I remember first ‘discovering’ I could draw at about the age of ten. We had been given an assignment at school on the topic of nature. I had decided to choose fish for my project and was using my Dad’s ancient Encyclopaedia. It had beautiful illustrations of fish and with pencil in hand, I copied the drawings from the book. On comparison my drawings weren’t half bad! From then on I started to draw more.

I was about 13 when I had the best Art teacher. It was with him that I started to develop my pencil drawing skills and learnt to shade. I also found an interest in Calligraphy. It was not long after that I was uprooted from my home country of England and settling into a new life in rural Australia. It was here that I had the opportunity to learn from another great Art teacher. She encouraged and nurtured my artistic talents. I loved using different medias in Art classes and it was the one subject I truly loved. I was always drawn (excuse the pun!!!) back to pencils, both lead and colour, and was by far my best medium, painting being my worst!

In my final year at High School I had made the decision to head off to Art School however back then there wasn’t many to choose. Everyone wanted to get into Sydney Collage of the Arts and although I gained an interview , I failed to gain a place. It was the same year that Nepean Collage at Kingswood, Sydney (now University of Western Sydney) introduced their first ever course for a Diploma in graphic Design and Photography. I had applied and been granted an interview in which I had to take a portfolio of work. During my interview one of the course teachers walked in, looked at my work and said “I want you in my class!” It was one of my proudest moments to be accepted into and start their inaugural course being one of twenty that was accepted out of about a thousand applicants.

It was also one of the saddest times as 3 months after starting I found myself mourning the loss of my beloved ‘Pop’. I got an approval to recommence the course in the new semester however my heart wasn’t in it anymore and I didn’t return. I got on with life, got a job and it is only now, more than 30yrs later that I wish I had completed the course. I am not going to dwell on it but it would have been handy to know a bit more about Graphic Design now that I’m trying a new venture!

How many times have I picked up a pencil and drawn (without counting doodling) in the last 30yrs – 3 that I can remember!!! The first was a poster for the work office Melbourne Cup celebrations. All artworks were auctioned off and I’m proud to say mine was purchased for huge sum of $2, all others going for around 30cents!!!

The 2nd time was for a sewing project in which I had to design my project.

The 3rd was last year in June 2018. My father lay dying from Alzheimer’s Disease and while I was with him I picked up my pencils again to draw a picture from a photo I had taken of him having a snooze in between walks. The photo I had taken was not good as the light was shining in through the window and cast my Dad into silhouette. Once I converted the image to Black and White it was a different story. It was a beautiful poignant moment in the life of an Alzheimer’s patient.

It was bittersweet knowing that I had lain down my pencils after my Grandfather died but picked them up again at the time of my Father passing.

So on a brighter note I am now back creating, not with the pencils but that is on the cards, but I am enjoying Digital Art. I am currently trying to learn both Photoshop and the vector graphics program, Inkscape. There is a ton to learn but I’m having fun. I will show some of my old artworks as well as my new creations. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I have enjoyed creating them 🙂