A grandma has revived her painting skills to launch a side hustle which is set to earn her £4,500 this year.
Helen Ashton, who lives in a village near Bath, runs SCD (Something Completely Different) with Love, painting a range of items, including staircase murals.
When she was younger, she studied publicity design and display at college in Leicester, where she learned the art of painting by hand.
She has always enjoyed doing painting in her spare time and then five years ago, she used her skills to paint the staircase at a pub she was working at, with a bookcase mural design.
She has since grown her skills into a business and has spruced up several staircases, earning around £1,500 for each of these projects.
The grandma-of-four told Express.co.uk she loves becoming engrossed in her painting and enjoys seeing the finished result.
She said: “It’s something that I’m very proud of. I look back at what I’ve done and I think, I’m good at this, I do believe in myself.”
She recently painted a staircase at Lancaster Royal Grammar School with the names of famous alumni, including fantasy author Joe Abercrombie.
The painter listened to his books while she was adding some colour to the stairs. The headteachers are now looking at their other staircases to see if Helen can give them a lick of paint.
She has a shepherd’s hut next to where she lives and she loves spending many hours in there with her dog losing herself in her painting.
She said: “I’ve been able to build my audience on social media to promote my work across Instagram and Facebook, reaching so many more people than just word of mouth alone.
“I would urge older people like me to learn digital skills where they can, it’s not difficult and a little bit of knowledge goes a long way. I’ve been able to take something I love and turn it into a side hustle that makes me a bit of cash to treat the grandkids.”
She works for an outdoor clothing business helping them with their social media and customer service.
Helen said: “If you have got a skill, like I learnt a skill years and years ago, why not use it? In the world we’re in, there’s a good opportunity to try something and just put your faith in yourself.”
BT Group and AbilityNet are running a free webinar next week to help people learn new skills, particularly those aged 65 and over.
The webinar is taking place on Wednesday, February 28 from 1pm to 2pm. You can sign up here.
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