Rafter Snap: Meet Ursula Banks

"I enjoy brightening lives"

Ursula Banks, Honiton, United Kingdom

The last Sunday of each month, I take a break from my Staying Power column to feature one of our delightful Rafters. This helps us get better acquainted and also be inspired by their story. If you might like to be the focus of a Rafter Snap, click here! (Don’t be shy!)

This month, I’m happy to introduce Ursula Banks from Honiton, United Kingdom. She describes herself as an arts enthusiast who enjoys painting in acrylics and pastels. She also likes "gardening, creative cooking, and reading and travel with historical themes."

---

Are you a maker, an arts enthusiast or both?

I am both. I do a lot of painting and drawing, and at the ripe old age of seventy-five, I have been gifted by my sons with an online course in oil painting, which is taking a lot of my time. It’s quite difficult as I haven't taken any courses or training in art before. I get the different assignments, and I watch the videos, and I do my practicals, then I submit those. So I'm really very busy.

Add to that—because I'm interested in art, I go to different art studios and shows and that sort of thing. 

What kind of art are you most interested in? What things inspire you?

I like impressionistic art. I did dabble a bit with abstract painting, [in the sense of] telling a story in a non-realistic way. I found that exceptionally restricting. With my pastels, I do a lot of realistic drawing—[especially] drawings of animals. But I am a great lover of [J. M. W.] Turner's work, which is very impressionistic. I am influenced that way, really. And oil came into it because I couldn't do [impressionistic painting] with acrylics.

Who was one of the first creative people to inspire you?

My mother. I originally was from South Africa. She married an Irishman and had a very large family. And she was really creative. We weren't very wealthy. My father insisted that we all went to Catholic private schools—very expensive. With a minimum of equipment, my mother could make us the most beautiful dresses. When she died twenty years ago, I said to my sister, “I can remember her staying up all night, no fancy sewing machine, just one of these little old Singers, and making us these dresses that we had chosen the pattern for, in silky material, which must have been a nightmare for her to sew. But she did it for us.”

My parents had a small holding [of land], so my mother canned and cooked and bottled and kept things going so that we were never hungry. We didn't have fancy foods, but we were really well fed. My mother turned her hand to growing as much as she could so that we were self-sufficient in that way.

She inspired me because I still love gardening a lot. Where we live, here in England, the gardens are tiny. I have what they call an “allotment”—I rent it from the council; it’s a fair size. I can grow all my flowers and vegetables and fruit there. We have such an abundance growing [right now] that I don't want to see a zucchini again! I have enough beans to be Jack in the Beanstalk! 

I joined a group [whose members] donate part of our produce to those in need. I drop it off with a particular person and they put it in a stand for people to help themselves. No questions asked. [Or] they make it up into food packages to give to families in need, or the produce is just put in the store for people to help themselves. If they want to put in a donation, that's up to them.

If you think I could slow down at this age, I've just added more to my life!

Why are the arts important to you?

I think it's good for my mental health. I also think I try to use it to give joy.

I did a drawing of my sons’ dogs. They don't have children—these three dogs are their lives. I did a drawing in pastel and framed it. When they moved into a new house in Wales, I went to see it, and I took the drawing. It pleased them to no end. When I gave them the picture, I could have cried when I saw how happy they were with it. I am a person who loves to give joy.

What’s one of the most important creative skills that you've developed?

My flexibility to be able to switch to different things. That is one of the greatest things that I have gained from being creative.

Some of Ursula's acrylic paintings

What’s your biggest creative challenge?

Trying to be perfect! So frequently, I have this preconceived idea of what a picture should look like. When I can't get it like that, instead of saying, “Well, I'll give my version of it," I try and achieve perfection, which is impossible. Perfectionism is a challenge. To do something well, yes—but perfect? No.

What has been one of the greatest rewards in the creative choices you've made?

Giving joy! People seeing [something I’ve made] and saying, “Oh, that's lovely. Can I have it?” Or “That is so beautiful!” It's not only with the paintings and the drawings. Sometimes I just gather up flowers and put them in a jam jar and leave it on [a neighbor’s] doorstep. It brightens their lives and I enjoy doing that.

What do you want to learn from a community of your peers?

Tolerance—to accept others as they are and not try and turn them as to how you would like them to be. That would be a very good lesson to learn.

Thank you so much, Ursula, for letting us feature you in a Rafter Snap!

Hey, Rafters, what about Ursula's journey resonates with you? Tell us in the comments below. 👇

---

🧡 Thanks for reading! As part of The Raft, this newsletter is kept afloat by beautiful readers like you. If you like my work, please support it by becoming a paid subscriber, buying my books, or inviting me to speak. And remember to add your 2¢ by leaving comments!

---

The Gentle Nudge

Join other Rafters this week for . . .

• Poetry Pick-Me-Up (Zoom, Thursday, 12:00-1:00PM Central, at this link)