As I sit, I wonder what subjects to write about. Should I look to my bookshelf, and showcase many of the traditional artists that have inspired me in creativity, the people that I look up to? Perhaps I should talk about the music I go to time and time again when working, or the best tutorials and learning aides that I have in my collection.

Or I can can back to the start.

When I was a child, we would visit my grandparents once a fortnight for the weekend. It was only about a 45 minute drive, but when you're young that seems so much longer and I thought they lived so far away. The biggest shopping centre near to them was very magical, without doubt the largest building in the world to my youthful eyes. Perhaps it helped that I was so very small as a child. I was practically a runt. There was a store that we would always walk past and I would run over to stare through the window.

Games Workshop. They're a juggernaut in the community, the equivalent of a McDonald's to anybody interested in model kits. Nearly everybody I know within the community got their start at one of these stores, and whilst they have changed and many would say fallen from grace, I cannot fault them the memories and experiences they gave me during such formative years.

I used to run over and stare through the window, at several glass display shelves of beautiful little miniatures. Elves and orcs, aliens and monsters, soldiers and spaceships. It took more than a few visits before I was finally allowed to step inside and look at the painting and gaming tables, the walls full from floor to roof with stock and every last box with a beautiful picture painted on the front. I was a kid, I actually thought the boxes were hand painted. Kids aren't exactly smart and I was no exception.

I was too young though, at least according to the staff. These days there's been a shift that if they can sell you something they will, no matter what. It was a different time though as they sat me down and spoke to a parent and I at the same time, went over that there was building involved, and a game with some complex mathematics. They were very friendly though, and filled my arms with pamphlets and old magazines nearly every visit. I still have most of them, and it's wonderful to look back at them from time to time and see just how much things have changed.

Maybe next time I can talk about how painting styles have changed over the years, or other experiences with the hobby from my youth. For now, this will suffice for a beginning.