Pioneering Partnership

It was 2021 and I had been working away at posting everyday on Instagram. I noticed the name ‘TobyUrbanSketcher’ pop up as he liked some of my work. He was doing a live on instagram, I said hello and his response was so very kind and encouraging.

Kind and encouraging.

Toby began to build his YouTube channel and kindly featured me in a video about artists to follow; my insta following grew quite dramatically in response.

(Kind and encouraging)

We began to do YouTube lives on his channel and both enjoyed the banter, the contrast of our styles and our shared passion that art could be an enjoyable experience for all where the inner critic is muted and the painter (or sketcher as Toby calls them) can mature in a forgiving and encouraging environment.

When He suggested the idea of leading a painting/sketching weekend together it was a very easy yes, so we got to planning, Toby exercising his admin skills in a way that I could only watch in wonder and gratitude.

So, at the beginning of June 2024 we met in Bath, England to spend the weekend leading 21 painters/sketchers around a beautiful city to create and connect, there was an ease and flow to the weekend and in response we decided to plan to do more.

You never know which branch on the tree of your life will bear fruit, and, from experience it’s often the most unexpected, but when it happens, it is the most wonderful and surprising thing which is, more often than not, marked by kindness and encouragement..