Lesley Sharman
At the age of nine, I won a prize in an Enid Blyton art competition, for my drawing of a pet shop (drawn in coloured ballpoint pens!) and was thrilled to receive a copy of Jane Eyre and a letter from Enid herself, who was my favourite author at the time. Inspired by this, I was constantly drawing and creating things throughout my childhood, and gradually progressed from "Painting by Numbers" sets to "proper" oil painting. After gaining Art 'O' and 'A' Levels, work, marriage and motherhood took over my life and art had to take a back seat for many years, but I maintained my interest and improved my knowledge by doing the odd art course and workshop and reading as much as time would allow.
After running my own small business for several years I finally took the plunge in 2005 and decided that the time was right to refocus on my first love of art. So I started experimenting with various media and soon found myself drawn to coloured pencils, as I found that the control and versatility offered by them suited my style. Since then I have taken part in several exhibitions, including showing 20 CP pictures at the 2009 3 Harbours Arts Festival in East Lothian, Scotland and the UKCPS 2009 Keswick and Birmingham exhibitions. Although most of my current work is of realistic subjects painted in coloured pencil, I am also enjoying using different media, techniques and subjects. But I feel that coloured pencils will remain my favourite!
