Hello and welcome to my first ever blog post!
For those of you that don't know me I was born in the UAE to an Emirati father and an Irish mother. Although I was born and raised in the Gulf I like to think that my mix of both Eastern and Western heritage has moulded me into the person that I am today.
Art has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember but by the time I finished secondary school there weren't very many opportunities to pursue an Art degree in the UAE. So I did what a lot of people end up doing and got a 'real' degree! Mine just happened to be in International Hospitality Management; which I loved studying, but did not suit my personality at all! I'm not exactly what you'd call a 'people-person', in fact I'm more of an introvert really. As you can imagine it didn't take long for me to realise that this wasn't going to work.
After a few years of trying to find my feet in the corporate world I realised that however much I tried, it just wasn't for me. So I went into teaching. What started out as one of those jobs that you take while you're in between things turned out to be a huge learning experience for me. I LOVED working with children every day and not only that but it gave me the opportunity to be creative. So I worked and studied and got my Post Graduate Degree in Education.
During this time my family and I went through what you might call a life-changing experience. Literally. My brother was involved in a road-traffic accident and very nearly lost his life. Although this was a hugely traumatic experience for all of us, it really forced me to put things into perspective. And completely changed my mind-set in terms of what I wanted out of life. So I made another huge career change and decided to put all of my effort and energy into what I have wanted to do all along - make art. I didn't make this decision lightly, and it took a huge amount of soul-searching. But with the endless support from my wonderful family and friends I've been given the courage to take this huge leap of faith. And here I am paintbrush in hand!
If you've managed to find your way to my page, and you're still reading this...thank you! And welcome to my journey!
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