After being diagnosed with Menieres Disease (an inner ear disorder) in 2003, I started to draw and paint teddy bears as I found this therapeutic. I produced many designs, mainly in coloured pencil and use these to make greetings cards for my family and friends. I continued to draw and paint as a hobby.

Then in 2009, I started my own very small business, which was as a sideline to my full-time work for a large Company in their Human Resources Department. It mainly started as I was frustrated by the lack of nice greetings cards in shops at that time, and decided to design and produce my own. I had some christmas cards professionally printed and used my own home printer to print and hand embellish cards for sale. I also developed my own range of mini painted canvases - all featuring my teddy bear designs.

In November 2009, I had my first stall at a craft fair. Not being a person that does things half-heartedly, I booked myself in for a large 3 day event! Luckily it was a success. I had some regular stalls at my workplace, as they used to invite in external sellers for lunchtime sales.

After a while, I decided to try jewellery making. I loved learning the new skills involved in making jewellery and soon started selling to my family and friends. I amassed a huge array of beads and jewellery making equipment, but somehow I felt like I was just assembling bits and pieces and not coming up with anything that had my own stamp on it. I also felt that I needed to somehow include my own artwork. After some research, I discovered a company that would print designs onto high quality acrylic to make charms. It was then that the creative juices started flowing and I started making jewellery using my own charms. This gave me an outlet for my art and also made my jewellery unique.

I was unfortunately made redundant from my job after 12 years In 2014. This was when I decided that I needed a rebrand from just 'Tracey Lemon Art & Jewellery' and this was when 'Myrtle Ocean' was born. The name is made up from an anagram of my name and seemed the perfect name for my business.

Purchasing my own badge making equipment really opened up my creativity. It means that I am able to design, print and assemble my own badges without the need for a third-party. It gives me complete control over my designs and gives me the ability to alter designs and personalise my badges upon request.

Early in 2019 I discovered Fused Glass. I attended several courses and I am now able to produce my own fused glass from my own designs. This is a very exciting and challenging medium, as glass has a mind of it's own - alas sometimes not in a good way!

I am now completely self-employed and I am loving the challenges and opportunities that this brings. I am always designing and have lots of new ideas and products in the pipeline. Myrtle Ocean has always been designed with fun and colour in mind, and I hope you will love the designs and items that I produce.