This painting began in the Hobbit pub, where I spent many days with my then‑partner — after work, at weekends, talking, laughing, him with his drinks and me with my coffee or lemonade. One afternoon, after we’d finished the crossword, I still had the pen in my hand and began to doodle.

That small act was unexpectedly unwelcome, and it became clear that doodling — creating — wasn’t something I was “allowed” to do in that space. Not long after, the relationship ended.

Feeling freer, I found a blank book in a drawer one night, a gift from my sister with beautiful rustic handmade paper. I realised I was allowed to doodle — whenever I wanted. So I did. Every night for months, I filled that book with drawings, most of them in teal blue and orange.

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Creative Wave was one of those doodles.

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A couple of years later, I reduced my hours at work so I could have Fridays dedicated to my art, hoping it might become part of my future. I decided that my very first Friday painting would be the Creative Wave from that doodle book — the moment that marked the beginning of a new wave of creativity in my life.

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It became a turning point — the first small stepping stone that eventually led to the Shed Gallery's beginning.