It all started in a small way. Miniatures, tiny originals, no more than 5cm square. Painted in watercolour each piece took hours. I used tiny sable miniature brushes designed for the purpose. I would personalise pieces for special events. I even painted Greenwich observatory 50 times as a Royal gift.

The idea grew and grew. Sue and I began to attend the international trade shows. This opened a can of worms. Japanese ordered 16,000 pieces, 1,000 pieces were flown to Australia every month. The UK market was tiny by comparison.

Sue and I soon realised this wasn't for us. We didn't want to run a factory, but until you try, you don't know.

There are fond memories mainly of the early customers. We still see several now.