I see beauty in every face. Skin and eyes rich with colour and line have drawn me in every day since I was sixteen, when I realised that portraiture was the only path I would be truly happy following.

Although scribbling sketches of my classmates in my maths book would occasionally land me in trouble at school, I knew it made me happy and I insisted on incorporating portraiture in to all my art exams despite my teachers pleas for collage and cubism.

I was seventeen when I had a portrait selected for exhibition at The Mall Galleries, London and after that, I was relentless in my quest to make painting my life. I studied at The Heatherleys School of Fine Art in Chelsea until 2008, and have exhibited in various shows around Cambridge and London.

Over the years I have undertaken many commissions of adults, children and professionals as well as working on more narrative paintings in my own time. I am drawn to bright colours, fancy dress and quirky styles which lead me to begin a series of well-known stories with a twist paintings, which I am still working on.

I throw myself in to any painting I'm doing with all my focus and attention, not letting it out of my grasp until I know it is the best I can make it. My aim is to portray people as I see people: beautiful, dignified and enchanting. I enjoy the process of taking a composition from idea to canvas through the medium of paint, and I believe very deeply in keeping a traditional skill and practice alive

Images are Copyright Heloise Toop. Please do not use without permission.