I enjoyed painting and drawing, and drew a recognizable horse when I was three (according to my mum). I was hopeless at sport and suffered from severe hayfever, but it really suited me because I loved sitting and making things, while watching the telly. I have a huge library of adverts from the 1970s and 1980s in my head, and can sing various thirty-second songs about milk, chocolate and beer.
I like working as soon as I can after getting up in the morning, and then I stop after about five hours at lunchtime to become Mum again. I used to paint a lot more before my son was born, but I don’t think I achieved any more than I do now. Working part-time certainly improves concentration. Ideally, I like to draw and organize roughs in the winter, when the light is bad, and paint all through the summer. I work in acrylic paint, which has been the only medium for me, since I was introduced to it by an art teacher at school. The good thing about acrylic is that you can paint over your mistakes, wiping them clean.
I hate cheesecake and fromage frais.
I’m a genius at Lego.
If there is a biting insect anywhere near it always chooses me as its dinner.
Most of my clothes have paint on them because I accidentally drape my right sleeve in my palette while I’m working.
Illustrating isn’t my first choice of career. I’d like to be a rock star, and I play bass guitar sometimes.
I’m always losing my purse and once I accidentally threw it into a canal.
I try not to run, throw or catch in public because I embarrass myself.
My son calls me "The Stinker", but I don’t think that’s fair.
I’ve got six space hoppers and a tortoise.