As mentioned on my home page....

...my name is Grant. I grew up in the town of Hamilton, Scotland, and I now live in a small German village situated between Hannover and Bremen.

I left school at 15 and worked in a supermarket for 6 months while waiting to join the Army, which I did just after my 16th birthday.

After 11 years of service, which took me to many different countries around the world, including Canada, Cyprus, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, I left, and I now earn a living as a truck driver for a supermarket chain.

....during a primary school history lesson about life in Roman times, where we were required to sketch some everyday objects from that period.

A classmate of mine drew a vase and then showed me how he turned it into a face. I thought that was so cool, and I immediately got excited about how easy it was to create a fun cartoon sketch or doodle.

From then on, I used the 'vase' as a starting point, but it wasn't long before I started creating different-looking vase shapes to come up with my own various cartoon drawings.

Little did I know it then, but that fleeting moment of inspiration in the classroom was when I first discovered the joy of art and being creative, which has been with me ever since.

I started out doodling cartoon faces....

How a Roman vase sparked my interest in doodling.

...more important issues, such as exams and career decisions, took priority, and my doodling and sketching took a backseat.

Fast forward to 2008... I'm browsing the internet, and I spot a fantastic portrait someone has sketched using pencil.

This random discovery inspired me to buy a tin of pencils and grab some A4 printer paper to take with me to work so that I would have something to do during my 45-minute break in my truck instead of watching the traffic go by.

It was nice to get back to creating some sort of art for a while, but then came the portable DVD player into my life, and watching Two and a Half Men was how I began to pass those break times in the cab.

I now regret buying that DVD player.

As with all things in life....

A selection of my 'truck break' pencil sketches.

....I felt the urge for, and a few years later I bought my first DLSR camera and started my photography hobby.

In the beginning, I didn't really concentrate on one specific genre, but landscape and macro photography were normally my 'go-to' subjects. That was until I came across the genre of 'street photography', which kept me busy from 2014 to 2020.

This all came about after meeting and being inspired by the work of a fellow photographer by the name of Wayne on the Flickr platform. Together, we ran a Flickr group and website where we would set challenges and engage in lively discussions. It was a very enjoyable, interesting, and creative pastime.

Wayne sadly passed away in 2016, but I always mention him where I can in my story, as he did play a huge part in my photography pastime, although unfortunately, we never did get to meet in real life.

I kept the Flickr group and website up and running with the help of a group member, John, but I eventually lost my passion for this genre of art due to the new privacy laws that were introduced here in Germany, and then the pandemic had the final say.

Being creative was always something...

Some examples of my black and white street photographs.

Twiddling my thumbs....

at home during my spare time was something I didn't want to have to put up with any longer than necessary, and I sought some inspiration through watching acrylic abstract painting tutorials on YouTube.

This medium and genre didn't last long with me due to a lack of space in my small studio/computer room. Too many large canvases and big tubes of paint, not to mention how impatient I was waiting for the acrylics to dry.

During the hunt for an alternative to acrylics, I discovered the medium of watercolour, which was quick drying, didn't take up too much space, and could easily be combined with my love of sketching.

At last! I had finally found the ideal medium for my creative outlet, which I have been practicing since the end of 2020.

Over the years, I have taken part in numerous online art courses, covering a vast array of topics to expand my knowledge, techniques, and style.

End of class artworks from various online courses I've taken.

...and after being inspired by so many others in the past, I thought it was about time I threw some of my own inspiration back out there, by creating this website/blog.

Even if I only manage to inspire one person to sketch a 'vase' face just for fun, then I'll take that as a win.

Since November 2021 I've been posting and developing my art over on Instagram, where again I've been inspired by so many talented artists and creators.

Not only that, I have also received a vast amount of encouraging and moral boosting comments on my artwork from the fantastic community, friends & followers that I've met there, for which I will be forever grateful.

I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for my art & my site.

It would be great if you would join me along the way, either here or on Instagram and see if we can inspire each other.

What goes around, comes around....

Grab your share of the inspiration over on my Blog