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A lot of people have asked me to do a draw my life video. Thank you all. It's very flattering,
but the trouble is that most of the people who make draw my life videos are quite young
and they manage to fit most of their lives into one video.
Well, I've been around quite a few years now, so I'm going to have to do quite a few episodes!
I was born in England in1956, which was around the beginning of the end of the dark days
of post World War Two Britain. The Atlas was still covered in pink and we still thought
the British Empire would last forever, but in fact it was already over. Things were about
to change at breakneck speed and the swinging sixties were not far away!
My father had met my mother in Norway at the end of World War Two.
The defeated German Army had to be rounded up and sent back home and Norway needed a
bit of help getting itself back on it's feet again.
It was love at first sight, when my mother went to a party given by British Army Officers
and saw his handsome moustache. He always talked of meeting her brown eyes across the
crowded room and knowing that this was the girl for him!
Soon after, my Father was posted to Egypt, where the British were looking out for their
interests and making sure the Suez Canal was open, while the Egyptians were trying to get
rid of us and gain their independence, which they very soon did.
My father sold my grandfather's shotgun to buy a ring and sent it to my Mother, who he'd
left behind in Norway.
All alone, she made her way across the North Sea, changing *** steamers in Liverpool
and on into the Mediterranean and finally to Alexandria. It must have seemed like heaven
to a young woman who had spent her teenage years under Nazi control in the far, dark
north.
The whole world was on the move in those days and travel restrictions were tight. She had
official documentation to prove she hadn't collaborated with the Nazis and also had a
letter of permission from her father allowing her to get married! He'd also given here a
*** of cash to keep her going!
And so they were married, in Alexandria, in Egypt, madly in love and ignoring all bombs
and fighting going on around them.
Later, back in London, my sister was born before they were sent to Trieste in Italy,
which was at the southern tip of the Iron Curtain that had just closed off the borders
between the East and the West. The Cold War had well and truly started.
But, judging by family stories, they seemed to have a great time, with lots of opera,
italian food and my brother, who was born while they lived there.
After a couple of years in Germany they returned to England again where, eventually, I was
born. Very much the youngest in the family.
And that's where this episode will stop, because that was a lot of drawing, and I think that
set's things up for who I am and where I came from.
So come back to find out what happened next. Did we stay in England? Was I child genius?
And just how did I get the crazy name of Shoo?
Click the links to make sure you are subscribed so you get updates about my channel and find
out more about my weekly schedule of drawing, advice and inspiration. Then see what happens
next in episode two of "Drawing My Life!"
... in the meantime. keep drawing drawing drawing, practice practice practice and I'll
see you next time. You take care now, bye bye. :)