palomar|website=Studio International - Visual Arts, Design and Architecture|access-date=26 February 2020|archive-date=26 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226051651/https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/steven-appleby-interview-loomus-guardian|url-status=live}}</ref> where her tutor was [[Quentin Blake]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hannahruthkellett.wordpress.com/tag/steven-appleby/|title=steven appleby|website=Masters design|access-date=15 November 2016|archive-date=15 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115140352/https://hannahruthkellett.wordpress.com/tag/steven-appleby/|url-status=live}}</ref> She has lived in London since 1981.