In September 2005 my mum and I enrolled on an AS level Painting and Drawing Course at Northampton College.听Little did we know but this was to be the first step on a wondrous new world full of the oddities of the art world and the innovative ways of the paintbrush.听Not a feat to be taken on lightly when you are in your seventies (not me my mum I hasten to add).听My mum took on this challenge her huge determination has overcome many of the obstacles associated with maturing age (she has missed out on much of the classroom banter as she doesn't hear very well although this is something she hotly denies).听She would sit and paint quietly in her own little world producing paintings of a Van Gogh style full of energy and feeling. Our tutor was fantastic although not renowned for her encouraging words but more pushing us along the way and wanting more and more, "If you just work into area a bit further, look at the different tones etc."听The amount of work to be completed at home increased steadily and the housework had to take a back seat. We both passed the AS level and soon forgot the trials we had endured and duly enrolled for A2 level in September 2006.听What a great time we have had, Oh yes there have been hiccups along the way, mum suffered a bad case of writer's block and felt unable to begin her essay, she said the words were there in her mind but not on the paper.听Finally the tutor barked "Where is that essay?" it was only then that Mum finally knuckled down and completed her 3000 word essay 'What is Art?' in just 3 days.听My own essay had taken considerably longer and was beautifully work processed but somehow lacked the feeling and passion of mum's hand written words.听The final exam came and went in a bit of a blur but what a wonderful experience.听We had 15 hours to produce our very own masterpiece.听 I had taken 3 days off from work and mum and I became full time students complete with lunch money and MP3 players.听I stood at my easel and contemplated my subject of butterflies in the garden whilst mum sat and painted her still life set up consisting of her own trusty watering can, broken plant pots and a friendly pottery rabbit. It was only when she asked during the afternoon break, "Is it time to go home yet?" that I realised how physically and mentally tiring it was for her.听Still she soldiered on like a good un and produced a colourful, textured painting that was unique to her in every way possible. The last hurdle was the sketchbooks, an ongoing (supposedly) record of all our thoughts and ideas leading up to the final piece of artwork.听In mums case a mountain of newspaper cuttings and ideas that she had dutifully collected over the year had to be sorted from the living room floor and culminated into some kind of book.听No sticking and gluing as she went along oh no all last minute for her she even roped her grand daughter in to man the glue stick.听A manic few days followed as the sticking got more and more frenzied, finally though the day came when our etchings were mounted and handed in for the examiners scrutiny. Now it is all over, what next we ask? Mum is so keen to continue her arty studies; she assures me she won't leave it all to the last minute next time but you know what I don't believe her. | 
