For as long as I can remember, throughout my childhood, I could be found with a pencil in my hand covering every scrap of paper with pictures. My dad would bring paper home and staple it into little books for me, and Christmas was so special because it meant I got felt tips and a pad of real artist paper. My parents encouraged me to draw as much as they could and, in my teens, I became well known for painting birds and even sold quite a few.

When I left home I stopped painting birds but I spent many years airbrushing fantasy pictures on to bike tanks and motorcycle helmets but I felt I was missing something. Gradually I painted less and less until I was lucky if I managed one or two pieces a year. My husband encouraged me to keep creating and I moved over to digital art where my skills with Photoshop got me a web design job.

While I was looking for images for a project I discovered the UKCPS site and that was the catalyst for getting back into serious art. I was blown away by what I saw and decided to try it for myself.

I fished out my old box of Derwent pencils and had a go but I wasn't impressed with the result. Derwent pencils were just too hard and chalky for me so it was back to the drawing board. After more research on the net I read about Karisma pencils and their qualities and bought a set with money given as a Christmas present. I was hooked, I loved their vibrant colour and smoothness.

I bought all the books I could find and visited web sites like Wet Canvas and Scribble talk. I also did a couple of courses with Bob Ebdon (the founder of the UKCPS) to improve my skills and I got back my enthusiasm for art that I thought I had lost. I loved the convenience of coloured pencil and the fact that it was grabbing people's attention as they couldn't believe that the work I was showing them was done with such a humble media.

I have now been working in pencil for 4 years and have come on in leaps and bounds, so much so that I had 2 of my works accepted for the UKCPS annual exhibition of 2005 (King Charles Puppies & Dappled Carousel Horse).
I then had one accepted for the 2006 Keswick Exhibition in the Lake District, home of the Derwent pencils (Petal Power).
This was followed by having one chosen for the 2006 main exhibition (The Andalusian).

This was a great boost to my confidence so I decided to have a personal exhibition in my area with Jenny Roberts, a fellow artist. I began to meet like minded people and wanted to really get involved so I volunteered my services and became the membership secretary for the UKCPS.