The Seeds of Passion
Carol’s relationship with art began when she was just four years old. In those early school days, she eagerly picked up crayons and pencils, even though the large, chunky crayons provided by the school were far from ideal. “I really hated them,” she recalls with a chuckle. But her love for coloring and drawing persisted, despite the less-than-perfect tools. As a child, Carol would seize every opportunity to create, sketching trees as they passed by during car rides or meticulously drawing ladies in dresses. This early passion for art, particularly painting, would become a thread woven through the fabric of her life, even if it went dormant for years.
A Path Not Taken
As Carol moved into her teenage years, her love for art remained strong. In grammar school, she excelled in her art classes and was expected to continue her artistic studies into sixth form. However, life had other plans. Instead of pursuing art, Carol chose a more conventional path, joining the civil service and later dedicating herself to raising her family. “Art took a backseat for a long time,” she reflects. While she occasionally engaged in creative activities, such as drawing with her daughters or helping with school art projects, her passion for art was largely sidelined by the demands of daily life.
What Stops Us From Doing What We Love?
For many years, Carol’s art was something she had to set aside. “Time is so important,” she explains. “I didn’t have much when I was bringing up the kids, but when I retired and had more, I joined three different art groups.” This is a common theme in many people’s lives—other responsibilities and priorities can push our passions into the background. For Carol, it wasn’t until she retired and had more time that she could fully reconnect with her love of art.
The glass and fruit subject inspired Carol to start using acrylic paints
The Rediscovery
It wasn’t until Carol retired at 63 that her artistic spark was reignited. With more time on her hands, she joined a local art group, initially bringing along her watercolors. However, it was a fellow artist using acrylics that truly caught her attention. Intrigued, Carol decided to give acrylics a try. The experience was transformative. “I knew straight away that acrylics were the medium for me,” she says. The fast-drying nature of acrylics and their capacity for detail suited her meticulous style far better than the fluidity of watercolors.
Carol was excited by the possibilities that acrylics opened up for her. “I could go bigger and bigger in the artwork I was doing,” she explains. “With acrylics, I was able to explore real life, still life, portraits—I tried everything. I would often ask myself, ‘I wonder if I could do this?’ and then give it a go. It made me so much more adventurous.” This sense of adventure and exploration rekindled Carol’s passion for art, making her eager to experiment and push the boundaries of her creativity.
"I felt very disappointed that I hadn’t found them sooner. If I had realised that this was something I could have done, I could have been painting throughout my life."
Embracing the Present
Despite the excitement of rediscovering her love for art, Carol couldn’t help but wonder what might have been if she had found acrylics earlier in life. “I felt very disappointed that I hadn’t found them sooner,” she admits. “If I had realised that this was something I could have done, I could have been painting throughout my life.”
Nevertheless, Carol is now fully immersed in her art, participating in multiple art groups and continually challenging herself with new techniques and subjects. Her approach is not about commercial success; it’s about personal fulfillment. While she has sold a few pieces, Carol paints primarily for herself, exploring still life, portraits, and landscapes with an adventurous spirit. “I’m not a very imaginative artist; I paint what I see,” she explains. “But with acrylics, I’ve been able to try everything. It made me so much more confident in trying new things.”
This newfound confidence in her artistic abilities led Carol to achieve a lifelong ambition: having her work displayed in a gallery. She recalls the pride she felt when her work was accepted into a local museum exhibition. The experience was particularly poignant as her father, who never knew about her artistic talent until much later in life, attended one of her exhibitions and was deeply moved by her work. It was one of the pieces from her first exhibition that was on her father’s wall until his death.
Carol standing in front of her forest painting selected for the exhibition.
The Power of Lifelong Learning
Carol’s story is one that clearly illustrates the importance of lifelong learning and the joy that comes from continually exploring new passions. “It’s amazing how tense you get when you’re not sure whether you can do it,” she says with a smile. But for Carol, the challenge is part of the fun. Learning new techniques, experimenting with different styles, and simply enjoying the process of creating art have all enriched her retirement years in ways she hadn’t anticipated.
"My biggest regret is that I didn’t do this earlier. Time goes quickly."
Her experience raises an intriguing question: Can the activities we loved as children enrich our lives today? For Carol, the answer is a resounding yes. Her early love for art, rekindled later in life, has brought her immense joy and a sense of fulfilment that she wishes she had pursued sooner. “My biggest regret is that I didn’t do this earlier,” she reflects. “Time goes quickly.”
Carol's bluebell painting was her experiment with light.
Innovation and Lifelong Learning
Carol also offers valuable insights into the role of innovation in lifelong learning, particularly in making it accessible to everyone. “It doesn’t always cost lots of money,” she points out. She describes one of the art clubs she attends, which meets in a lovely room overlooking the beach. “We hire it, and it costs £5 per week for the space and for as much coffee and tea as we want, and people bring cakes,” she explains. Carol believes that more people could organise gatherings themselves without needing grants, suggesting that a simple list of available spaces for hire could make a significant difference.
"People have the ideas; they just need spaces to meet that are suitable for what they want to do."
She shares the example of a friend who set up a writing group and charged a minimal amount for people to attend. “He had a space, but that went,” Carol notes, emphasising that the key to fostering lifelong learning is finding reasonable places for people to gather. “People have the ideas; they just need spaces to meet that are suitable for what they want to do.”
Carol highlights the importance of community to her recent art journey. She fondly remembers “Paintings I Love,” a website where artists from around the world could share their work and connect. Although the site closed, Carol still longs for similar innovative networks that could provide such valuable artistic exchange and encouragement.
This is one of Carol's exploration into surrealism, interpreting an idea she saw in a photograph
Carol’s Advice: It’s Never Too Late
When asked what she would say to those who feel their days of learning are over or who are too scared to try something new, Carol’s advice is simple and heartfelt: “Keeping your mind active is fun. There are always things to find out about. I love reading, and if there is something in the book that you don’t know, get curious and fulfill your curiosity. If you watch quiz programs on TV—and I love quizzes—it helps if you know the answers,” she adds with a laugh.
In the end, Carol’s story is not just about art; it’s about the broader theme of rediscovering and nurturing the things that bring us joy. As she continues to explore new subjects and techniques, she carries with her the lesson that our childhood passions can offer us a profound sense of purpose and happiness, no matter when we choose to rekindle them.
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