"I have always been drawn to landscape, it's spirit and the atmosphere it can create. A few years ago I stayed for a few months in the Western Isles. The landscape there, it's colours and moods, had a great impact on me. I have used this impact, and the memories which it evokes, over the last year as a fuel for my work. My work is an expression of a period of healing from, and out of, depression." - Artist Statement.
Born in 1969, McPhail graduated from Duncan of Jordanestone College with a BA (Hons). She has volunteered at art therapy classes and exhibited at the RSA student exhibition in 1995.