“Our family has always loved France. We’ve had many holidays over the years in the different regions including Brittany, the Alps and the Alsace. So when ‘Escape to the Chateau’ first appeared on the TV, I, like many, many others absolutely loved the programme. In particular I found the Christmas episodes wonderful. I then had an idea to paint a winter scene of the chateau. I had only ever painted little imaginary buildings but was pleased with my first attempt at a ‘real’ building.”

“Then unbeknown to me, my son-in-law sent the image to Angel. She really liked my design and I was thrilled when she chose it as one of the official Christmas cards in 2019. I went on to paint the Chateau in the ever-changing atmosphere and colours of the different seasons. It’s so lovely to see my work hanging on the walls of the chateau alongside other talented artists.”

When did your passion for painting, and your interest in folk art, start?

Art was always my favourite subject at school, and I have always regretted not going on to art college, so whilst I don’t have any formal training, I did take evening classes in the early 80s. I’ve painted on and off for many years and it was after a holiday to Vermont in 1997 where I first discovered folk art and my work moved in a new direction.”

“We were staying at the picture-perfect village of Stowe during a very cold and snowy spell and a little book shop had a wonderful selection of folk art by various American folk artists including Grandma Moses, Linda Nelson Stocks and Charles Wysocki. I just fell in love with the images, most of which depicted scenes of daily life in gentler times. I then started introducing a folk-art style into my painting.”