When asked what life was like before the course, Lesley, 43, said: “I was sick in bed! A serious back problem meant that I had lost my previous job of 10 years, after over two years off sick. I had been working under the Government’s ‘Permitted Work Scheme’ for 10 hours a week as a freelance artist.”
She added: “I knew the course would be perfect as, although I had the ideas, I needed the real knowledge to apply to my ideas. Also, as I have mild learning disabilities, I felt the extra support I would get in a college environment would help me that much more.”
Lesley runs a mobile art and craft gallery targeted at the mainstream Christian market. Following the course, she is taking her business to all of the market’s major events throughout the UK in 2012 and developing an online shop. She’s also launched a mobile temporary tattoo and nail art bar that goes to local events, festivals and children’s parties.
Lesley started the business, she explained, as part of her therapy and received great feedback about her work. She added: “Due to my circumstances, I knew I could not return to a normal pattern of work, so I took a long hard look at what else I could achieve. The arts have always been my passion and as someone involved in the Christian community I noticed that there seemed to be a gap in the market for a fresh modern approach to the creative arts.”
Lesley thinks she still would have given the business a go without the training, but she admitted: “It would have been flawed by my weaknesses and the fear may well have got to me. The eight-week course has helped me look at my idea from every angle and now I feel confident that I am being realistic about it and not just getting carried away with a nice idea. The combination of material and tutor training was invaluable.”