I'm Pat, I live in a pretty part of Gloucestershire. I'm a printer, and a pastelist primarily, but in fact, I enjoy using most mediums and I've been fortunate enough to exhibit at the Mall galleries and the RWA regularly over the years. My mother was an artist and I believe her father was too, so I'm merely following in their footsteps. I grew up with the smells of a studio and always assumed I'd be following an artistic career, never giving it much thought. I knew my father was dead against art school (not being an artistic type himself, alas), but I never dreamt I would encounter the opposition I did when I wanted to take a degree course in design. In spite of various set backs I did end up with a design business which was very enjoyable and rewarding, though not at all what I'd envisaged and it's taken me some years to follow my own first inclinations. I can never remember a time when I didn't feast my eyes on colours in art shop windows. Even as a small child I had to be dragged past a wndow that displayed a huge range of coloured pencils..forget dolls..it was the pencils that did it for me. I still can't go past an art shop without being temped inside to buy a pastel or two, even though I probably now have enough to last my lifetime! Having enjoyed print making and painting for years myself , I decided that with my husbands retirement we would start up our own courses..if we found a suitable property . We did, and we have, and though we are are off to a slow start we are enjoying the porspect enormously. I'd already run courses in design over the years and I enjoyed the buzz that classes generate, so it was a fairly small step to tak but a much more personal one as I'd be inviting people into 'my' space, my studio which hitherto was sacrosanct and out of bounds to all. The house was challenging and we spent many hard working months renovating and restoring a lovely Regency house in a small market town. The countryside around us is very appealing, pretty wooded hills mostly, yet we are an easy walk to the shops. On a good day, with the light reflected on the water, we can even see from our garden across to the Bristol Channel. When we were first sent the details of the house we didn't bother to view it as we saw that it was on what appeared to be a main road and we thought it might be noisy. The estate agent didn't do a very good job of selling the house to us, in fact we'd spoken on the phone and they were very laid back about it, said it might be too big, did we really want something that big. It was only in desperation after 2 years in a rented flat, that we decided to view it. It was just after Christmas and a cold winters day but when we walked through the door we knew it was for us, and I immediately saw the perfect position for my printing press. The long search was over. When the sale went through and we went to pick up the key from the agents I told them that if I was ever thinking of selling the house again, I wouldn't use them, and they more or less shrugged their shoulders. I'm pleased to say the agent who sold our own house had been far more efficient and I'd recommend them to anyone! When we'd settled in, and when we decided to start the courses, one hurdle we faced was having a decent loo for our 'students' to use which didn't entail them having to climb stairs. The downstairs loo hadn't been updated for many years and was badly in need of an overhaul. After a few false starts we booked a plumber we were happy with only to be told he couldn't actually fit the new loo and basin till the day of the first course and I was in a state of panic. However, he assured me he would be there at 8.00am sharp and would fit the necessary equipment by the time my class arrived at 10.00am. Bless him. But it was still something extra to worry about! All artists wrestle with artistic problems, in fact I defy anyone who says they find their art easy, but the therapy value is so high I think it's a great pity that more people haven't discovered the joys of creating and I try to spread the word whenever possible...at the same time trying not to sound as if I'm attempting to drum up custom (It was easier to do this before I started the courses!)