My whole life I've had a fascination for both painting and Paris. I've always known Paris was just the most glamorous city ever built. How I was so sure about this at such a young age, I have no idea. I'd barely started school.
I'd lean in and watch magic happen when I was near anyone who was good at drawing. I thought they were immensely clever! I'd take my drawings home and I'd be asked to 'tell me about your drawings Felicity.' Of course I now realise it was because they were indecipherable.
I never had any talent and in spite of the excellent standard of education in Australia, no teacher in school ever came along to show us how to create. It was assumed we knew how. Weird. The results proved that theory wrong.
Time wore on and I became a teacher myself. My subjects were English, Politics, Social Studies and Media Studies. Happy times.
More time wore on and practically out of nowhere I suddenly had an opportunity to go to a hobby painting class for adults. I went, even knowing I was clueless and convinced I was going to make a total fool out of myself but what I really found was great teachers, mentors and lovely fellow students.
I studied, I read, I learned and listened. I practised not because I had to but because I couldn't stop. How amazing it was for people to recognise what I'd painted without me having to tell them! I also learned talent isn't something you have at birth which makes you brilliant at something straight away. That's twaddle. Talent is the drive you have to find out how to do something. It's what makes you do the hard work and enjoy it.
My paintings started to sell-more amazement! A friend suggested I start teaching art classes for adults, just like the ones I'd been going to. It had never occurred to me I could do such a thing! I could though and so I did for more years than I can remember. I taught all around Melbourne at Tafe level, art groups and privately often in people's kitchens, or at their back porches and one memorable time in a garage as we watched a storm hovering over a nearby hill. It suddenly turned direction and blew straight into the garage. Did we scamper! I also taught workshops in Sydney and that was fun too.
I'd become interested in mural painting and commissions for those came trickling in and it all came to a crashing halt the day I said to my doctor: 'oh by the way, I've got a funny lump here. That's normal isn't it?' It was normal, for someone who had cancer. Cue the gloomy drum beat: dum-dum-dum.
Eighteen months of chemo and immunotherapy later I'm in remission, chugging back to normal life, feeling great and someone very close became unwell. I turned into a full time carer. Time for painting was very limited, for a long time impossible. My loved one passed away after 9 years.
Since then I've picked up painting again. I've been back to Paris and other places. Sometimes I'll paint other subjects or other cities but painting streetscapes of Paris makes me happy. She gives an impression of being so ladylike, with her cooler colours and tones and her snooty manner but she shows off her lacy balconies and with the masses of flowers around her doorways she's really a floozie. Paris has been through a lot but she's always dressed up with her lipstick on. I love that.