Background
Garstin was born in Penzance, Cornwall, the daughter of painter Norman Garstin and received her early training from him.
Garstin was born in Penzance, Cornwall, the daughter of painter Norman Garstin and received her early training from him.
She first exhibited a painting, "The Chairmakers", at the Royal Academy in 1912 and a much larger painting of the Market Place at Gemene, Brittany, the following year. She later created illustrations for magazines including Punch and Tatler. Adams Gallery, Pall Mall, London (1940) - solo exhibition of over 60 paintings, highlights being "Penzance Promenade" and "Penzance Harbour" which the Western Morning News described as "something of the effective simplicity and artistic economy of selection that the best modern French paintings have."
United Services Centre, Plymouth (1945) - joint exhibition with Newlyn painter Gertrude Harvey.
Norman and Alethea Garstin.
Paintings by Garstin are currently in the Government Art Collection and the collections of the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, the Royal West of England Academy and the National Trust.
Garstin continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy until 1945 and was elected as a Member of the Royal West of England Academy in 1949.