CARLATALBOT
When Jennifer Crawford was at school, she was told she wasn’t talented enough to pursue a career in art.
She instead went on to have a highflying career, travelling all over the world, quickly forgetting her artistic dreams.
Now, after an unexpected career change, the 28-year-old is now taking the plunge to finally pursue her art career, and is selling her work to help raise money for charity.
Having worked in Dubai for six years as cabin crew for Emirates, Jennifer was left facing a dilemma when she was made redundant.
Returning home to her parents house in Hawkhead in Paisley, she began painting to pass the time until she could find another job.
A few months later she decided to launch her own website, aptly named Shed29 – a moniker to her parents’ summer house turned art studio in their back garden.
“I never would have thought this is what I would be doing now if you’d asked me at the beginning of the year,” Jennifer said.
“I had originally planned to move to Los Angeles this year so it is funny to look back on it now and see how different things have turned out.
“Especially since I was told that I wasn’t good enough to pursue a career in art.
“I started painting again when I was in Dubai after about seven years of not really painting at all.
“We were in a really strict lockdown over there and weren’t allowed to go out at all so I just used old cardboard boxes which were lying around my house to paint on.
“When I came home, I found that painting really helped keep me sane while I tried to find a job and it just grew arms and legs from there.
“I don’t know what is going to happen in the future so I’m just taking each day as it comes.”
On her website, Jennifer says she returned to Scotland with ‘ her tail between her legs’, but over the next few