Apparently my paintbrushes are charmed!I gave a set of them to a visitor to one of my exhibitions two years ago after she expressed an interest in what type of brush I use. Last year her daughter popped in to tell me that whenever her mother used my brushes she could 'feel the inspiration flow'.
I took this as a hint for some more and so I handed over another, used, handful for her to give to her mother, 81-year-old Jean Home. Then this year she sent me this image of the picture that Jean went on to paint with them.
Isn't it fantastic?
Then, as if word had got round, last month I was approached by a 10-year-old boy who lives locally. Louis Minion wanted some of my used paintbrushes to use as prizes for an art competition he was organising amongst his school friends. The contest was to raise money for an RSPB project Louis had read about. 
Louis asked his friends to paint a picture of local wildlife and then asked me to judge the entries. He raised £23 for the RSPB scheme to rescue endangered wildlife in Sumatra - click here to find out more about the project. Not bad for a 10-year-old boy and some one-month-old paintbrushes! 
