For all the talented children out there...

I greatly appreciate all the feedback I get from my website and from this blog. One thing that in particular makes me happy is the email I receive from children who have been inspired by my paintings and want to become Artists themselves.

I would like to say a big thank you to you all. It's good to have goals in life and for me to be someone others aspire to become is a real honour.

Thank you for the wonderful pictures you send me that always seem come with the words:

"It's not as good as yours but..."

As I always point out, you should not compare your work to mine as I wasn't always able to do what I do now, and who knows? by the time you are as old as me you might be better than I am!

To help make this point to you all, and to help you make a fairer comparison between your work and mine, I have added two paintings I did as a child. One a pencil sketch that I did when I was 11 years old that I sketched from life whilst on holiday in Scotland, and the other a watercolour painting that I did whilst at school ( For the school wall no less!) when I was 10. I hope this will show that people like myself didn't always paint the way we do now, but with dedication and practice, we have honed and improved our skills over many years and ....

YOU CAN DO THE SAME!!!! :0)