My Artist Journey ... Part 3

Thankfully at the time of my dads death I didn’t have to go scouting for work as I had a quite a lot of work on as in commission work which was a blessing really. It kept me slightly focused at a very difficult time.

At the latter end of 2015 I met Tim, the man I would eventually marry, we were very good friends for sometime and tied the knot four years later, he was a great support and listening ear:)

2016 Continued

In 2016 I had a lot of juggling to do being a single parent, also watching out for my mum as she was displaying mild signs of dementia, it was a difficult season but thankfully I have a lot of great friends who were such a support. Art-wise I just plodded on doing various commissions and my own work and continuing to increase my prints and card collection. Over these years I also did a number of E-Courses which have really inspired me and motivate me as well as getting to know fellow artists through their online communities. I spent quite a lot of time this year travelling and taking hundreds of photos for future reference.

At the end of the year I again did the main Christmas shows, Wynyard Hall and Durham Palace Green. The stalls were definitely worth doing and my income from these increased each year as I got known as an artist. At this stage I had started painting my winter cottages which had become increasingly popular, I believe I had done 3 by this point.

2017

By the beginning of 2017 I knew it was time to do something with the studio. I had always felt it was a temporary stop-gap staying with my folks but it had ended up a long stop gap and now with dad gone I knew I would be there for the foreseeable future. The aesthetics of my studio had not been a priority in the latter years of juggling and learning. One of my good friends had a particular talent in the area of making good use of your space and designing it to function well. We had a brainstorming meeting and she suggested splitting it up in to clearer areas and making a gallery wall at one end. This way it would be much more conducive to marketing shots and also much more pleasant to work in which is also important.

Below are some of the before shots - it had got a bit out of hand :)

BEFORE

After clearing out then came the choosing paint colours!

Studio defined into areas, office area, painting area and gallery area.

In June of this year I was accepted as a ‘Wildcard’ in the TV program ‘Sky Landscape Artist of the Year’. I went along with great trepidation and all my art gear to Redcar and to a part that seemed like the back of beyond. Although stressful at first I soon relaxed in to the day as I had two lovely ladies either side of me which made the whole experience more fun and relaxing. Although I didn’t win I am glad of the experience apart from when we were cornered to comment on the shortlisted artists work and put on the spot however I managed to string a sentence together without any prior warning and my companion thankfully had the gift of the gab.

A day or two before I thought I had better go out and have a go at sketching and painting outdoors instead of from the comfort of my studio :) Second picture is the day of the competition. The third painting was by the ‘wildcard’ who went through to the next round. The forth was my final piece that I later named ‘Wild at Heart’.

This same year I had another exhibition at Allendale Forge which went extremely well. I also exhibited in ‘The Station’ at Richmond, Yorkshire and had some work on display in the quaint little shop in Robin Hoods Bay called ‘Berties of Bay’.

At the end of the year I did a new Christmas event in Hexham and also my usual Christmas events at Wynyard Hall and Durham Festival on Palace Green.

Christmas Fayres 2017

2018

In April 2018 I was excited to be featured in Coast Magazine which I had been an avid fan of. They did the lovely feature on me shown below.

As well as smaller events in local venues I decided to take part this year in a new event to me which was The British Craft Trade Fair. I was pleased with my stand at this event although they are always exhausting to set up and man, however I felt I did not make much progress in my business. I was thankful that my daughter helped set up and also that everything fitted in my car!

To be continued ….Part 4 next week.