IF, as the saying goes, a picture can conjure up 1,000 words, then retired NHS worker Deryl ‘Dee’ Williams would have enough material for a bumper thesis - writes Phil Hill.

Since leaving her job as a cardiology nurse at Taunton’s Musgrove Park Hospital in January 2023, Deryl has put her artistic skills to good use drawing people’s pets.

It all started towards the end of her career when she showed a work colleague a picture she had drawn of her cat, Cariad – ‘sweetheart’ in Welsh.

She said: "I went to The Range and bought some colour pencils and paper and drew Cariad.

"I showed it to someone at work, who said, ‘Can you draw my dog?’

"Then other staff started asking me to draw their pets.

"I had a captive audience at work and I’d have five or six people lined up at a time."

One of her creationsOne of her creations (Image: Deryl Williams) Since hanging up her nursing badge, Deryl continues to receive commissions, mainly through word of mouth, and has so far completed around 30 pictures.

"I mainly draw pets, but I also do people," she added.

"It’s a slow process, taking 30 to 40 hours to complete one picture."

Deryl has had a love of animals since her childhood in Llanrwst, in the Conwy Valley, in North Wales.

"I’d been pony mad since a young age and used to go riding with friends," she said.

"After I finished at school, I went away and worked with horses.

"I had lots of different jobs in the industry, mainly in Essex, but also in Germany, where I worked as a groom."

(Image: Deryl Williams) After her stint in Germany, Deryl moved to the West Country to work for top-flight rider Polly Schwerdt and then with Chris Brake at Heazle Riding School, at Clayhidon.

After marrying her first husband, she settled for 23 years in Wellington, where she worked for the Big House Company, which rents out large party houses.

Deryl and her husband divorced amicably, and some time later she met up again with her first cariad – childhood sweetheart Steve – and they later married.

She had enjoyed art in her younger days, saying: "I did art at school and did painting on china and porcelain.

"I was always scribbling and drawing on something.

"I came back to it in later life and started the animal and people portraits as a hobby.

"You can have talent, but it’s practice that makes you good.

"You need to get your pencil out.

"And be your own worst critic, but always find something good in whatever you do.

"Every time I hand over a portrait, I wonder, ‘Are they going to like it?’ It’s only the owner who knows if it speaks to them.

"I love it when they send me a photo of it on their wall and I see it isn’t shoved behind the sofa."

She has supported worthy causes with her artwork, including the Moorland Mousie Trust at Exmoor Pony Centre, where she offered a raffle prize, and painting Avon and Somerset Police horse Rocky, who was put down after sustaining serious injuries in a road traffic collision.

To commission a portrait, email derw.portraits@gmail.com or visit www.derwportraits.co.uk, deryl_williams_portraits on Instagram or Deryl Williams Portraits on Facebook.