'Summer Fondant' 100cm x 70cm was the first painting I 'sold to a stranger'. I wanted to fall at their feet and weep out my gratitude! Below I explain why.....
It starts with just enjoying painting. It takes your mind away from things you don’t want to think about. It gives you a vehicle to say things you can’t say out loud to anyone in case they don’t listen. You take your time & it nurtures you and you learn to hold yourself in a gentle, kind embrace.
Then if you’re lucky, friends & family start encouraging you because they can see you need this. You’re so much happier and more light hearted when you do this, it’s good for everyone around you too. It reminds you of who you were as a child, in your own little world, it feels right. And then you sell the odd piece to your loyal supporters of people who know you and love you and care about you.
Then you might gradually have built up enough work to want to join your local Open Studios trail & meet like-minded people. Suddenly you have people admiring your work that don’t know you. And they shock you when they say,
‘I’d like to buy that please’
Art is such a deeply personal thing, the first time a complete stranger parts with their hard earnt cash to take a ‘piece of you’ home with them is astonishing. You want to fall at their feet and weep out your gratitude!
For me it’s not even about the money. There are easier ways to make money. It’s about the sense of community, its about the artists, the art lovers, the art collectors, it feels like someone looking into my soul and saying,
‘I see you, I get you’
and all I can say is,
‘Thank you so much.’
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