As far back as I can remember, I’ve always found happiness in art. It began with colouring books, where I would put my own colours to the image and imagine a story unfolding.

The magical work of Walt Disney, Don Bluth and the wonderful Jon Davis filled me with such inspiration that I fell in love with creating my own characters and illustrations.

I’ve always been able to find ideas and references anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes it’s something visual, other times a piece of music or a lyric. Anything that might stir up an emotion – reading a sentence from a book or just plain old day dreaming! If I’m inspired, my imagination takes over and my next creation begins.

An early pencil drawing. Claire is an aspiring illustrator from Cardiff, South Wales, UK, where she was born and raised.

Due to a bad experience in my early 20’s, I sadly put my drawings on hold: a few bad comments from someone sent my confidence and self-esteem to a low. I felt like I just wasn’t good enough…

I concentrated on keeping a full time job.

On a positive note, I met the love of my life and bought a house. I entered my 30’s, married and pregnant with twins!

Being a mummy is the best thing to have happened to me as it really forced me to think of the person I want my beloved boys to see me as. I wanted to be someone they were proud of and I wanted to show them the power of imagination and creativity.

With unconditional love and support from my husband, I began drawing again and pretty soon my boys began joining in and their imaginations became as wild and as beautiful as mine. My passion for creating had returned and I could not have been happier.

I completed an children’s illustration course with the art college and received a diploma which I’m very proud of.

I still consider myself as a self-taught artist and love to experiment with different mediums and techniques. I absolutely love Pro-markers. I’ve enjoyed producing pieces for friends, family and my portfolio.

“Running with the Wolves” One of my favourite pieces. Done with pro-markers and Black ink.

I’m a huge day dreamer, and along with my love of nature, I’m able to produce some really magical pieces.

Just over a year ago, after a lot of debating (with myself), I tried my hand at digital art. I was very nervous as it was all new to me, but I found some confidence and embraced the challenge. With determination and (a lot of) trial and error, I absolutely loved it!

I’m still learning, and I know I’ll never know every trick in the book, but I’m developing my own style and enjoying every minute.

My portfolio is my labour of love and something I’m very proud of. With every piece of work my confidence is growing and my self-esteem improving.

Inspiration can hit me at any time, so I always keep a sketch book close at hand.

Looking to the future, I will be creating no matter what. Balancing my family life and my art isn’t easy, but I sometimes can get amazing inspiration from my daily life!

I have life goals and dreams and so many ideas. My artwork will always be a big part of my life. I try and not get to overwhelmed by it all and take one day at a time and let it take me to a positive place.

I do have a dream to illustrate (and maybe write) a children’s book … watch this space.