I have ALWAYS made art in various ways - much to the horror of my English teacher, who told me that I'd never get anywhere by drawing horses ( in my English book margins at that point!)

My school careers officer at that time also told me, I wasn't 'Academic Enough' to go to Art Collage - I decided to prove them both wrong, by not only going to Art Collage, but also making a pretty decent living out of drawing horses - and lots of other things!!   

I went on to study Film and TV Design, working as an animator and Illustrator for too many years to count, and LOVING every minute of it!  

While at Staffordshire Uni, I accidentally discovered an interest in Art History.

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During a particularly dull lecture on Art History, I was indulging in a sort of snooze - but woke up when I heard my lecturer mention that Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo actually had a punch up over who would get the Sistine Chapel ceiling paint job!! 

( Michelangelo won the contract, if not the fight! ) ...And there it was - suddenly Art History was INTERESTING! 

Art History became interesting because for the first time I actually 'Saw' the artists as real people, with lives and stories - I realised Art and History are all tangled up together in a glorious multicoloured mess !   I also realised that by looking at the Art through the use of historical paint and stories of the real artists, and historical art tools, history was more accessible and exciting - I was so excited by this idea, that Arteology came into being.

Now I still draw and paint, and take on commissions for all sorts of things, but I absolutely LOVE that I can teach art and history mixed up together to people of all ages and abilities at Park in the Past  - I get to time travel with paint, and take people on a Magical History tour.