Art marketing tips of the month (pick one, do it, pick another)

What’s occurring?

Lynne Davies interview continues:

J: Yeah, it's weird. I've become more me doing them. So it is a fact of TikTok. It's fabulous. Allows you to be more you and then the people who like that come and, and the people who don't go away and it's fine.

L: It's cool. Yeah, definitely do as much as possible. 

J: Yeah. Well let's deal with that. What triggers you to make a TikTok. And how often does it happen? Kind of every day or three times a day? Or what, what's going on? 

L: Yeah, obviously I think you go through mood swings. But most days I've got mad ideas ..

L: … I might have been able to go into advertising maybe or something like that instead, 'cause every day I wake up with a crazy thought. And I have to put it through a process. Is that acceptable for people? And the more I'm on TikTok, the more I just do it anyway.

J: Is that acceptable? Yes!

L: I can always change the privacy settings to, you know, me only if I think, actually, no, that was too far. I think it's one of the best platforms ever. I think it's good for people. 

J: Obviously it may get owned or somehow contained in America. So there's that side of things and there is a people-led TikTok coming out where some of the money that comes in from advertising is shared among all the people who ..

L: I don't look at all the business side of it. I'm terrified if they take it away. That would be such a shame. I think.

J: Yeah, I think we're okay here. Do you know if a lot of your viewers are in America? Do you know any of that or .. 

L: I, once I looked at the analytics early on, you know, there's sort of like 7% or something. 

J: Yeah, I was quite pleased that I wouldn't hardly be affected if it got completely banned in America, I'd be fine.

L: Yeah, no, I, I don't really think sensibly in any way, shape or form. I just wake up these days and try and have as much fun as possible. 

J: Well, that's fantastic, isn't it? I mean, that's really great. So, so how do you balance knocking around on TikTok with actually doing the serious job of making proper art?

L: Yes, I think you do have to just limit your time. Just record it and post it and not worry too much about the editing 'cause you can spend a long time otherwise. But I think that is a huge part of my creativity. Being on TikTok inspires me. I get ideas from it, like watching the telly. My partner sort of doesn't really watch the telly and I feel that he thinks I'm lazy if I watch the telly. But I get so many ideas from film producers and actors and actresses. I love it. You know, it inspires a lot of my work, an important part of it. And TikTok, triggers a lot. 

J: I've got a, a big list of saved tiktoks that I keep meaning to go back to .. yeah, I'll use that idea.

L: There's, there's some brilliant people on here. Really, really, you know, genius. 

J:  I get the sense that you maybe started in art doing animal paintings. 

L: I've a long story about that as well, I, I know you haven't got too long.

L: I actually started with figurative work. I sold some in church fetes and stuff like that.

L: They became popular. And I did a lot of childrens portraits and for friends and family, and that took off. And then all of my figurative work was spotted by an Indian art collector, which was really quite exciting. And he invited me to an exhibition in Copenhagen. And I thought, wow. And I spent all my savings on it, and I got all my work over there.

L:  I went over there and it was a con. Nobody came to the exhibition and all the exhibitors were up in arms arguing with the bloke in charge. So I thought, okay, treat it like a holiday. Go to the zoo, see the sites. And there was this chimpanzee who looked really, really fed up, I dunno if you've seen my painting of this chimpanzee, but I thought, right, I'm gonna paint you.

L: And he became a finalist in the wildlife artist of the year, totally outta the blue. So I decided to paint more wildlife from that basically. 

J: That's in an incredible story. But you seem also to have moved into a kind of more expressive kind of wildflowers, hedgerow type feel. But I think we had a discussion where you were starting to create things purely out of your head and you were a little bit scared that they may, might not sell.

L: Yeah, I didn't sell my abstract.

J: It seems to be a journey that you’re on

L: Yeah, my exhibition was amazing. I sold most of it, but not the abstract. Do you know what I mean? So I don't do as many, that's why I don't do as many. But the older I get, the more I wonder why the hell we're copying photographs. You know? I get so bored with it, so I am moving on from it. Even though my wildlife isn't copying a photograph, I always. I put my own spin on it and change the background, you know, and put some weird things in amongst it. Um, yeah, I really don't see the point of that. So I would like to get more abstract as I get older. Really.

J: I wonder why they don't sell because .. I, I don't know. I guess it's just a purely a lack of, lack of focal point.

L: But you can't sell everything. I think I'd be a bit spoiled to expect to just sell out, you know, the entire .. 

J: I know, but you're getting this message that the abstract art isn't ..

L: I've done another two and they, they did sell, they just take longer to sell. And to be fair, they've only been on view, haven't they, for two weeks.

L: So it is a little bit spoiled to like, why isn't it sold? I'll be patient. I won't paint over it yet. Usually when I decide to paint over something, someone phones up and says, “have you got .. that” & I’m like “argh, painted over it”.

J: I always like the idea of having a party with all of your buyers, invite them round and have a barbecue and whatever, and, and then the unsold paintings go live and have a price drop for them.

J: And if they don't sell, they go on the bonfire. That was my kind of outrageous .. 

L: Fun fire. Yeah, no, that's, that's a good idea actually. 

J: Yeah. I'm glad you like it. Nobody else does. 

L: No, I’d get involved with that I think. I put a funny post on Facebook once about a portrait that had gone terribly wrong. I dunno if you've seen that one with just a Mr Bean face on it. And my friend bought it for £50 and he's convinced he's gonna make a fortune one day. 

J: So, two things really. I mean, the, so the regular paintings of yours and the abstract paintings. I would've thought that people would buy your art for the same kind of reasons that there's some energy or some message or some of your spirit in them, that kind of thing. So it kind of doesn't matter so much that it's abstract or, or whatever. But it clearly does. But it comes back to the message of .. I dunno whether you saw my video where I was talking about you put a painting up in a room and it changes the room. It affects people. 

L: Oh, it does, yeah. 

J: What, what kind of effect are you looking for, you know, if a, if a family had it in their lounge, what would you expect to change? 

L: I think, I mean, I've gone through different phases, so my art has been quite dark at times. The painting that sold for the most was a very controversial painting that some people didn't like, but it was the most expensive one about the ivory trade

L: But now because I'm in a happy place, I'm a little bit freer. I've paid off my mortgage so I can paint what makes me happy. The nicest thing about the last exhibition was pretty much 90% of the comments were that the exhibition had made them really happy, even though it was chucking it down outside.

L: They said, God, what a happy exhibition. And I think, oh, that's really nice. I've never really done that before. So yeah, I'm enjoying that at the moment. Sometimes the art world, you think, oh, I should be controversial or I should be moody and, you know, attract a lot of attention for being bad or outrageous.

L: But, no, making people happy is probably one of the most important things you can do, isn't it? 

J: I think perhaps the last thing I wanted to explore with you is, many artists feel weird about selling their art or feel, you know, maybe it cheapens them or they just feel awkward about it or whatever. And you don't seem to have that. So what have you got that they haven't got? 

L: Why do you think they feel weird? What embarrassment or .. ‘cause I, I teach a lot of people. And I know what you mean. They're like, oh my God, no, I could definitely not put it in the church exhibition. Or, you know, um, because they don't think they're good enough. 

J: Possibly, I think, I think it's to do with if you think you are going to persuade somebody against their will, then, that feels manipulative. It's not very nice and so on. Whereas if you understand that you have the solution to someone's problem, then you're actually just helping someone. So that's sales stuff, isn't it? So it may just be that you have, that really, you know, you owe it all to the Kirby hoover or whatever it was that you .. 

L: It is, it's just you are putting your soul on show, aren't you? Basically. When you produce a piece of art, it, it is an extension of you. So I think if you are worried about showing your art, you are not as confident as you should be as a person, are you? And I've grown in confidence the older I've got, so I can put out whatever I want now because I know I'm an okay person, whereas before, I used to doubt that a lot.

L: So maybe you've gotta work on yourself if you're struggling to show your art. And it is funny, a lot of my art lessons become therapy sessions and we try and work out what it is people are trying to express. I would've loved to have done art therapy as a job, and I did spend some time painting murals for the primary hospital in Southampton and I loved it. I felt at home there, which is a worry, but I really got on with the people in there and it was really beneficial to them. 

L: I wasn't allowed to work there, even though the manager wanted me to because of the red tape. And I haven't got a degree, but I'll tell you something. I painted a big tree across a wall, and it was for the patients when they left to put their own bird flying off, you know, and I thought, this is beautiful. I love it. 

L: It was such a colourful, lovely tree. But the expert there, gave them birds and they were black, and I just don't understand that. I think it's a shame there's so much red tape, you know? Art can help a lot of people and it's not necessarily the qualified ones that can give the most help.

J: So in your journey to kind of liking yourself and getting all of this confidence and considering that some of the people who watch this may not have that confidence in themselves, have you got any big step that you took or any thoughts that might help them? 

L: It's a tricky one, isn't it? I think because I've been through quite a bit of trauma, you learn that things aren't as important as you once thought they were. I don't want people to go through trauma to be more confident. But, yeah, I can usually have a good chat with people and work out what it is that's stopping them, and I've convinced a few to just go for it, which is lovely. I dunno, everyone's on their different journey, 

J: Of course. Come on TikTok. That's the cure. 

L: If you can just push on through, you know, it’s gotta be hard if you get no likes at all for a long period of time. I mean, I, I dunno what I'd do if, if that was the case, that might make you feel worse. But I think it's quite a supportive community.

J: I think in that respect, you can trust the algorithm. It will put you in front of some people and get you on board. Yeah, I think that, that, that will be fine. 

L: You're right. I think when you first start they, they help you out a little bit.

J: Well first my partner's gone through menopause and Texas, the singer, they came, they came to Scarborough where I am. We went to see them and she said, my young girls, my young kids are so bothered about what other people think of them. She said, now I've come to the age where I don't give a ****.

L: Wonderful. Thanks. It's hard. 

J: I'm just wondering, when you go through menopause, how much worse are you gonna be? If you really don't care, 

L: There's a turning point. Yeah. I think there's no, I think I've gone through the worst, to be honest. I think ..

J: fair enough

L: There is a definite turning point. You've got a choice, haven't you, to be depressed or just crack on with it, because I've had so much worse trauma in the past. I know, to just crack on with it. So yeah, there, there's a benefit to having lots of trauma, I guess. I'm quite grateful for it now. Yeah 'cause I feel I can sort of deal with most things. 

J: But you seem all right. 

L: I am. Yeah. I'm all right. Obviously there's ups and downs, you know, but things like singing with Katie. Hello Katie. I think she's still there. Yeah, just gotta find what makes you happy, haven't you? “You've got a choice, haven't you, to be depressed or just crack on with it”