20 Facts About Me

I was nominated to do this by @asniceasmice so here goes…..

1. As a child I honestly believed that there was a creature called a ‘Gofield’ as I thought the programme I watched was called ‘Phillip’s Gofield’ and Gordon was a Gofield…….
2. I’m short (and I don’t care).
3. I have very little self confidence. I regularly have melt downs before leaving the house, especially if I know there will be anyone taking photos, and I feel fat and hideous and I try on about 10 different outfits and I cry. It’s horrible. Other days when I have nowhere to go and no one to see; I feel ok with my face.
4. I grew up in a little seaside town in dorset, so beach/marine related topics are big influences in my artwork.
5. It also meant when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would sincerely say ‘A mermaid!’. My mum said it would never happen. My dad said dream big.
6. My favourite foods are any seafood and green olives.
7. I think I probably have more green tea than blood in my veins. I don’t drink normal tea or coffee, I just have herbal teas and fresh green tea.
8. I have a hole in my lip that I used to be able to stick a cocktail stick down, but it’s healed slightly over the years. The tops of my ears are fused down too. When I was in the womb, the cord was wrapped around my neck so I apparently lacked a little oxygen for those final bits of development. I had to be dragged out and was blue and not breathing.
9. Up until the day of my birth, I was going to be called Tabitha. As I was born, my dad decided on Penny (after the midwife) instead.
10. I’m told I have the wonder of a child. I see the good in things and people, I hope for the best and I like it in my bubble.
11. I’m not very good at resting. I have to be told to stop every now and again or I burn out. I work full time as a teacher and then do lots of art in my spare time and with two big families to visit too, it doesn’t always leave any relaxation time. People have to be strict with me to make sure I look after myself properly.
12. I’ve always created. When I was about 8, I had a collection of little bean characters my parents had bought me and I built them an entire city out of cardboard and craft materials. It was the size of our coffee table and the houses/flats had functioning doors and windows. It was my first real masterpiece.
13. My creativity is hereditary. My grandad turned an old packing case in to a dolls house for my 3rd Christmas. It had carpets and wallpaper and working lights that he’d fitted all the electrics for. The Taylor’s in our family are all pretty arty and always making something.
14. I’ve had an eclectic mix of jobs in my time. After A-levels I trained as a hair stylist and ran a salon for a while. Then I studied Marine Conservation and worked at a bio unit at a sea life centre, looking after the jellyfish breeding programme and helping with the seahorse one. I worked with all of the animals waiting to go to park, including nurse sharks, black tip reef sharks and port Jackson sharks. After that I went to uni and gained my Illustration degree before working as a self employed artist for a year. Then I trained as a fitness instructor and taught aqua aerobics and spin classes. Loved it! Injured my knee and retrained as a teacher. Now I teach art full time at a private school.
15. I don’t react well to sugar. It hypes me up like I’ve taken cocaine and then I crash badly. It is quite funny for anyone witnessing it, but it’s also very draining on my system.
16. I get told I look just like my dad all the time. It makes me giggle as he’s bald and has a beard. But they mean we’re both dark haired and olivey skinned and we have the same eyes.
17. I love roundabouts. I know parks are for kids but there’s something really freeing about spinning that fast and feeling your cares fly away.
18. I created the first Worry back in 2009 and have never looked back. I love that I have managed to link my art and creatures to issues that are extremely close to home and have affected (still affect) me daily and every message I receive that says I’ve helped, even just a smidge, means it’s all worth it. I just want to help other people never have to feel as low as I was made to feel.
19. I’m empathic. Hyper sensitive. It’s hard. It’s wearing and it takes its toll on me, but I’d rather be this than ignorant and cold. I hate bullies. If I see you picking on someone, I’ll call you on it. Doesn’t matter which aspect of my life it relates to, or what kind of bullying you are inflicting. If you make someone feel bad or crap about themselves or you drag them down or you pick on them or hurt them or cause them pain and upset, then you aren’t for me and I won’t be friendly.
20. I’m 30. I’ll be 31 this summer. For my 30th my family threw a Spanish themed garden party with plenty of sangria (my favourite beverage), dancing and singing (which is a tradition for our family gatherings). It was really lovely. I was worried about turning 30 as I feel I’ve fallen behind. I’ve only just bought my first home last year and finally found a career I can stick with and a partner I can spend my life with. So I feel like maybe I’ve left it too late for starting a family, but we’ll see what the future holds….