When crankandpiston asked me to write a piece about my art and Cathy Deniset Artiste Peintre, I was very excited. I’m very passionate about my work and about cars, and I hope I can explain why.

As you’ve probably guessed, exotic cars and motorbikes are my favourite subjects to shoot. I’ve always liked cars and I really enjoy driving. So you can imagine when I arrived in Dubai I was like a child in front a Christmas tree. So many wonderful cars on every street corner!

When I was younger, my father would buy new cars quite regularly, and my two brothers would teach me to recognize the different sounds made by a Suzuki and a Kawasaki, or between a BMW and a Honda. And soon it was really easy! So when I first got my motorcycle license, I bought a small 125 Honda to cross the Parisian pavements.

My two sons are the same. When they were younger, they preferred drawing cars to playing with dolls(!), and so they were very proud of me when I painted my first car. Now they are faster than me at the Dubai Kartdrome, and will forever be petrolheads!