27th July – 2nd August 2016

• I am a working class Artist who entered the Cheltenham Art scene in 2013. My first foray into exhibiting was made possible by the lovely Jane Ware whom I met when we worked at Zurich. I was a nervous, under confident woman with the social graces of a Honey Badger; I showed her a piece of work I had produced (it was an ink drawing of Parga) and she said ‘You could sell this’. She was the first person who had ever taken the time to sit down with me and give me some much needed instruction about how I could pursue my lifelong dream to become an artist. Filled with ideas and encouragement I began building up a body of work and started investigating outlets where I could exhibit my work inexpensively.
• I started out on ebay, and quickly sold a handful of paintings. I didn’t have the luxury of a wealthy family to support me and did my art work on top of working a 40 hour office job. As well as buying materials I had to pay for framing and spend time working on administrative stuff like returns, exhibition material, networking etc. It was a challenge but, with the help of some great friends, I got there and I am now entering my fourth year as a professional artist.
• Until recently I exhibited with a local Artist’s co-operative and I have also been taken on by a small, but very driven, gallery in Newent. Prior to that I attended any gig I could find as well as trying out different art and craft markets in the local area.
• With the closure of the shop, I had to sit down and think about what I wanted to do going forward. I knew that I wanted to do something completely different and so, in January 2017 I will be leaving everything behind to live, sleep, travel and paint from a camper van as I drive across Europe. It’ll be crazy, but I think it will also be interesting considering Britain’s recent decision to leave the European Union (I decided to embark upon this adventure prior to the Referendum). I intend to keep a journal as I travel, so I’ll be interviewing and talking to all different types of people from all walks of life.

Open Daily 10am – 5pm

Entry free