Time for mum to draw on her promise

Ruth Nicol even battled dyslexia to work her way into a challenging role as a business systems analyst, developing software for Standard Life's banking operations.

It could have been a job for life, with prospects for promotion and the security of knowing she worked for one of the city's major employers.

For many, especially these days, all that would have been enough.

Instead, Ruth is today gently rocking her young baby Charlotte to sleep in her pram amid the paint-splattered chaos of preparations for Edinburgh College of Art's annual degree show.

It's a far cry from stressful days at Standard Life where, dressed in her formal office clothes, she spent long days creating complex computer systems to support the company's many financial functions.

"It was a massive risk," she says, recalling the day she decided to hand in her notice to her boss and walk out, without a clue as to how she might make ends meet.

Truth was, she just wanted out – and she wanted to paint. "I remember walking out of Standard Life and making my way down Morrison Street where I then went into Sainsbury's and asked them if they had any jobs going. I had to work – I couldn't do nothing.

"They said no, but I told them, 'But you need to employ me – I'll be the best!'. Within days I was working there on the checkouts, serving my old colleagues from Standard Life on their breaks."

Her time on the tills did not last long, though, as within three months her dreams of a place at Edinburgh College of Art came true when a letter of acceptance arrived on her doorstep.

Four years on and Ruth, 43, from Leith, is now preparing to leave with a host of awards to her name.

"It's been amazing – just amazing," she says.

It had been a long and, at times, emotional journey to the art college. And it's a journey that, at one point, Ruth never thought she'd make.

She struggled at school owing to severe dyslexia, hiding behind her more academic twin sister when it came to their studies, yet shining in areas of creativity, particularly drawing and painting.

Still, she explains: "I wanted a nice, clean office job."

She thrived at Standard Life, surrounded by complex figures and the intricacies of computing, working her way up to become a business systems analyst in the financial sector, at the forefront of developing software.

It was a stressful job but one she really enjoyed, at first.

Yet living in Clydebank at the time, with her then-husband and eldest daughter Hannah, who is now ten, Ruth was easily working 12-hour days – plus a commute to and from work.

Matters were made worse when she and her husband broke up in 2002, leaving Ruth to juggle work and the care of Hannah, who was just a toddler.

"Basically, my husband would take Hannah one night a week and on that night I would have nothing to do," she explains. "I eventually called the art college to see what evening classes were on offer and before too long, I had enrolled in a drawing course.

"I really was just doing it to get out of the house."

So for six months, one night a week after work, Ruth would rush to ECA instead of home where, still wearing her smart Standard Life office clothing, she would join with the ranks of budding artists and take to the easel. "My art work was totally slated though," she says. "I was told it was pants. I rose to the challenge though."

Summer school was next on Ruth's agenda and when the prospect of enrolling for a part-time degree course came her way, her life was turned upside down.

"While I was getting so much out of college, for many reasons my work life was getting worse. So I thought I would apply to do the degree full-time instead. As I say, it was a risk."

The rest is history.

Four years on, Ruth has moved to The Shore, won the 2009 Nairn Open Art Exhibition prize, as well as three Andrew Grant Travel awards for her work, which has also been displayed at The Line Gallery in Linlithgow – where pieces are priced at as much as 5,000.

"This has been the best experience of my life," she says.

It's more than simply her career that's changed. Ruth's whole life has been turned on its head – she's now married to Bill, whom she has known for many years, and had her second daughter, Charlotte.

She reveals the pregnancy was a surprise – at one point she feared it could even put an end to her hopes of completing her degree. "I thought I would have to drop out – but it never crossed the minds of my tutors. And it never stopped me doing anything. Everyone has been amazing – they don't see problems here at the college," she says.

Charlotte Irene – named after Ruth's mother, the Scottish actress Irene Sunters, best known for playing Maggie Ferguson in Take the High Road – has become something of a favourite with staff at the college.

They offered much-needed support to Ruth as she continued her studies – right into her ninth month of pregnancy – yet one janitor drew the line when the student tried to make it into the college, despite being over her due date, by ordering her to leave the building.

"I am not entirely sure if the janitors were running a book as to when I would have the baby," she jokes. "But he told me I had to go home – there was no way I should be trying to work, he said. I didn't do what he said though. I went to the library instead."

What the future holds for Ruth is uncertain.

Next week, though, she will display her giant "West to East" canvasses in the college – her take on the views she used to see as she made the journey to and from Edinburgh to Clydebank.

"The future is a big hole," she says. "I'm always looking for opportunities and if they don't come my way, I'll make them happen – that's what I do."

Edinburgh College of Art Degree Show 2010 is on Saturday, 12 June to Sunday 20 June. Monday to Thursday 10am-8pm; Friday to Sunday 10am-5pm. Free admission.