My friend Elspeth Weir, who has died aged 82, was a painter and a highly creative person who exercised a lasting influence over many of her friends.
She was born in London to Scots parents, Jean (nee Fairlie), a housewife, and William Weir, a GP and former surgeon in the Royal Navy), and was educated at the independent Channing school for girls in Highgate. She then received a national diploma in design in fine art at the Hornsey School of Art.
