A Norwich artist is celebrating signing a contract with an international agent and holding her first exhibition.

Sue Clyne, 45, from Rockland St Mary, left her job as a make-up artist on the Lancome counter in Debenhams five years ago after her husband, Glenn Sadd, inspired her to follow her dreams to be an artist.

'I had only been with my husband for about six months and he said to me 'what do you want to do in life?' I told him I wanted to paint,' she said.

Although she painted during the evenings and weekends when she was not at work, Ms Clyne harboured ambitions to be an artist.

'When I was 40 I left my job to become an artist full-time,' she said. 'I enjoyed my job. I had worked at Debenhams for 14 years in various departments.'

Two months ago she approached Vermont-based Art Licensing and after a phone call from the managing director, she signed a contract the next day.

The mother-of-three said: 'I couldn't believe it when they offered me a contract. It is my dream – it is what I have been aiming for. I would tell anyone to follow their dreams in life and to go for it. I know financially that things can be hard, but there's no looking back. I should have been doing this years ago.'

She is now planning to hold her first exhibition, from October 6-10 at the Forum in Norwich.

'I am a Norwich girl through and through, so it's great to be holding my first exhibition here,' she said. 'I have got a crazy imagination and my paintings take people on a journey.

'One man looked at my paintings and he said 'you don't realise how good you are' and I found he was an art critic who had worked at the Tate.'

Ms Clyne, who paints on canvas using acrylic, is moving to Poringland next month where she will have a studio.

To see Ms Clyne's work, visit www.suesmysticalminds.com