Charlotte is Juliet's niece and is a ceramic artist and painter. She studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College in Dundee and is now based in West Lothian.

When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time with Juliet. She's my aunt and lived on my father's farm with us before she got married and moved to Glasgow. She was a very glamourous figure, a life-and-soul kind of person, always great fun. Because my parents were always working, they couldn't take me out, so Juliet did. She also used to dress me up as a clown, which I loved.

She was in a Christmas panto every year and, because my sister's birthday is Christmas Eve, we'd go to see her and get taken backstage where we'd try on the costumes. It was so exciting.

She knew tons of songs and stories, so she was great fun at family things. We were a well-known farming family, famous for breeding a new kind of cattle called Luing cattle. I still go up there a lot, and my studio used to be there.

I remember Juliet stood out from it all, in her stilettos and mascara, wild red hair and painted nails. Everyone thought she was gorgeous. It was a funny place to be glamorous; I remember being a teenager, all dressed up to go into town, and being asked to give a hand catching sheep. So there you'd be, rugby-tackling some animal, your tights ripped to shreds. Typical farming thing, really. But we all go really well together.

Juliet and me did the fun things together; she took me to the cinema, all kinds of things. She took me to see Clockwise, the film with John Cleese, and she was laughing out loud at the moments when everyone else was quiet. Totally embarrassed me at the age of 12. She was like a fairy godmother, I suppose.

She's a very imaginative person. She got married at a registry office in Oban but they had the reception at the farm on Luing, in the cattle courts. They just hosed them down and got in a band, and all the islanders came. It was wonderful.

Now Juliet has a son, and I spend time with him like she did with me. He'll visit me in the studio, where we'll throw pots. I'm very inspired by ancient Greek mythology and ancient Egyptian art, and I make animal jars and objects based on shell-forms. But I also paint: sweeping skylines and birds, geese and swans. I like to create a sense of space.

Juliet has always been really supportive of what I do. She always comes to my exhibitions just as I always go to see her when she's in something at the theatre, or make sure I catch a TV programme she's in such as Casualty and Taggart. She and David, her husband, are both creative. He's a writer and we all have a mutual respect for each other as artists. We understand the difficulties the other faces.

They've also bought some of my work - not just, I hope, to be supportive but because they like it. Their living room is like an art gallery. Juliet is a great actress, very talented, and I still love to visit her backstage. But I don't get to try the costumes on these days.

Juliet is Charlotte's aunt and lives in Glasgow. She is an actress who has just finished a successful tour of Mum's the Word and is currently appearing in children's TV drama Balamory.

When Charlotte was wee, I was living on and off with my parents on the farm in between stints in Edinburgh and London. Charlotte loved coming to the theatre. I suppose it was very exciting, going backstage and seeing all the workings of the stage, trying on the costumes.

What I remember about Charlotte as a child were her huge eyes, and her inquisitiveness and sense of fun and laughter. We had a lot of giggles and she had a great sense of the absurd. We got into clowns at one point. She had this quality about her that you find in clowns, a kind of depth and sadness mixed in with the happiness, emotion behind the mask. She's a very emotional person, and I think this comes across in her art.

She showed great artistic flair even very early on. Even at the age of eight, she was doing some very unusual drawings and making her own cards. Her mum was very artistic, and was keen to encourage Charlotte. Her father was very supportive too; after she finished at Duncan of Jordanstone, he helped her build a studio and kiln at the farm.

It seems an odd thing, being an actress and living on a farm. One time, I was going for an audition at the Lyceum in Edinburgh and was all dressed up in my red Jean Muir suit and shiny, knee-length boots and my brother asked me, just as I was leaving, to help him with a lambing. I was late for the audition, needless to say, with bits of wool sticking to me and probably smelling of sheep. But I think I got the part because I regaled them that very story.

It was very good for me though, as it has been for Charlotte, because you're always brought crashing back to earth. You're never allowed to indulge yourself. I think it was a good background for an artist, seeing the seasons come and go, being made aware of the earth, what it yeilds, colours, everything changing all the time.

I love Charlotte's work. I'm very intrigued by it. I particularly love her painting, which I probably bend more towards. But she's so talented in both fields. She makes wonderful Egyptian funeral pots with heads like horses and rams.

When Charlotte was little, it was so exciting for me to impart my knowledge on to someone young. We had great fun, going to films and exhibitions and dressing-up and playing parts. We're still very close. She still sometimes confides in me, and it's always a joy when we see each other.

One thing I like is that Charlotte doesn't treat me like an older person. Like many people, I simply don't feel the age I am. When you are friends with someone, they stay - to your mind - as they were when you were at your closest and best. When we meet, we'll probably go for a meal and a good old chat.

She comes to the theatre and visits me backstage, though I'm more likely to offer her a glass of champagne now.

On the surface, Charlotte's very open and light. But underneath, she's a deep-thinking, emotional person. She has huge warmth and when you meet her you feel you want to throw your arms around her.

Charlotte Cadzow is available for commissioned work: 07818 428 595