I'm Hayley, a local artist from Grantham, and this is my first time exhibiting my work at the Guildhall.

I was always doodling as a youngster (often at inappropriate times and places if you ask my old teachers and work colleagues!) and I'm lucky enough to turn this hobby into my occupation (alongside juggling family life with my husband, baby and dog!)

About the exhibition:

My exhibition title, 'Manifestly Unreal', is a nod to L Frank Baum in his introduction to the Wonderful Wizard of Oz: "Folklore, legends, myths and fairy tales have followed childhood through the ages, for every healthy youngster has a wholesome and instinctive love for stories fantastic, marvelous and manifestly unreal."

Fantasy worlds, folklore and mythical creatures have always been a huge obsession for me; the idea of a magical, unseen world is something we all love as children, and although a few of us never outgrow 'being away with the fairies', I think the last couple of years have shown that we all need - and deserve - a bit of escapism now and then.