Changing careers brings up a lot of emotions to be processed as well as practicalities that need to be dealt with. To some, it may seem like an easy decision. I knew it was something that I wanted to do and that I had the tools to do it but it was still scary. Scary, exciting, bewildering…

This is the warts and all story of how I left teaching to become an artist.

From an early age, I loved to create. Whether it was drawing, sewing collaging or any other media for that matter, I have always been happiest when creating.

One cold October (in 2017 I think), I saw an event listing for the Ouseburn Open Studios. I’d seen it before but been nervous to go along (there was the anxiety that I didn’t realise I had in buckets). It was fun looking around people’s studios and getting to see how they were set up but the real lightbulb moment came when we went Northern Print.