Manuel manatee Painting

I was born and raised in London, I studied graphic art at Kings College there. I moved to Cornwall in the south west of England when I got married to raise my two children. Cornwall is a beautiful place but there wasn't much work for a graphic artist. So I found a day job and put my art aside. It was an idylic life that sadly came crashing down when I did a charity parachute jump that went horribly wrong. I was left disabled, housebound and very depressed. But even the darkest cloud has a silver lining as I rediscovered art, with a difference, I taught myself how to paint, through trial and error painting with oils, acrylic and I even tried my hand with a bit of watercolor. I found joy in the freedom of expression it gave me, especially using oil paint. I like to paint what I feel as well as what I can see, but I find painting animals or any type of creature is my favourite type artwork. I love bright colours and images that lift my spirit and make me happy but I do actually like to work in black and white too, there's so much contrast with just black and white. After displaying my paintings at various art fairs throughout Cornwall I made a few sales which blew my mind. After the first few I sold I realised that I wasn't only painting for myself anymore, During the past few years we have made several visits to Spain, I love it there, the warm weather, the bright sunshine, the gorgeous old buildings and of course the sea. My husband was a photographer and I create most of my paintings from the photos that he takes. His recent photos have been of dolphins in the wild and I've fallen heavily in love with dolphins. I love to paint them bright and colourful, happy and free, but recently I've experimented in black and white images to accentuate the perfection of their shape and the way they move. I have found it really interesting and I'm sure I'll paint more. But I have to admit, I get the most pleasure from painting bright and colourful as it always cheers me up especially if I'm going through a bad patch. This year I started painting still life and found I really enjoy it. It helps that most of the items I've been working on are brightly coloured and I seem to be able to paint them almost life-like. I shall make a collection of the fruit and vegetables that I'm having fun with and I might also paint a few more bottles, Contact me if you would like me to draw/paint anything and I will always take a decent offer