I would like to start by introducing myself; My name is Michelle and I’ve have been professionally painting for over 6 years. I would like to share my story of how I turned a hobby into a professional business; Art2Arts is an established online art gallery which now host’s some of the most talented artists in the UK.
Ok here we go…
I have enjoyed creating since I was a child, always drawing and playing with different arts and crafts materials. From a young age I have wanted to own my own business, I remember making hair scrunches on my sewing machine and taking them to school to sell, along with Christmas stockings I made – anything that enabled me to create and make something! I also used to dapper in the car boot sales business and even used to set up a little sale outside my house – I was very much a ‘Del Boy’.
My dad owned his own business and I would practice by setting up a desk in my bedroom like a mini office and waiting for his phone to ring so I could professionally answer it and make bookings for him – He loved it, free labour I think they call it! hehe…
I studied Art and Design at school, before going on to college where I started out doing A levels in English, Business Studies and Art. However I quickly realised my passion was for Art and one year down the line I moved onto a GNVQ in Advanced Art and Design which I loved. College was some of the best years of my life; I got to spend all day experimenting with materials and learning about famous artists – Fab!
I left college and went travelling around Australia for 6 months (I was actually born in Australia and have dual nationality) we worked out there as well, which was an amazing experience. I found Australia very inspiring; the rich greens of the Cape Tribulation rainforest, to the deep blues of the Great Barrier Reef I immediately developed a passion for travelling, which I thought would be satisfied by the trip, but really it only spurred me to want more.
When I returned from my travels I worked for a year before starting a Degree in Interior Design; at this point I really didn’t know what direction I wanted to take with my professional life. It was very different from what I had imagined, you hear Interior Design – you think Changing Rooms, how wrong you can be.
The first year was solely Architecture and we took our classes with the Architect students. It was this year I decided to decorate my bedroom and it was this year I created what I would class as my first ever canvas painting. I brought three large canvases and using the emulsion I created a design. I was most pleased with the outcome and everyone I showed really liked it. In fact my older sister wanted me to do a piece for her house, so we went and brought the materials and I did her a diptych. A few of her friends then wanted some work and well the rest as they say is history!
My dad – ever the entrepreneur lent me £500 to start up and I began hosting ‘painting parties’ round peoples houses; my dad made some display boards for me and people would invite their friends and family and make an evening of it. This wasn’t going to last forever, so I set up an eBay account where I would sell my paintings and develop my skills for a further three years.
During that summer my younger sister had a work experience job lined up in New York City, USA as she was studying Journalism, so I decided to tag along for the ride. Naively we went on Craig’s list (a US site for people looking for room mates) and got in touch with a guy who was a Broadway star and professional dancer, we asked many questions before agreeing to rent his spare room (one stop from the Bronx) and off we set…looking back I think we were very brave – or very stupid, I still can’t decide which!
We stayed in New York for 2 months living the real ‘American Dream’ taking daily trips on the tube and roaming around Times square taking in the sights and smells of the biggest city in the world. We took advantage of our location and visited neighbouring Niagara Falls, Washington DC and Atlantic City.
Our flat mate, Shaun was brilliant and took us to swing clubs, movies and lunches in the park, movie nights round his friends. We got to live like real New Yorkers; it was such an amazing experience and one I’d recommend to anyone – especially those of us we call the ‘creative types.’
The lights of New Yorks Time Square will never leave my memory.
On return to the UK I completed year two at university, which started to look more at interior design, but really I would say it was more spacial design. It was the last few weeks left before the summer. A group of my close friends had been arranging a trip for the following January to travel around various countries for a few months. I was so jealous I couldn’t go as I still had another year of uni, when it dawned on me when we were out one night that I could defer for a year and go with them; after all I would hate to miss the opportunity to travel for a few months with my three friends, so the following week I told my lecturer (who was a bit worried I wouldn’t come back and complete) but I knew I would. I would have to concentrate on my painting to generate the funds to go, so that summer I poured myself into my work, developing new skills and ideas which were very popular.
That January our numbers grew to six, including my sister and we spent three months travelling around Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Thailand and it was amazing. I took probably 2000 photos (no exaggeration) half of which were of sunsets. I had alot of free time when I was away to make plans to develop a website, and I take alot of inspirations from my travels.
We returned in April and I was eager to start painting and use my memories of what I had seen and pour them into my paintings. I wanted to start my own website, free from eBay…
I found a designer who was starting out and offered to create a site in exchange for a painting. I began to develop new work- my style had come a long way since being away and I was experimenting more with my choices of colour becoming bolder and more contrasting.
I completed my final year at university and qualified for a BA HONS in Interior Design, whilst still building up the business and working on my artwork.
That was three years ago; since then my artwork has come even further and the business has grown rapidly and I’m proud to say I now sell work by a collection of very talented artists. I enjoy talking to the artists and exchanging thoughts. I take pride in positive feedback from customers, and passing exciting commissions on to the artists.
I wanted to share this and start to write weekly articles for new artists offering them help and advice on developing their skills. My ideas my not be ‘traditional’ or ‘out of the book’ but have always worked for me, but what may work for one person may not necessarily work for another, its all about trial and error and eventually you will get to a place you feel happy with, and is your own unique style.
I didn’t expect this to be quite so long, but I hope you will continue to read the up and coming news and articles and be part of Art2Arts.
Thank you and good luck.
Michelle
