I used to wonder whether anyone else thought like me. That was in my formative years when all manner of weird and wonderful visions and poetry filled my head. Now I wonder how conditioned I have become since then and how much of what I freely expressed then has become filtered due to outside forces and influences. I'd like to think the answer to that is none, but I know better than to be that naïve. Life plays an obvious part in restricting your spirit to a certain extent. Whereas you were once able to create at leisure, suddenly you're thrown into a world that allows you less and less time to wander amongst your thoughts. It's a gradual process and most of us fail to notice it happening to us. Many of us become apart of what we once rebelled against; this is natural progression. But for those of us who strive to get back what once came so naturally, it's a bitter sweet scenario. I feel somewhat honored, that as an artist, I am able to put thought into pictures and create. But although in essence I still imagine the same things as when I was a heady teenager, I seem to be looking at them from a different plane. Maybe that's good. They say with age comes knowledge and understanding. I definitely have a deeper understanding of a lot of what I skimmed the surface of twenty years ago.

My father taught me to draw when I was very young. Looking back now I remember his patience. He would watch my heavy-handed attempts to copy his examples with a resigned serenity, as I repeatedly traced over an ever increasing roughed up sheet of paper which had seen many chafes from my eager, grubby little rubber. I must have spent most of my childhood creating in one way or another. Although drawing and painting were my main priority, I also wrote a lot too. I'd write stories, poems and illustrate them, and I've lost count of the novels I'd start. School stories were my favorite. Being an avid Enid Blyton reader at that age, I loved the Malory Towers series, so I'd spend ages working out main characters, their personalities and characteristics, only to start the first chapter, then get sidetracked. I'd never return to it. I still loved writing though and poetry continued until just a few years ago. I haven't written any for awhile now because my art takes up all the time my husband and daughter spare me, so its something that can stay on the backburner for the time being. Creating this site has edged me back into it a little and I've enjoyed the freedom it has given me. Words can flow in any direction. There is obviously a certain freedom in drawing and painting too, but to a lesser degree for me. The way I draw, there is always control of some sort. I like it that way. It's how I do it. The hardest part for me is that feeling of not having portrayed my original idea well enough. In my mind I see these wonderful creatures, all so vivid and alive, but more often than not, on completion of a painting, I'm never totally satisfied with what I see in front of me. There is always something I could have done better. I remember my art teacher at secondary school, Mr. John, asking us whom we thought an artist's worst critic would be. I immediately piped up with "His or herself," from my own experience, which was the answer he wanted. Never has it been truer than for myself. This being the case, I will no doubt continue creating different studies of the same characters, until I find THE ONE I feel most fitting. But that's OK. I can see an ongoing improvement in my work as I complete each new piece, which pleases me, so all I have to do now maybe is be a little less critical of all I do and spend more time enjoying it. We all have to wait to find that balance and it doesn't come easily. But the journey is pretty good and I'd rather be on it than not.

Music has been of great significance in the nurturing of my creativity. It more than anything else has inspired me to draw, write, dream, believe . . . I remember hearing The Doors for the first time, or more so, the lyrics of Jim Morrison. Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Nicks . . . all were to have a profound effect on me. It was through their influence that I began to write songs and poems. I knew my words were still juvenile and cliché to a mature ear, but the thoughts behind them were no less intense. Zeppelins Tolkeinesque lyrics and Stevies magical enchantments probably had the strongest influence on me, art wise. In my teens I spent a lot of time sketching and painting heroes, heroines and dream landscapes. I discovered these musicians before I hit my teens, so I had a head full of fantasy rather than schoolwork. The moon, magical women, dreams, all far outdid anything the education system could offer me. So in my latter years at school, I would slip out of classes I had no interest in, to spend time in the art department. Most days I could be found huddled in a corner with my sketchbook for company. Teachers then were pretty cool if you were at least showing interest in something. My commitment to my art became increasingly sporadic in the years that followed. Life has a funny way of separating you from what you love if you let it. But I learnt a lot about life during that time, and some very valuable lessons. I also found a lot of happiness. Now it's hard to imagine life without it. I seem to spend most of the time I'm not working thinking about working. With the exception of my family, it totally consumes my life. I constantly strive to be better, worry if each new piece will be good enough and thoroughly enjoy every moment of it. Creating pictures is something I love to do and I hope if you're browsing this site, they're bringing you pleasure to look at. We will be updating the site regularly, so please check back every once in awhile to see what's new. And don't forget, ALL designs you see here (with the exception of commissions) are for sale as either prints or greeting cards.

Sara at Parkes Castle on Loch Gill April 2001

Photography courtesy of Jo Gray