About me!
Welcome to the 'about me' page. However, this page isn't so much about me per se, more a sort of 'insider's view' into my art and the issues surrounding it. Firstly, let me introduce myself. My name is Anne and I have been working as a semi-professional artist now for about 20 years. I have been involved in a number of exhibitions such as the 'Great Sheffield Art Show', 'Wild About Art' and 'Art in the Gardens'. Since 2005 I felt that the the time had come to advertise my work more actively and thus I got involved in 'Open Up Sheffield', an annual 'open studio' event. Now however, I have finally made it onto the World Wide Web! Or, more accurately, my son forced me onto it. However, it provides a good way for people I meet at events such as art exhibitions, or who I attack in the park asking to photograph their animals, to view my work at their leisure if they are considering a commission or tuition. Below I have attempted to address a number of 'issues' or interesting information surrounding my artwork which I hope you will enjoy reading. Please feel free to contact me via the form on the contact me page if you have any further questions.
Why animals?
In the early days my career as an artist happened more by chance than any specific planning on my part. I had studied Art/ Art History as one of my “A” Levels and after leaving school continued to do the occasional architectural landscape in charcoal. In my early twenties, my parents gave me a wonderful box of 72 Faber Castell pastels, this inspired me to take my art more seriously and in 1989 whilst on maternity leave, I sold my first painting in The Great Sheffield Art Show.
I had always planned to return to my career as a State Registered Physiotherapist after having the children but bit by bit I became more involved in the art and the flexibility that working from home gave. At this time I was also very privileged to be encouraged by a friend and her husband who bought quite a number of my early paintings and made me believe that I had a saleable product. It reminded me of the essential role of “patrons” down the ages.
At this time I was continuing with architectural landscapes (have you ever noticed how many statues there are on the roof of Chatsworth House?) and also doing large flower paintings in pastel. The move into animals came about several years later when I discovered a lovely photograph of a fox in a Readers Digest publication and decided to have a go at it. It worked out incredibly well – even though I did it on such a scrap of paper that I’ve never been able to mount it up to its best advantage. If it hadn’t turned out to my satisfaction I doubt I would have ever tried another animal and certainly wouldn’t be carrying out numerous commissions now!
I still enjoy landscapes – in fact I’m trying a few seascapes at the moment after selling three pictures of Flamborough Head. They give me a bit of relaxation after a run of animal paintings because I can ad lib and it doesn’t have to be correct to the nearest millimetre! I still do the occasional flower painting when I feel the need to exchange my usual browns and greens for something more flamboyant.
Branching out - Prints
During 'Open Up Sheffield' in 2006 several visitors asked me if I had any cards or prints for sale, as they liked my work but were not in the market for original paintings. From my experiences producing charity Christmas cards for the Sheffield Branch of Riding for The Disabled, I knew that it wasn’t easy to make money on cards unless you had a good distribution network, enabling you to turn over large numbers. Not only is there the cost of the printing but also the expense of envelopes, cellophane wrappers and labelling. Because my paintings are detailed, they take quite a long time to complete and it isn’t always possible to charge as much as I would like (taking into consideration outgoings on frames, hanging fees and commission). However, I picked up a flyer on Giclée printing during “Art in the Garden” and on further enquiry discovered that they were not that expensive, especially if two pictures can be fitted side by side onto an A3 scanner.
Producing prints, therefore, seemed to be one way in which I could maximise my income from carefully chosen paintings which might appeal to a wider audience.
I took the first two paintings to the Printer in November 2007 to see how they turned out (I’d had mixed results from standard photocopying of artwork, and pastel paintings are a bit vulnerable at the best of times). I was delighted with the accuracy of the colour and the fact that they still looked like pastels. Unlike home printed work the great benefit of Giclee prints is that they are colourfast for up to 75 years and don't fade on your wall! I was also very pleased to see that the original paintings were handled with due care and respect.
To view a selection of my past prints please click here
Danger - Photographer at large
Digital photography has proved invaluable for my work as you can click away, delete what you don’t want and then manipulate the image as required. I used to have to take my photos down to town to get them resized but now I can do it all at the click of a button. Nor do I have to wait until the film is finished before I can show them to a client and we can identify possible poses. I reckon that I probably need to take 30 – 50 photos to come up with two or three which are really special, and the rest are invaluable resource material. Like people, animals have characteristic poses and expressions and I’ve learned to check which photos are representative of that particular animal.
I use three different cameras for different purposes – a Fuji digital with 10x zoom for everyday use, an old Olympus SLR for recording each painting I produce (it produces much better close-up pictures than the digital and can be operated manually so that I can compensate for poorer indoor light) and an even older camera of my father’s which I use to take slides for illustrating talks. My biggest photographic problem has been obtaining wildlife pictures that are of sufficient quality for my detailed work. People at art group are very helpful in passing on material which they think I might be able to use but I have to be very careful not to infringe copyright. I’m not in the league where I can afford to pay the going rate (about £70 I believe) for a photograph from a professional wildlife photographer. I have, however, teamed up with two amateur, but very gifted, photographers from Dronfield. I met Norman many years ago through an “A Rocha” Members’ day – an exciting Christian Conservation Charity, and we now attend the same church. The second, Marie, I met in 2017 shortly after I moved to Dronfield. Both, very graciously, let me use some of their wonderful photographs as resource material. (The print of the robin painting pictured above is one of Norman's.)
Money, Money, Money
Now to look at the knotty problem of pricing, a subject I find many artists reluctant to discuss.
The difficult thing about pricing is that it’s not just a case of comparing one picture with another by the same artist, but also setting a price in line with other artists. If one person sets their prices very low it potentially undermines other artists who are asking a more realistic price for their time and skill. The other difficult area , I find , is when you’re in that in-between ground, no longer an amateur treating it as a fulfilling hobby, but neither having the “street-cred” of a well established artist whose work is starting to become collectable. I remember a neighbour being shocked when she saw one of my pictures in a commercial gallery with a price-tag of £200. I tried hard to suppress my hurt and explain graciously how little I would receive after 30% commission, £20 frame and mount, £3 materials, £3 hanging fee and two week’s work! This is where Open Up can provide a real opportunity to educate those who visit, so that original pieces of art become valued.
I now have a sort of system to help me which fairly compares one picture with another and gives me a “ball-park” figure which can be tweaked. I keep a record of the hours spent on a picture and multiply that by the hourly rate I’d like to get (in a real world, that is, not what I might wish I’d get!) and then add on the cost of the frame, which can vary considerably. Commission, payable at most exhibitions, will also need to be taken into consideration. This system stops me selling things too cheaply when I’m feeling down or having a run of poor sales and stops me pricing things too high that I’m particularly fond of. This system works well for me and can be flexible too.