Since childhood, I have always been interested in art and creativity.

I admired people who were good at drawing and a lot of my friends were artists too. I enjoyed entering art competitions and making costumes for fancy dress parties.

My drawing and painting skills developed in secondary school. Working with a 2B pencil, drawing, shading and then moving onto pastels and paint. I had lots of encouragement from my art teachers and it was ‘cool’ to be an artist at school!

I then pursued art and design in further and higher education, learning lots of different techniques along the way. I was surrounded by artists constantly learning from others.

Things slowed down for several years and then slowly I started to paint again, a handful of pieces every few years. It wasn’t until I was approaching my fiftieth birthday that I decided to give more time to art.

I connected with other artists, am exploring new techniques and have joined an art class. It is a wonderful experience going back and learning the basics of drawing and colour theory (and unlearning certain habits formed along the years!). Being amongst other artists is amazing.

If you are thinking about exploring art or refreshing your skills, here are some suggestions:

• Join an art class in your local area or online
• Use online tutorials to learn techniques
• Keep a sketchbook to draw in and collect images of things that inspire you.
• Most importantly, draw, paint, explore and have fun!