Shirley Hughes
English illustrator and author
Wandering around with my sketchbook in some lovely Italian town.
When were you happiest?
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
When my son was about three years old and I was working at the National Theatre. I remember cycling from Twickenham, and thinking, “This is the golden age: I’ll never be happier or more content than this.”
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 February 2020 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 577 →
Yayoi Kusama
Japanese artist
I am always happiest when I am making my art.
Sandi Toksvig
Danish and British broadcaster, comedian and writer
Last Tuesday at 10 past three.
Julian Clary
English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter
Sydney mardi gras, 1993.
More from Paterson Joseph
View profile →Pressing uniforms in a laundry. I was 14. I lied about my age and said I was 16, even though I probably looked about 12.
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I wouldn’t live so long in France. After eight years, I came back to London.
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