THEY stand upright like penguins and run rather than waddle. Few sights are more comical than a group of Indian runner ducks racing across a field.

Their striking appearance- they were first called ‘penguin ducks’ - and personality make the breed a great addition to a home with space to accommodate them.

Marianne Eyles Smith was certainly smitten by the pair she brought to live with her and her 16-year-old daughter Eve in Embsay near Skipton.

Not only do the long-necked, flightless birds, provide amusement with their upright posture and gait, but they have also been instrumental in helping her to forge a new career.

They were the inspiration for a successful business Blue Duck Designs - a selection of greetings cards and prints featuring animals and birds that she sells at shops across Yorkshire and beyond.

Originally from Buckinghamshire Marianne studied at art college after leaving school. And while she enjoyed her four-year course, she was not convinced she could carry on after leaving. “I’d had a taste of everything, from fine art and illustration work to photography, and didn’t know what I wanted to do. I think I saw it more as a hobby than a career,” she says.

Marianne moved to the Dales 12 years ago to live near her sister and her family.

“I wanted my daughter to go to school with her cousins and have a country life,” she says.

She worked in customer services management before being made redundant, going on to take a degree in history and English at Leeds Metropolitan University.

It was the death of Marianne’s mum Andrea - she died in February 2011 from pancreatic cancer when Marianne was half-way through her degree - that sowed the seed of returning to art.

“But I wanted to finish my studies, so I did that, and then during the summer I thought I would do some art work and earn a bit of extra cash. “I thought I would design some cards with the intention of sending images to publishing houses.”

While contemplating what sort of images to create, Marianne looked out of the window to see one of her ducks, Daphne, running across the garden.

It was a Eureka! moment. Daphne’s comical dash was, she knew instantly, the sort of image she wanted to capture.

And, with four ducks - sisters Daphne and Penelope, Delilah and a drake called Tonks - there was no shortage of subject matter.

“My mum used to tell me to ‘just draw’, so I did. I drew and drew. “

Initially she drew ten images, then painted them in watercolour. “I gave them to friends and family, and everyone said how much they liked them and suggested I make them into cards.”

Enthused, she had a number printed at Mason’s in Skipton, and took them to two local shops. Both bought them. “The first was the Hedgerow in Threshfield, and the other the Olive Branch in Addingham - both still stock them,” she says.

Marianne first took on ducks in 2010, and, with a drake in their midst, ducklings were inevitable, and She watched her feathered friends rear seven ducklings to adulthood. The youngsters were sent to live on a friend’s farm.

“A lot of people keep chickens in their garden, and I like chickens, but I have always loved ducks,” says Marianne, “They make me smile. They are happy creatures who smile back at you. They are quite independent and will come and sit near you but only if they want to. I once read that the closest you will get to an Indian runner duck is taking food from your hand, but not to expect more.

”Daphne and Penelope will rip off your arm for a piece of cucumber.”

Today she still has Daphne and Penelope, as well as Andrea and Claude. “They are brilliant to draw - they have so many expressions, and very distinct personalities. Penelope has gone blind and is cared for by the others.”

Since that light bulb moment, Marianne’s ducks have inspired her to paint a range of designs that now grace prints and greetings cards sold across the UK. Her watercolours feature not only ducks but other creatures that live around Marianne’s home including horses, dogs, cows, sheep and rabbits.

“There is so much wildlife around my home - my new range includes hedgehogs, foxes, badgers and owls.”

Her ideas often come to her while walking her dogs. “I am very blessed - when I walk in the Dales I am surrounded by wildlife and farm animals so there is no shortage of inspiration. And I only have to stand at my back door with a cup of tea and watch my ducks for more.”

Her ‘Range of Gentleman’ cards include ducks and dogs in different guises, including the gardener, the snappy dresser and the sportsman.

Yorkshire stockists include Bolton Abbey Estate, Salt’s Mill, Haley Bevan in Eldwick, Norah’s Gifts and Interiors in Ilkley, Fodder at the Great Yorkshire Showground and, closer to home, Embsay Paper Shop.

Further afield, her wares are sold in counties including Cornwall, East Sussex, Derbyshire and Blackpool.

Marianne knows how her mum would feel. “She would be so proud, she would love them.”

*blueduckdesigns.co.uk