Having been a front line emergency worker for 18 years, I have attended hundreds of incidents. Often,(not knowingly) some of those incidents have caused me stress, (physical, emotional and mental). These stresses will have affected me as a person and without doubt affected those people that came into contact with me. So to combat this I have always tried to keep busy, keep fit and lock away the gremlins that sometimes appear. As I am getting older. I am slowing down as nature intended. As a result of that, I have had to find other interests to fulfil me and occupy my mind. Art is a new passion. I need to concentrate and focus and it is whilst I am doing this all other pressures and stresses disappear. I am passionate about painting, I love it. So much so, it is now dominating much of my free time. A log cabin has been erected in the garden. I call it my ‘Shedio’. Here I have my easels and workspace for my animal portraits and acrylic pours. I experiment a lot using a variety of mediums and materials. This passion for art started as a result of seeing a piece I would have liked to buy, it was very expensive, so did not purchase it. I decided that I could, if I put my mind to it, paint very similar. So I did. From that day 2 years ago, I began painting. I have had no training, I have learned how to paint by watching videos and talking to other artists. As I progressed and found my style, I began to paint animal

portraits for family and friends. Then friends of friends up until about 1 year ago, then I began to be contacted by customers who wanted me to paint their pet. I have to date painted about 80 per portraits. I found it difficult to paint portraits in the hot weather so I taught myself how to make marble pours. I have made about 50 pours now, (I’ve made a lot more but they were not the standard I was happy with, so I re-used them). I have sold about 25 pours to date. My animal portraits, I draw first to fit the canvas I intend to use. I apply two coats of paint to the canvas, (the colour the client wants). Then transpose the image to the canvas before I paint it using acrylic paints mainly. (I have recently discovered water mixable oils) these are better to use during the warmer weather. I get a lot of satisfaction from painting pet’s for clients, friends and family. My acrylic pours are made using acrylic paints, a mixing medium and other ingredients depending on what style or effect clients are seeking. On larger pieces I make two or three demo pours for the client using the colours they have requested. Once this has been agreed i upscale and make the larger pieces. These pieces are unique, it would be impossible to replicate that very same pattern again,(similar yes, same no).