Cottage Art & Design

I first fell in love with painting at school, thanks to a brilliant and inspirational art teacher. After I left, he became my mentor, and for years we worked together on art videos and collaborations with other artists. That relationship is a big part of why I paint the way I do now. But I was told art wasn't a "proper" career, so I trained as a history and psychology teacher instead and spent the next fifteen years in the classroom.Painting never really left, though. I live in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, surrounded by hedgerows, and I've had my own cottage garden and cutting patch for years, dahlias and sweet peas are my particular favourites. With that much to look at every day, painting nature and flowers was the obvious next step.Lockdown is what finally gave me the push. I decided to go full time with my art, painting and selling my work on stationery and homeware. That became Cottage Art & Design.More recently I realised I missed working with people in person, so last October I started running creative and watercolour workshops from my garden studio. Turns out I never really stopped being a teacher, I just needed the right subject. I like watching people slow down and actually look closely at what they're painting, and leave with something that they are proud of having created themselves.