WHAT a surreal, crazy, few months I have had.

Some of you may have seen on TV or read about my journey, in the T&A, from a retired art teacher and Bradford artist, to getting a painting, first shortlisted then accepted and finally sold at the Royal Academy of Art in London.

I am still that retired person and artist but can’t emphasise how amazing it felt and how honoured I was to have my work in this prestigious gallery. I am hoping the main lesson to be learnt and passed on to children and young people is to ‘GO FOR IT’.

I admit I had doubts, thinking, briefly, what was the point. I knew from previous years there were thousands of submissions, so the chances of being selected were slim, to say the least.

However, it was time to practise what I preach. Last year, and this, I had entered children’s work. My focus is promoting and showcasing children’s and young people’s art, after all.

I always tell my students to go for it, if they are at all uncertain about their art. It may be a new style they are reluctant to try. A competition they don’t feel good enough to enter. Whatever the reason if it’s not life-threatening. GO FOR IT. What`s the worst that can happen? Always be adventurous. Try new things and experiences, use new materials, use a variety of techniques, paint outdoors. Anything you can get a

buzz from.

For many years I had painted more traditional landscapes. I used paper or small canvases. Don’t ask me why. It was just a path I had always taken.

Then one day I picked up a huge square canvas and daubed colours on it, creating my first abstract. Wow - it was so exhilarating. This opened up a whole new world. My head was, and is to this day, always full of ideas. There are never enough hours in the day.

My greatest pleasure is researching new ideas for my students or introducing them to the techniques I have enjoyed over the years. I want my passion and enthusiasm to rub off on them and for every minute of a session to be fun.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Textile landscape by Freya Shifaa, 11Textile landscape by Freya Shifaa, 11

Sometimes I despair at adults who take art too seriously, by studying and scrutinising every bit of the subject in front of them. I want to look at a piece and say to myself “Do I like it?”

I don’t want to stand there for half an hour wondering why the dot is there or what was the artist thinking about. This work would be too personal to whoever had created it. Like all art it is down to personal taste. So is my term ‘GO FOR IT’ a contradiction in terms?

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Snowy Mountains by Zenia Khan, aged nine Snowy Mountains by Zenia Khan, aged nine

The artwork by children and young people that I am showcasing on this page shows a variety of disciplines, from Evie’s wild imaginative mermaid collage, Freya’s textile landscape, Shifaa’s careful pencil drawing, Zenia’s landscape in acrylics to Ava’s Hockney-style semi-abstract canvas.

I think you will agree, they have all GONE FOR IT.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: ‘Hockney Style’ by Ava Shaw, 11‘Hockney Style’ by Ava Shaw, 11

* Lynne Dobson is a Bradford artist and retired art teacher. She recently appeared on Joe Lycett: Summer Exhibitionist on BBC.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: ‘I’m a Mermaid’ by Evie Dobson Reed, aged three‘I’m a Mermaid’ by Evie Dobson Reed, aged three