I had always planned to have a career in nature conservation and this led me at an early stage to take a degree in Botany. However my love of art was also a driving force and when my two children started school, I decided to run a small gallery in Bristol selling local artistsâ paintings and antiquarian prints. Simultaneously I attended life drawing classes in Bristol. My tutor there suggested that although I did not have A level art I was good enough to go for an art degree course. Amazingly I was accepted by what is now called the University of the South West of England, and in due course gained a graphic design degree.