IN THE BEGINNING... / by Caroline Pool

‘Jane’s mother’ | 30x24in | Oil on canvas

Hello 2022! Whilst I work on some new and exciting projects, I thought I’d share some oldies but goodies throughout the month. To start it off is this little lady…

After graduating from Brighton with a degree in Illustration, I used what I learnt on the course (nothing) and managed to claw my way through the door into film design (natural leap). After about five years of making (bad) tea and the occasional drawing detail of a door or window, I decided that this particular hell hole wasn’t for me. But what else was I good at? head scratch… As is with anything I’ve discovered so far, a lot of good things that happen come down to hard work and perseverance…but mostly luck and timing. During my head scratchy moment, in flew a painting commission of this lovely lady. I hadn’t picked up a paintbrush in about seven years but the client loved it. More importantly, I loved the process and it reminded me of what I truly loved doing. I din’t leave film immediately but I’ll always cite this painting as the one that opened up my brain again into thinking I could/would paint.