About Us......
Hi, I’m Melanie. We thought we would tell you a bit about us and why we’ve set up this School. I have always loved art. As a child I would often spend hours drawing and I loved colouring books. As a teenager, I really started to get into drawing and painting. I used graphite, coloured pencils and I started to use watercolours. I loved to paint flowers and lots of other subjects and would pretty much spend a lot of my school holidays just creating pictures.
Some paintings and drawings I did when I was at school many years ago!
After I left school, I went on to have a successful career as a PA and Office Manager for over 40 years but I never stopped drawing, painting and being creative! In fact over the years I have attended a number of art courses as well as pursuing other creative hobbies such as pottery, sewing, knitting and crochet. About 15 years ago, I moved with the family to a small town in Essex, to leave behind the fast-paced London life, to enjoy being with my family and enjoy the countryside.
Over the last 15 years, I’ve kept chickens,(including hatching some, which the kids absolutely loved to see!), learnt to do a bit of sailing and kayaking (although I prefer dry land!) and really got into gardening, growing both veg and loads of flowers. Growing fruit and veg meant I had lots of subjects to draw and paint and I attended a number of art courses to hone my artistic skills. I have studied botanical painting, still life and I have dabbled into landscapes.
A few years ago, I was given the opportunity to work for a watercolour artist, to help with an online school. My role was to offer help and advice to students of the School and to help maintain the website. I realised I really enjoyed helping others to be creative, using all my knowledge of drawing and painting and that I enjoyed being part of a creative community. Sadly, I was made redundant, BUT then I thought, ‘Why don’t I start up a school myself?’
As you will see, my daughter Jennifer is also a keen artist, who loves using coloured pencils and graphite, to create detailed portraits and pet portraits. Slowly, the School idea has developed and grown, and, well, here we are!
So, this online School has been a long time in the planning and building, but I am proud to say, my daughter and I have finally managed to build our Art School, which we hope will give others the skills and inspiration to create the art they’ve always wanted to!
Hi, I’m Jennifer. I too have always loved to draw and paint. My mum always made sure that I had lots of artistic materials such as colouring pencils, felt-tip pens, crayons, paints and lots of paper to play with as a child. I took art as one of my subjects at school for GCSE and then I went on to do a Fine Art course at college.
Some of my artwork from school and college....
After I left college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next so I got a job in a clothing retail company (as I love fashion!) for a couple of years. I then managed to secure a job as an admin assistant, to try something new and gain some office experience. In my spare time, I was still drawing and developing my skills using graphite and coloured pencils. Art was a tool I used to relax and unwind at the end of a work day and I always looked forward to the weekends where I would spend my time either reading books (my other huge passion!) or drawing. Unfortunately, in November 2020, during the Corona virus pandemic, I was made redundant. Since leaving college, I had been employed, so to find myself suddenly at home again and out of work, was a massive shock, to say the least!
I went though a few weeks of feeling quite sorry for myself but I tried to keep myself occupied and did a lot of drawing. This was when my mum and I had a ‘lightbulb’ moment and realised we could join forces and form the ‘M and J Art School’!
I could carry on doing something that I love and bring to the school my knowledge of using coloured pencils and graphite as well as be part of a creative community. I hope that my portraits of people and animals, as well as some botanicals, will inspire you to pick up a pencil and get creative!
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