Create Happy is  born from my interests across interconnecting fields and topics including Art, Education, Therepeutic Arts, Art and Wellbeing, Creative Enterprise and the Environment.

My interest in art and environment are firmly rooted in childhood.  I grew up in the Scottish Highlands from 4-11 which deeply connected me to nature. I was also inspired to paint from an early age and exposed to homes and working lives and made aware of artist and craftworker struggles. A move at the age of 11 to the South of England made me very aware of mass consumption and waste and set me thiniking about living patterns and communication strategies for change.

 

My interest in therapeutic arts, education and  various interconnected topics evolved much later and has always run parallel to my practice. I set up a company imy first Arts Company in 2012 in Wimbledon but the following year I became a guardian to my niece and then nephew. Like many creatives I moved to Margate. I managed my business from afar and as a single parent. The year prior to the pandemnic I then moved the business to Margate to achieve a better live/work balance whilst raising two young children and to find time for my own practice. I’ve since won numerous grants and awards. Recently winning the Kent Arts Investment Award gave me the confidence to set up Create Happy. Pitch is something I enjoy and wanted to set up a better structure to raise funds  to expand activities and potential work with other artists to better serve the community whilst continuing to research and activities that could also benefit other areas.

In many respects I’m hoping to build a structure that supports my own practice development, my own role with support whilst benefiting the community including artists and craftworkers and helping to regenerate the area.