Smith, Linda Jane
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I’ve always loved drawing, and would enter lots of competitions when I was a child. Beatrix Potter was my favourite, and in one of the competitions I had to include all of her animals in one picture, so I put them all in a wood, strolling through the trees and for this I won a book! I also enjoyed sewing and made things; hoarding scraps of felt, beads, and basically anything pretty. I mainly used coloured crayons or pens for artwork, so that I had more control over detail.
At the age of 16, I was accepted into Bournville College of Art to study for a Graphic Design course. It was very varied and taught me various new skills. This was when I first used Designer Gouache and got used to its various qualities. I later organized exhibitions at local venues and sold work to The Stable Gallery, London, where I had my first major exhibition. I worked as a window dresser for two years, but was always writing stories and painting in my spare time. Throughout my working years I constantly showed my work to publishers and The Halcyon Gallery in Birmingham regularly bought my work. As a result of this Washington Green asked me for a set of four small cat paintings and consequently I embarked on a publishing programme with them. My originals and ltd edition cats are now sold throughout the UK and my work can be seen as porcelain figurines also.