Six months ago, I was enjoying a glass (or two) of wine with my boyfriend, and we were discussing the usual, ‘If you could do it all again, what would you do?’ scenario. Whilst he’d found his passion, I was stagnating in a 6-year architecture degree. I still had at least 2-3 years left to qualify as a fully-fledged architect, and to be completely honest, I’d lost any form of interest or drive to qualify, and it was really, really bad. Thousands upon thousands of pounds went into my education, and there was absolutely no chance I could just yeet that out the window. My parents would literally disown me, and what would other people think? How can you even explain to someone that you studied something for SIX YEARS only to not pursue it? In my mind, I had to qualify, happy or sad—that’s just how it works. I told him, ‘I just want to paint and share art with other people. Even if I was broke, I just want to be happy!’ Typically, he responded with, ‘Emma, you know you can do that - you don’t need to wish for anything. It’s your life, and you can fix it.’ ‘Why don’t you do painting classes? Teach, educate, entertain, and share art?’ I genuinely looked at him as if he was speaking in tongues. IMAGINE. Imagine what would happen if I disregarded a 6-year degree just to teach painting! What would happen..? Well, easelescape happened. Easelescape was born from a raw realisation that you seriously, seriously only get ONE life. It’s yours, and you need to live it with purpose and take control of your own happiness, regardless of others’ expectations. Sharing art with the community and gifting people with a memorable experience is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. In just over 6 months, I’ve witnessed people from all walks of life prove to themselves that art is absolutely for everyone. I’ve witnessed random friendships form between complete strangers over a glass of wine, a few strokes of paint, and the openness to trying something new. So take a seat. Grab a drink. Welcome to easelescape ❤️🧑‍🎨🥂