Useless at art

I gave up art at school when I was 13. I dreaded the classes. Everything I tried to paint was a mess, I didn't know how to draw and it was obvious that the teachers were interested only in the children who did. I don't think any of them ever knew that out of school I took photos, played with patterns and made birthday cards.

Years and years later it dawned on me that perhaps a teacher could have considered teaching me. A few more years later I enrolled on a graphic design course. I had two brilliant part-time years taking pinhole-camera pictures, cutting foamboard with scalpels, casting my feet, spraying glue, typesetting poems and, yes, being taught what to do with a pencil and a paintbrush.

So now, when I see things like this, I don't recoil, I take pictures!