Taking the plunge

The thing that scares me more than failing is never having tried and living with the regret that I wasn't brave enough to try.

So, with that in mind, I am about to embark on my first painting workshop in a pub.

I've mentored before and delivered workshops in schools, but I've never done something quite like this. But if you don't have a go, you'll never know. Well, that's what I keep telling myself!

So many people I meet say they aren't arty, but I have this theory that we all have it in us, it's just that some indulge their creativity, and practise it regularly, and some don't.

I like having fun with art and find it essential for channelling my thoughts and feelings, and I find it very satisfying helping others find their own art confidence so they can too.

Ever thought what might happen if you unleashed your inner artist for the evening? Just indulged yourself for a couple of hours, maybe with a glass of wine to help you relax, to see what happened, just for fun? Picking up a paintbrush and having a play around with paint without putting any pressure on yourself to come up with something presentable? You might be pleasantly surprised. And even if you weren't, so what?

My best advice to people who like to dabble, or who want to dabble but don't, is don't fret about the end result, just have a go and enjoy the process.

I'm no art teacher, but I am passionate and enthusiastic about what I do and can share an insight into how I create my pieces to help others feel comfortable enough to have a go too. I honestly think art is something available to everyone if they have an open mind, let go of any expectations and just go with it.

I can't, and wouldn't, promise that anyone will be going home from my workshop with a masterpiece, but I will endeavour to offer a positive experience and some helpful tips to take away.

I'll give step-by-step instructions for creating something along the lines of my popular angel painting Enough (above) We will paint, we will have plonk and we will see what emerges. But most of all we'll have fun!

This is my latest painting, Never Enough, which I created in under two hours to practise ahead of the workshop and to prove that it can be done in one sitting. She will be for sale after the event on October 11.

The original Enough took me a lot longer to come up with than two hours, but it can be done.

Click the link below if you fancy booking a spot. All art materials are provided and drinks can be purchased at the bar.

Paint, Punch & Positivity with Plonk

What's your motivation?

While still suffering from the aches and pains of my third dan blackbelt exam four days ago, but also still on a bit of a buzz, I thought I'd write this down so I can look back and remember this important stage in my personal development.

I did my second with my son and now my third with my daughter, having sworn never again. But we knuckled down and got on with it. And I'm so glad we saw it through. It is a meaningful connection I will always share with my kids.

This grading had additional requirements and I was warned I may have to give a motivational talk to the class. Being someone who has always hated speaking in front of an audience, I was quite relieved that moment never came. But seeing as I had got it relatively straight in my head what I wanted to say, I'm going to say it here now instead.

Over ten years ago, I had a nasty chest infection that meant I couldn't do any fitness at all. Even getting out of bed to look after my children was a struggle. It affected me mentally as well as physically, and I vowed then that when I was well enough I would work to make myself as strong mentally and physically as I could so I could deal with whatever life had in store for me.

So in a way it did me a favour, because it gave me the motivation to start kickboxing and a fresh perspective on life - how life is precious, how we often take things for granted and how we don't always do the things we want to because we aren't brave enough.

So I started thinking about what I wanted out of life and what was important to me, and I started being braver.

And in the same year I became a blackbelt, I launched my own company Tamsin Stuart Art. Five years later I am taking my third dan and I am a professional artist. People buy my art and pay me to paint. I am working hard to make my dreams a reality because life is too short not to.

In everything I do, I go for it. I have that sense of urgency that I want to get the most out of every day and make it count. I haven't got time for half measures. Partly because when my mental and physical health were under attack I went to a dark place and I am determined I don't want to go back there. But also because if something is worth doing, it's worth doing properly, with your maximum effort and with as much passion as you can muster.

So if there's something you love doing, keep doing it as much as possible at every opportunity with your maximum effort and see where it takes you. Make the most out of life while you can. Because a time may come when that choice is taken away.

The moral of my story of how I got started is train like you're fighting for your life, because ultimately you are. One day the worst may happen and you may need to defend yourself or a loved one. But principally, because every single time you train you are investing in your mental and physical strength, fitness and wellbeing. And that has got to be worth your maximum effort and a whole heap of passion.

I stand with Lineker!

So I live in Cheltenham and if you mention Cheltenham to anyone anywhere in the world the town is synonymous with horseracing.

Being a rather opinionated person who is passionate about animal welfare, I always have the urge at this time of the year to start gobbing off about how cruel the Festival is and how horses will die for our entertainment.

This year I am taking a different tact. I am going silent instead. Not because I don't care any more. Privately I will still be feeling the same sadness, but publicly I will be conducting myself in a more measured way.

There's a lot in this world I don't agree with and working myself up into a frenzy on social media and getting into heated debates about it serves no purpose.

Cheltenham is the place to be for a great day at the races for the majority of people in the same way that Crufts is on right now and people will continue to breed dogs as I cry for the hundreds and thousands of unwanted pets that fill the rescue centres to the brim and are being euthanised in the pounds for no good reason.

I have my beliefs and I stand by them. And I will live my life true to them and with a clear conscience, and my art will be driven by them. So I intend to put all my time and energy into that rather than getting caught up in time-consuming arguments with people who I will always be at odds with and potentially offending those who don't think the same way as me.

Everyone is free to make their own choices about life and I respect that. But having an opinion and being passionate about it is life-affirming. And freedom of expression is everything, especially in art. And so #istandwithlineker

Usually I post my painting Jump in March. It is very special to me for many reasons and still hangs in our kitchen, colour co-ordinated with our breakfast bar stools, and always will.

But instead Wild Horses will be on my social media for the whole of next week, with no words or explanation, in tribute for the lives that will be lost and those that are lived freely and fully. And I will hold my tongue and you must come to your own conclusions.