About Me
How long have you been painting for? I get asked (usually the standard ‘how to start a conversation with an artisty person thing’)
Since play school when I was about 3 years old.
Always a shy, quiet child, when I started a little playgroup (in Birmingham where I spent the most wonderful childhood surrounded by my family) the first thing I headed for was a short easel with fold down sheets of white paper (a bit like the paper you get fish and chips in) and tubs of primary coloured yummy looking poster paints. At that point, an artist was born!
According to my Mom, I have always liked to ‘splodge’ paint around and proudly took home my messy works of art on chip paper from playgroup.
During that wonderful childhood in Birmingham, we lived in a terraced street not far from my Nan & Gramp, Aunt, Uncle and cousin. I had adventures to Gramps allotment, being trundled in his old wheelbarrow, amidst his spade, fork, cheese & Onion sandwiches and an old bit of sacking to sit on (which was probably to carry home spuds we dug up) I say ‘we dug up’ I think I only went to help eat the peas and carrots and to be with my Gramp who I loved more than anything.
Those early days taught me to love gardening, I still do today. There is something very therapeutic about playing in the soil and sowing seeds, tending plants to look forward to the next season. I truly believe, if you find time for gardening, it is growing hope, you always look forward to the next flower, fruit, vegetable, season and year.
Loving nature so much tempts me on a regular basis to paint flowers, gardens, birds and other wildlife.
Fast forwarding from those early days, I never lost the love for painting, drawing, being outside and gardening.
I went to Comprehensive School in Tamworth in Staffordshire (we moved there due to Dads work) and my favourite subjects were Art, woodwork (my Gramp was a carpenter), English and Environmental Science (I don’t think children have ‘EVS’ any more, but chose it as it involved the outdoors, plants and wildlife).
We again had to move when I was 18 years old to Wales due to my Dads work (where we have been ever since), so, I had to complete my A level Art in 1 year instead of 2, a lot of work but I did it and was the first pupil in that new school to get an A level (grade1, or A, or whatever it was!) I think my parents and my Art teacher were more proud than I was, I was just glad it was over and done with and I could leave school!
When we got to Wales I considered going to college, but opted for getting a job instead to earn a wage and in my spare time, I basically taught myself how to paint various subjects, with different mediums, reading lots of art books and watching art tutorial videos.
Years and years of practice later I am still learning, you never stop learning.
With every painting, something – be it mixing a shade, tweaking a whisker with an old tatty brush or accidentally rubbing a bit off with your sleeve you learn, and think,, Ooo I like that, I will make a mental note and do that again!
I have sold paintings to lovely people from around the world, as far as Australia and as close as our local Town!
I don’t have a particular ‘genre’ of style, I pretty much paint what I fancy painting when I wake up in the morning. (or what a customer has asked me to do for them)
I have some wonderful Artist friends who specialise in a particular subject, I would get a bit bored if I just painted landscapes all the while. I see something and I always wonder if it can become a painting.
It can be a dramatic castle or bold wild flowers in Acrylic paints, an imaginary Dragon, fairy or Witch’s house, or subtle watercolour flowers, gardens, street scenes, coastal villages, or even dogs or an Elephant.
There are too many wonderful choices to stick to one thing! Variety is the spice of life so they say, and with paintings I think that is so true.
I love architecture and old fashioned streets, you will find my Character Mavis, strolling around any street scenes I paint, she is usually chatting up an old chap outside a pub, with her black cat following her! In past exhibitions, people used to visit and walk around the paintings looking out for Mavis, she became quiet a superstar.
The only thing I don’t really paint is portraits, (although I have done a few) but as I said, I am still learning and who knows where my brushes will lead me in the future, until then, if you would like anything in particular, do feel free to send me a message, I would love to hear from you.
