AN ARTIST who only began painting during lockdown has launched her own range of greetings cards.

Danielle Coles works as a payroll adviser and although she continued working throughout the pandemic, she found she had extra time freed up due to everything being closed and not having to commute.

She started using a set of paints her partner had bought her one Christmas after they had been to an art exhibition.

The painting soon became a stress relief and Danielle now has a home office turned art studio.

Despite never having any formal training, her designs proved popular with friends and family so Danielle came up with the idea of producing greetings cards.

Artist Danielle Coles has created a range of greetings cards

Artist Danielle Coles has created a range of greetings cards

She said: "I really enjoy it and I find it very relaxing. It's nice to do something which isn't work but still keeps you busy.

"Often if my partner is watching football at night I'll go and do some painting and it's a nice escape.

"I would say my style is quite abstract, I don't plan out anything before, I just see what comes to me.

"I love working in bright colours, one of my favourite artists is Steven Brown who creates multi-coloured paintings of animals."

Artist Danielle Coles has created a range of greetings cards

Artist Danielle Coles has created a range of greetings cards

Danielle lives in Abbey Village and the countryside is a major influence in her work.

The environment is something she considers when creating her cards which are printed on sustainable paper and are 100per cent recyclable.

She sells the cards at her Etsy shop online.

Artist Danielle Coles has created a range of greetings cards

Artist Danielle Coles has created a range of greetings cards

Danielle added: "Living in the countryside I've noticed a lot of litter during lockdown and that's something I want to avoid.

"As my cards don't have any glitter, foil or lamination they can be recycled which is very important to me.

"The paper is sourced from sustainable forests and they are also printed on a carbon neutral press.

Artist Danielle Coles has created a range of greetings cards

Artist Danielle Coles has created a range of greetings cards

"I'm planning on expanding with a range of cushions too, I'm already working with a local supplier to organise this.

"The painting is now taking up my evenings and weekends but I absolutely love it.

"Even if the business grows I still want to do it because I enjoy it, I want to do it for pleasure, not for making money."

You can find out more by searching Danielle Coles Art on Facebook and Etsy.