Dinner lady serves up tasty art work

by Liz Hands, The Journal. 11 October 2008

DINNER lady Paula Lees handles plates all day but paint palettes at night. The 44-year-old dinner lady has just launched her first art exhibition at The Customs House in South Shields.

The collection includes collage portraits of people from all over the world, and she is inspired by geographic magazines and the internet.

The mother-of-two, of Winskell Road, South Shields, said: “My favourite is called Bombay Beauty. It's the first one I ever made and it took about four hours to complete.”

Paula has been working as a dinner lady at Hadrian Primary School in South Shields for almost four years.

She began devoting her spare time to art almost two years ago, but only ever intended it to be a hobby. And even though Paula would like to make some money from her collage portraits, she has no intention of giving up her day job.

She said: “I love the children and I am even doing some art workshops at The Customs House for them.

“They think it's really exciting that my work is on show there.” Ray Spencer, executive director at The Customs House, said: “Although it is important to exhibit major artists' work, it is crucial that local artists also get the chance to showcase their collections.”