It hardly seems it but it’s been 10 years since I officially started my self-employed adventure.

I finished studying in 1989 with a degree in Fashion & Textiles; specialising in Printed Textiles.

But that career never really got off the ground before I found myself looking at something steadier and as I love kids, that was training to be a teacher.

As a primary school teacher I eventually specialised my role into teaching children with Additional Needs and helping their parents to find their way through all the support services available.

Fast forward a good few years; I had two of my own kids, I supported my husband in setting up his own business and had been juggling the Working Mother role p/t for a long while. When the prospect of federating with other schools ( this also meant helping them with their work load) came along I knew my time in teaching was done.

I had, for a while, found myself using my non-working Friday to paint as a way to manage the stress of my role as SENCO in school.

At first I was very rusty after such a long hiatus but the more I painted the more I re-found my skills and re-discovered the joy of a creative life.

The balance between teaching for work and painting for fun gradually inched along until the moment came when I let it tip over into Painting for Work – and here we are 10 years later.

I have tried a lot of things during the last decade; I learnt how to use a computer to create surface pattern designs (when I left college we cut and stuck) I have had agents sell those designs here and abroad, I have visited a lot of local (and not-so) galleries and had my work exhibited and sold, I have attended art fairs and exhibited and experienced the highs and lows of being amongst other painters wanting a sale, I have run countless workshops for children and adults focussed on offering creative experience and improvement. I’ve tried and failed and tried and suceeded. It’s been a patchwork.

An artists life is a complicated one – you have to hustle, have many eggs in your basket of offerings, never take it personally and get back up again and again.

I have printed, sewn, painted and designed pretty much everyday and been all the happier for it.

🖌🌸🖍🖼

At this 10 year juncture things have changed yet again and I am re-making what a ‘normal’ week might look like for me but I now know from past experience that things always develop in their own way if you always say yes to opportunities and allow for a little magic too 💫

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