“I Cannot Imagine Life Without Art”

Throughout her story you can feel the delight and joy that radiates from this artist as she describes her passion for art.

- Ellen Lee Osterfield

Another rainy day, another chance to stay indoors and draw and paint! Any excuse would do for an 8-year-old whose only desire was to be “an artist when I grow up”!

Well, almost 48 years later I still have the same passion to paint and draw as I believe I was born with! My father was a house painter and good at sketching and colour mixing. I accredit him with my colour mixing ability. I became very excited every time he was going into the shed to mix paint. He had a container filled with bottles of stainers (concentrated colour) and time after time I watched as he painstakingly mixed and matched colours, adding a little bit of blue here and a tiny speck of red there. He could match a wall colour years after it had been painted and achieve the same tone. I must have kept my parents poor buying me sketchbooks and coloured pencils in my younger days!