I’ve been drawing and painting all my life. As a child, my father used to bring home bundles of A3 computer paper for me to paint on the blank side. I draw and paint simply because it makes me happy, and I cannot really do without it.

At school, I did art A-level but didn’t take art education any further at that point, with the words of the school careers’ adviser hanging in my mind: “You won’t be able to make a living from the arts!”

Instead, I pursued a career in law and have been a government lawyer for the last 25 years. My career has been hugely fulfilling and I have worked with many inspiring and dedicated people.

I grew up in Ewell in Surrey, went to Leeds University to study law and completed a master’s degree in law at Kingston University. I have lived in Barnes and Mortlake for the last 20 years and my two children have grown up in these lovely surroundings.

At the start of my career, I lived in Sheffield where I joined an artist group, doing outdoor paintings of the beautiful Peak District, still life and life drawing. When I moved back to London, I painted street scenes in and around Notting Hill and Soho. I took evening classes for a number of years under the tutorship of Joy Forbes Cole at the Kew Studio. I credit her with giving me the confidence to exhibit my work and to join the Richmond Art Society. I have exhibited at the Chelsea Art Show, Brick Lane Gallery, Fontainebleau and in Barnes, Richmond and Kew.

The joy of exhibiting, particularly with the Barnes Artists and within the Barnes community, is in the letting go of your work simply as a means of self-expression and having other people respond to it in so many alternative ways. It is great that there are so many kinds of artists in the group and there is such as sense of support and camaraderie. Exhibiting in local churches, shops and cafes gives a wonderful sense of connection to my surroundings.

What is your preferred medium and why?
I mostly work with oils, and occasionally acrylics and pastels. There’s something about the smell and texture of oils that I love. They don’t dry immediately, and that’s important for me as I will work on a painting for certain windows of time. When I’m not working on the painting, I find I can take time to reflect and discover new possibilities for colour qualities, light and form.

Growing up in the suburbs, I feel like I have one foot in the urban and one foot in the countryside and I think my work often reflects that. I have painted many scenes around southwest London, but also on my travels with my children. My work often depicts people going about their ordinary business. For me, my paintings are like a diary of how I am feeling at any particular point in my life.

What are you working on now?
A semi-abstract landscape, featuring my grown-up children walking towards the sea with their backs towards the viewer. It captures a moment for me as a mother, recognising that my children are now adults and are making their own way in the world, but hopefully well equipped. I have also been working on two commissions – a view from Hammersmith Bridge and another of Piccadilly Circus.

What shows do you have coming up?I will take part in the next Barnes Artists group show, and in the meantime, I’m building up a new body of work and experimenting with some new techniques.

Do you have a favourite artist?
The artists that hold the most magic for me are Paul Cézanne and Pablo Picasso. It wasn’t until I visited Cézanne’s house that I truly understood what he had invented with his reduction of the landscape into basic underlying shapes. His paintings and their juxtaposition with anxiety and harmony move me greatly.

I love how Picasso recognised the greatness of Cézanne, took over the baton from him and throughout his career reinterpreted his art and took it to the next level. While not without his flaws, I greatly admire Picasso and all his stylistic evolutions. When I look at his paintings, his use of colour, scenes and sense of movement never fail to make me happy.

Are any of your friends artists?
Many of my friends are artists, working in many different mediums, including coconut fibre, wood, collage, performance art, fine art photography, press photography and pottery. I am fortunate to have friends from many different backgrounds and spheres, and this feeds my creativity.

I became involved with the Barnes Artists through going to Travis Seymour’s life drawing group at the Barnes Atelier, and meeting Katie James and David Pearce. They would often be discussing starting up a Barnes collective and filling Barnes with art. It’s amazing to see those ideas come to fruition with the creation of such a vibrant and supportive community.

Are any members of your family artists?
My children are both creative and paint occasionally with acrylics on canvas. My brother paints landscapes in his spare time. My partner does fine art photography.

What colour is most important to you?
Blue. There are no shades of blue that I dislike. I love Picasso’s melancholy blues in Poor People on the Seashore. Henri Matisse’s stained glass windows in the Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence, with the blue and yellow dancing across the marble floor in the light, are sublime.

If your house was burning down, what piece of art would you save?
The painting I did of my daughter while we were in lockdown together in hospital. It’s called Warrior Princess. The hospital staff were very generous in keeping us supplied with paint brushes, acrylics and canvases.