Empty Shops Project

OREN Exhibition Profile

Saturday 4th September - Friday 24th September 2010

Artist: Merel Prescott
Title: Inspired

"I was born in Newport in 1961 and spent part of my childhood living in Ethiopia and in Egypt. I was fortunate to have travelled extensively throughout my youth experiencing a wide variety of cultures. I have had an extremely varied working life including time spent in the Merchant Navy, work as a geophysicist, a Public House Manager and a Montessori Directress. Following the breakdown of my marriage I graduated from Cardiff University in 2003 with BSc (Hons) Mathematics and trained as a secondary mathematics teacher with the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham. After a reasonably long period of supply teaching my teaching career came to an end when I decided to devote my time to home educating my youngest daughter. It is my dearest wish to take my daughter to Ghana in the next year or two in order to do about three months voluntary work for Project Sand (http://www.projectsand.org). I am currently looking into fundraising for this.

Being a mathematician with what I considered to be non-existant artistic talent I don’t think I’d even considered art on my daughter’s curriculum until one day when, on the way to the bus station from the library, my daughter and I called by the Empty Shops and were admiring the beautiful works on display. When we came at last into the shop where Alfonso Marino was working I told him that I wished I could draw or paint. He got us to come in the next day with a canvas each. My daughter started on her painting that day while I sat staring at a blank canvas, too apprehensive to even draw a line on it. However, the following day I picked up a paintbrush and have not since looked back. I now work with oil pastels, acrylics and oil paints and am about to experiment with water colours. I get my daughter to take photographs everywhere we go – we are constantly on the lookout for beauty in our surroundings which until recently we would have ignored.

I would like to thank all those involved with the Empty Shops Project for the life-changing experience it has provided both me and my daughter, and Marino and Jonathan Sherwood for providing us with inspiration, confidence, help and friendship. I hope that during my time in this shop I will be able to help inspire others too."