I've always had a keen sense of history. My father was an antiques dealer and he used to bring home boxes full of treasures, and each item always had a tale attached.

Today women have the rights and equality our Victorian sisters could only dream of, and with those privileges comes the responsibility of standing up and being counted.

While I'm frustrated at the amount I'm expected to take on in the present, the 1950s woman was frustrated by being excluded - not being allowed to take things on at all.

At the end of the day, that's what a family is - a group of different people who accept each other.

Sometimes I create a character from a scrap - a mere mention that has been left behind.

It is through our extended family that we first learn to compromise and come to an understanding that even if we don't always agree about things we can still love and look out for each other.

There is something particularly fascinating about seeing places you know in a piece of art - be that in a film, or a photograph or painting.