In 2013 User:Pigsonthewing, Wikimedian In Residence came to The New Art Gallery Walsall to deliver training in how to write and publish wikipedia articles. Back then I was studying for a PhD in the History of Art at The University of Birmingham alongside my role as Archivist, Librarian and Research Assistant at The New Art Gallery Walsall.
With User:Pigsonthewing's help and advice I wrote several articles about artworks in the collection at The New Art Gallery Walsall. I thoroughly enjoyed the process and seeing how the articles change over time. In 2014 severe illness not only took me away from writing but also irrevocably changed my life.
Currently, I am connected with The Boleskine House Foundation solely as a volunteer library assistant consultant because of my previous experience. The only aspect of the Boleskine House Foundation that I am a part of is the library. I am based in Birmingham, UK. I volunteered to write the Wikipedia article Boleskine House Foundation because of the Wikipedia training I had received in the past and because I enjoy research and writing - although I am out of practice because of my health so it's a bit of a learning curve for me...but I do love a challenge! I have a lot of previous experience in research and writing both as published postgraduate student and my role as Research Assistant at The New Art Gallery Walsall. The article is all my own research. Keith Readdy, co-founder of The Boleskine House Foundation supplied some personal photographs he owns for the article by email when I asked him to so as to improve the look of the article.
I have not been paid to write any Wikipedia articles.
It feels good to be writing again after such a hiatus of ill-health! I still live with a lot of pain and difficulty because of my illness Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and my writing is constantly interrupted by my rather troublesome body; but writing and research is a wonderful distraction and something I really enjoy. It's good to be back!
WendyGrowler (talk) 09:44, 4 February 2020 (UTC)