"My name is Amy and I am a female, 28 year old, queer and disabled artist from Pontefract. I did an A-level as my highest qualification in art before leaving my art studies to become a registered nurse; while working during COVID on the front lines I turned to my creativity as a means of escape and a way of expressing myself once again. Unfortunately over recent years, I have not been able to work much as a nurse due to health problems, which really gave me a push to start my small art business Delusional Doodles! My business name was developed by being told I was ‘delusional’ if I thought I was good at art in school, and ‘doodles’ comes from what I used to tell people I was doing while I was being creative and I feel. Even though my style of work has developed, I still feel my life as an artist can be summed up as ‘Delusional Doodles’."

"I have a broad style of artwork and mediums, but I would always describe my work as ‘unusual, bright, and quirky’. I am influenced by music and sayings I hear that resonate with me - I paint a lot of these as lyrics in watercolour paint and feel that they also connect with a lot of people. I also paint a lot of things that inspire me such as the work of Tim Burton, Halloween (ghosts, pumpkins and witches) and nature. I like to use my art to bring meaning and brightness to the world around us, and people who feel like they don’t really fit in."

"I love Wakefield because there are so many hidden treasures around, whether that is the beautiful places nearby (the Cathedral, Pontefract Castle and Yorkshire Sculpture Park - to name a few) and the shops that are around here full of small businesses (Bad Bambi, Forever After Collective and Sew Susie Bloom) which are filled with great treasures and amazing crafting supplies located in Castleford (which besides Pontefract is where I spend most of my time). I also very much enjoy the combination of the city / towns within Wakefield and how there is so much nature around - it’s the best mixture of a place for me."

"My favourite project that I have worked on are my experimental pieces with felt, thread and newspaper clippings to create unique and textured artwork. I enjoyed this so much as I like my art to be inclusive, and allowing people to touch the artwork, which as myself as a neurodivergent artist is always something that helps me and others enjoy artwork on a deeper level. I also enjoyed having my artwork on display in some local and not so local shops for the past couple of months. I initially had my artwork and products for display in Queer Affairs Pop-Up Shop within the Spire in York and I currently have my artwork and products in Bad Bambi and Forever After Collective in Castleford! I will also be having more of my art and products for purchase at The Craft Corner in Brighouse which I am super excited about. This was a huge goal for me to achieve by the end of the year and I am pleased that I have pushed myself to accomplish this."

"In October I completed a window drawing for a client at their hair salon (Anything But Ordinary) in Kippax, this was something that was completely new to me as I have not worked on such a large scale before but we collaborated on the design and it ended up looking brilliant (even if I do say so myself). The owner Corey also loved how this turned out and I have recently done him a line work Christmas window display which we both really loved again!"

"On the horizon I have a large project upcoming with another window display, but this time it will be at GG&Co Salon in Kippax. This is going to have more block colour in it then linework, so it will be different for me - but I have worked with them towards a design they want and I have done my research on the best supplies so I am very excited to get started on this for them!"

"I am also going to be teaching some classes in Castlefords Forever After Collective in the new year, these will be how to do your own watercolour word paintings and potentially more - so keep me on your social media and see what other creative classes I have in store!"

If you'd like to find out more about Amy and the brilliant work that they do, please visit their website here: Delusional Doodles (Art) | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok | Linktree