I have always been interested in illustration ever since my Mother put a very large pencil in my hand and some paper in front of me at the age of 6 months! I inherited my artistic skills from my Mother who also studied Illustration and Graphic Design at College. My Mother recalls me staring intensely at the paper whilst running the pencil over the pages as I created my first ever drawings – of course at that age they weren’t amazing but this event started up my lifelong passion of becoming an Illustrator and Graphic Designer.

At primary school my art teacher wrote in report cards how my perspective was very strong and accurate for my young age and she insisted that I kept up with it as I was skilled, I remember this conversation clearly as it was lovely to have someone other than my family comment on my art skills.

In secondary school I was badly bullied for being ‘different’ and ‘weird’ because I didn’t fit into the expected peer norms of school, I was diagnosed with Anxiety and Depression at the age of 12. My mental health problems stopped me from doing a lot of things but one thing it never managed to destroy was my ability and love to create art.

After graduating from Secondary School and gaining an A* in Art and Photography, I continued into College where I studied a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Illustration & Graphic Design for 2 years, this is where I really found myself and grew. I graduated from College with a grade of D*D*D and was accepted into Kingston University, London where I studied BA (Hons) Illustration Animation.

Again my mental health took a turn and I had to make the hard decision to withdraw. This was soul-crushing for me and it felt as though my dreams were slipping through my fingers but I decided to do an online search to see if I could enrol into an online University, and this is where I found the Open College of the Arts!

I have been studying part-time BA (Hons) Illustration since 2020 and have another year or two to go until I graduate! I feel as though my story could inspire other artists who are struggling with mental health conditions to follow your dreams and not to give up because it will all be worth it in the end!