I draw and paint too. Just don’t ask me to do a straight line.
Monthlies Postcards
I wrote and illustrated these taboo-busting postcards for Monthlies UK - a small business that supplies eco-friendly tampons and pads,
I started my period during the school holidays. My mum’s friend was looking after us and was taking us swimming. I was too embarrassed to tell her I had my period. So my sister showed me how to use a tampon. I was so embarrassed that it was going to swell up and float away that I spend most of the time by the poolside worrying that everyone could see the string!
My Mum told me about periods but she didn’t really explain it very well, and I thought it was just going to be like one event per month, and that I’d be able to hold it in, like I could stop myself from weeing and go to the loo to do my period, instead of needing these pads she had given me. When my first period arrived and I couldn’t control it and it lasted for like a week, I realised what she’d been trying to say, but I still wish it could just be one trip to the loo each month!
Mine started when I was 10, so pretty young. I was really confused by the whole female reproductive system. My aunt told me that periods meant I was becoming a woman, so I could have children one day (looking back, I have so many issues with this explanation, I would never put it like this to my children – if I choose to have any!). I knew about sex getting people pregnant but I didn’t understand why leaking blood once a month from the same place meant I was more able to have babies. To me it seemed like my insides must be dissolving or something. It was another 4 years of mystery until we covered periods in a science lesson at school. I just wish there was better education about periods and reproduction at a younger age!
I got my first period on a school trip. We came in from some kayaking one day and there was this brown stain in my pants, I thought maybe it was mud that somehow got into my pants or that I’d caught something from the weeds in the lake. It stayed really light but the next day I asked a friend if this is what periods are like. She said yes and then told all of the girls in our dorm that I had mine. By the time we were heading home 3 days later, everyone on the trip knew. One of the teachers had offered me pads and the boys were obviously threatened with severe consequences if they mentioned anything as most of them barely made eye contact with me.
Loughborough Junction drawings
Some of my drawings from outside my old studio window.
Portrait Painting
