About me

“At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.” - Frida Khalo
Photos by @whatmovloves.ph on Instagram.
This page is under constant reconstruction - because what are we all at the end of the day; but a work in progress?

I've been making art in different forms since day dot.
I first tried to take it  more seriously in 2015 - slammed headfirst into chronic illness or two, a Masters degree and the pandemic - blinked, and here we are.

A wake up call

I'd definitely say that from 2015 - 202... well it's an ongoing process - but it has been me starting to understand myself and my disability and the way my brain works best in this world.

The call to paint for myself rather than solely as a commission service came at the start of 2024 and I am so glad that it did.

So here I am - building up my portfolio of work that keeps falling out of my brain onto the canvas. Art has been transformative in expression and I plan to continue. 

I also continue to offer my art and photography services as making things with and for people fills my heart with a lot of joy.

It's been so lovely to get feedback from fellow artists and friends alike that they love what is coming out. But I know that I'd still be painting now whether I shared it or not and that's something I never want to lose.

"I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream" - Vincent VG.
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Wheel of Fortune, 2025.
English not a strong point, aged 8.
It took me too long to work out how old I would be - proof of a well spent education in maths.
"A lovely Macdonalds"

Anatomy schma-natomy.
Ruining body proportion in art since 2005 and "How to draw Manga for Beginners". Kawaii.
The Forest Collection, 2024-2025.
Humble Beginnings

I will spare you the pain of some of my potato body stick arm people drawings and hop straight past that age...

My first real memories of art and creativity stem from my ever-crazy and ever-supportive parents. Graphic designer for a father and master of the arts-n-crafts mother; it was bound to happen.  I distinctly remember these things from childhood art:

1. Practise drawings on the back of misprinted paper. Save that environment. 

2. Caravan holidays and that empty ice cream tub full of felt tips that never seemed to work and goddamnit – why was there never a skin colour?!

3. Glitter. Everywhere.

4. “How to draw –insert literally any word-“ books for Christmas (cats, fruit, boats, robots, things I don’t even care about and haven’t needed to draw ever since)

5. The discovery of manga at around age 12 and consequential downfall of all proportional human anatomy drawing skills

6. Ditching PE to do art. Not sorry.

Photography and film came slightly later through varying modes of technology. I will never forget what I learnt from all those amateur films and blurry snaps. Plus the countless hours spent on editing programmes starting with Paint and making it to the once scary vast plains of Adobe Photoshop. I think the first thing I drew on Adobe Illustrator was a flower. And it was terrible.
Read all the books on it you want to and watch as many YouTube tutorials – you can’t beat putting a paintbrush to paper or waiting just long enough peering down a lens until the sun hits the spot just perfectly.


Taken on a Sony Ericsson K800i:
There are no judgements here.
Don't think. 
Thinking is the enemy of creativity. 
It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. 
You can't try to do things. You simply must do things.

Ray Bradbury
Practice makes perfect!

I doodle on everything. Give me a pen and paper and it will be decorated whether it really “should” be or not. I am the woman that has a face of pure glee when there are crayons in a restaurant and the waitress has decided not to judge me. If I’ve made a “to-do list” and there isn’t a doodle near it- something is wrong and I should probably be asleep or on holiday.

My school planners had personalised vinyl cut out makeovers and intensely detailed drawings inside – this thought just brought back a memory of me taking commissions in year 7 to design peoples planners – I think I charged a pound. Dragons den eat ya heart out.

Math’s wasn’t my cup of tea – I apologise Mr West now that you had to tell my parents I’d “probably be better at math’s if I spent less time drawing”.
I'd probably be better at maths if I had an ADHD diagnosis back then but we roll.

I had these A5 black sketchbooks that went everywhere with me and I slowly changed medium from pencil sketch to crayons to watercolour and I filled about 20 of them until I moved onto bigger books. Its nice to see the progress even though I still have so far to go.

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."

Scott Adams.
Why have you even stumbled onto this page. For such treasures as this!? WHY?!
The words “can you draw me a….” fill my heart with happiness and my mind with millions of ideas and the moment someone describes their vision I feel honoured to be making it some kind of reality. 

A blank canvas makes my fingers itch – the blank canvas is not necessarily always a canvas- skin, notebooks, walls, furniture, clothes…
Combinations & Experience

As theatre crept into my veins and made me into the playhouse creature I claim to be these days I found ways to combine my two main focuses in the form of set design. Backstage is just as creative as on the stage under the lights and I honestly love both. Sitting on a plank of wood for hours painting a pharaoh’s face or distressing a giant car in a warehouse whilst it’s sub-zero outside? Yeah, go on then - in the name of theatre. 


This morphed into murals and other large scale collaboration pieces. I love a big project as much as a treasured small watercolour.

I feel so truly blessed to be making tracks as an artist in this insane world.
Offering commissions alongside making my own work feels like the best balance of my creative energy.

If you are interested in working together you can email me at
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[email protected]
I still wear this fleece for set design. 
My jeans have the paints of all the hours of art-ing labelled in permanent marker
I swear I have washed them.
So I guess this brings me to a sort of “Highlights and Manouvers” list? No? Have one anyway. Sorry. Is this a cv? Idk.

Technically, oldest on my list is my YouTube which has seen many iterations - settling at last into it's ArtTuber format (LINK)

20...08? First Solo set design on Aladdin, Dick Whittington and 4 Stages shows.

Collaborative set design on Cinderella, Miss Saigon and Joseph & His Technicolour DreamCoat.

Website design and graphic creation for self-made companies and for others.

Photography for shows and events.

First card sales stall at SUMMIT showcase.

Illustration pieces featured in creative writing publication.

Finishing my A level Art & Design with 2 printed illustrated books.

Prop and costume making for A Midsummer Nights Dream and many, many Young Performer's Shows.

2015 - Setting  up Zoe Davey Art & Photography Facebook page and website.

Received a non-returnable chronic illness, honestly fuming.

Setting up my Instagram and updating frequently with projects, announcements and stories (LINK)

2012 - 2015 - Finished my BA Acting Hons course whilst running ZDAAP.

Opening my Society6 shop selling prints, canvases, stickers and more (sadly, it doesn't exist now because they 'curated' themselves boooo).

Worked a lot with Northampton's Royal & Derngate as a creative practitioner and artist with the National Theatre's Connections Festival.

Setting up Twitch Theatre and becoming the graphic designer for all content (fb link only for the time being) (LINK)

Universe decided 1 disability wasn't enough and sent me a spare, omg thanks.

2018 - 2020 - Masters in Psychology whilst running ZDAAP.

Expanded ZDAAP into ZDPawtraits for a while to focus on pet portraits.

2024 - Thought I'd start painting self portraits - epic side quest! - Progress on ZDAAP stories (LINK)

Moved to Derby to be closer to family and friends at last- hooray!

2025 - Relaunched ZDAAP after a long process of trying to find the right space in the world.

Launched my Mailing List to make sure I reach my wonderful supportive audience - come along! (LINK)

Set up a new print shop - hooray! (LINK)
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Started a Podcast celebrating Creatives (LINK)


Watch this space!


Not literally this space

it's just white space...




Thanks for reading.