What got you into art?
Oh where to begin with this! It’s a question I’ve been asked a few times and I never know how to answer, so I shall attempt to unpick it in this blog.
The short answer is I’ve been drawing since I was a child. I’m an only child (oneling) and drawing was a way of amusing myself without needing much supervision.
I was given my first set of paints when I was about 4, but I didn’t gel with them. I used them but all I did was make a horrible mess and didn’t enjoy using them. I also had a collection of felt tip pens, which I grew to love. I would sit for hours at the kitchen table drawing horses (Black Beauty was a particular favourite at the time. Interestingly, art at school was a different matter, I hated it! I wasn’t interested in painting with stodgy school paints and stiff paintbrushes, or cutting out shapes of sticky paper with scissors that didn’t work.
By the age of about 7 or 8 I became fascinated by the colourful little feathered visitors to our garden, so I begged Dad to build me a bird table and I would sit in the kitchen for hours watching them from the window and trying to draw them. Mum & Dad also bought me some Ladybird books about nature and birds. My Ladybird collection was priceless to me, in fact I still have some of them and Tunnicliffe’s illustrations still inspire me.
However, as I entered my teenage years, my creativity slowed down. Again, I hated art lessons as I was never allowed to create what I wanted to create. I wasn’t interested in drawing still lifes of irons or bowls of fruit. All I was interested in was drawing animals and birds.
I did try and take O Level art, and failed dismally. I was told my coursework for the prompt of “By The Water’s Edge’ wasn’t what the examination board were looking for. I drew a study of a male mallard duck in some reeds by the side of a stream using watersolube pencils. Evidently I was supposed to draw disguarded litter on pebbles or something like that. I felt stifled and thought I wasn’t any good, so I stopped.
In the meantime, I would watch Dad create wonderful pieces of art. Art for him was a way of relaxing after a day at work or officiating at high profile motor race meetings. He loved pen & ink or watercolours and was brilliant. The more he created, the less I created because I’d started to believe I’d never be as good as him. I dabbled occasionally and he once said ” (“you’re quite useful at this when you put your mind to it.” (He was never one for over-hyping!) which left a flicker of interest buried somewhere in me.
This limiting belief of not being good enough, probably sparked by my school art experiences stayed with me for roughly 30 years! Yes, 30 YEARS!
The spark to create again was reignited after my parents both passed away in 2012 and I needed to de-clutter the house. Amongst Dad’s watercolour paints and other materials, I discovered an unopened and unused set of acrylic paints and acrylic paper. This was something he hadn’t mastered and I could try! YAYYY!! (I now like to think he planted them so I could find them.)
I found a local inperson workshop to teach me the basics (YouTube tutorials weren’t the ‘thing’ then.) and had a lesson. I loved it, so then I signed up to weekly classes in a nearby village where I could develop my skills. I’d found my niche; I painted coast scenes, flowers, landscapes…anything I could think of. Acrylics are fun, you can make mistakes and just go over them.
I also kept Dad’s desktop easel and palettes and very soon I began to feel a connection between me and him whenever I used them.
But I still had the belief that I wasn’t good enough, I would never be as good as him! AARGH!
Skip forward to 2015, I was planning a Trip of a Lifetime to Bali and Australia and was also trying to build one of those multilevel marketing businesses to help fund it, but I kept feeling stuck or blocked so I invested in a course of three Life Coaching sessions with a lovely lady I’d met through business networking to help me. I can’t remember how it happened or what unlocked it, but we got on to the subject of my art and my negative belief towards it.
I discovered I had a mega dose of Imposter Syndrome, along with its close relative, Comparison. Believe me, they’re not good together! They will try and convince you they are, but they’re not. They’re toxic and energy sapping and not to be trusted.
Sandra asked me to take an example of Dad’s work and an example of my work to my last coaching session and really study them to notice how different they are. The styles are different, our mark making is different…WE were different. But this didn’t mean I was wrong, or not good enough. I just needed to stop comparing myself to Dad and get on with my own journey.
My new creative coddiwomple had begun: I set out purposefully to create regularly but had no idea what the outcomes would be or where the journey would lead.
I continued to create a little bit during my Trip of 2015-2016 and beyond, but it wasn’t until 2020 that the Art Bug really bit…
During the Lockdowns of 2020, I really missed going to our local beaches and coast. Therefore the only thing for me to do was bring the coast to me. I frantically scoured YourTube for acrylic seascape tutorials and stumbled across a wonderful channel Katie Jobling Art. Not only are her videos very informative and helpful, but they’re also incredibly relaxing to watch. I purchased some canvases, lots of seascape colour paints and I was off!
It’s 2026 at the time of writing this and art has become an incredibly important part of my life. It gets me out of my own head, blocks out the world’s madness and I notice my surroundings more. I’m still so inspired by our local wildlife and natural surroundings and I’m constantly exploring new mediums to use. I’ve even begun to enjoy watercolours now that I can just be myself and not use them like Dad did.
Getting creative is incredibly rewarding and purposeful in ways I’d never imagined. I’ve found ways I can use it to inspire others to engage with their creativity and it also enables me to support causes and charities that are important to me.
New, unexpected opportunities constantly reveal themselves and this year is no exception as I’ve been asked to facilitate a Paint & Sip party for my friend’s daughter’s Hen Do later on this year.
And best of all, I still feel a sense of encouragement and influence from Dad when I use his easel and palettes. That’s priceless.