How I became an artist and photographer after moving to France

When I moved to France, aged 21, I did not really have a career plan. 

My parents had decided to buy a property in Dordogne and had asked whether I wanted to come with them. 

As my father was still working in the military and would be away a lot, and they wanted to bring our horses, my mother really needed someone else around. 

The property needed renovation too, so a second pair of hands would be more than welcome. I was delighted to join them.

Two years on and with the renovations finished, I started to look for a job. In the UK I had done some care work and also worked as a supermarket cashier. 

However, as my French was not quite up to scratch I was not sure what kind of job I would be able to find in France. 

Fortunately, I found a job as a nanny with a Canadian family who had moved to the area and wanted English-speaking childcare. As I had worked in the caring industry previously it felt like a good fit.

In 2010, I decided to move back to the UK. 

A return to France

But discovering the grass was not as green as I’d thought, I returned to France in 2012. 

This time I took up a job as carer for a disabled woman in a bilingual family. It was great being able to communicate in English when needed, but also to be in an environment where people were talking French around me. 

It helped improve my language and I enjoyed the job at first.

Despite long hours, there were periods in the day when I had nothing to do. I decided to take a correspondence course, learning how to create pet portraits using colour pencil and other media. 

The woman I worked for had done some beautiful drawings and I was inspired.

I was thrilled to find I had quite a talent for drawing animals and I loved doing it. 

As I had been working for the same family for five years by this point, it felt like the right time for a change and I wondered whether I could improve enough to start my own business.

As part of my work I often had to take photographs of the animals I intended to draw. 

Photographers were out of my budget, so I bought myself a cheap DSLR camera for €300 and gave it a go myself. 

Around the same time I was in the local town of Excideuil and saw a card in a shop window. 

A local English photographer was running a course. Wanting to improve my photography, I signed up. 

The six-week course was run by a well known wedding photographer in Dordogne. 

Afterwards, she offered me the chance to accompany her on some jobs. I began doing weddings with her in 2015 – just a few a year as she had a regular second shooter.

Pet portraits

In 2017, I left the care job to focus on my pet portraiture. 

There was quite a lot of demand and I was determined to build my business. I was getting bookings for pet portraits regularly and these would often take a week of six-hour days (for an A3 portrait), so I needed to dedicate time to my craft.

In 2018, the regular second wedding shooter resigned from her role and I was offered the position. It was daunting, but I decided to grab the opportunity. In 2019 I began to take wedding bookings personally.

Now I have what feels like an ideal balance. I work as a wedding photographer from March to October, sometimes doing several weddings a week. 

During the colder months I focus on my pet portraits.

Last year I added another string to my bow and started offering live event illustrating, sketching the wedding guests in their finery. 

It has proven very popular and, as I am already known in the wedding industry, word has spread quickly.

Some 20 years on from a move that I thought would be temporary, I am settled and happy in France. 

I enjoyed my initial work in the care sector, but in finding both art and photography I really feel I have found my niche.