When we were in Lincolnshire I worked on about 600 commissioned paintings between 1992 and 1997. In the main they were watercolour portraits of horses and dogs but there were a few oil portraits too. To make sure that I had enough work I had to market! I hate doing that because some times prospective clients check out the work on show and just walk away with “that” look on their faces. I suppose actors must feel the same during auditions.
So screwing up all available courage we would go off to County Shows, Show Jumping Competitions, Point to Point Meetings and anything else we could think of with a five person tent as a mobile gallery and smile, smile, talk and every-now-and-again sell paintings or gain a commission.
When we moved to France we had to work an 18-hour day building up the painting holiday business, B&B, teaching, cooking, cleaning, and all the other 1001 things that cropped up on a weekly, sometimes daily basis so paintings took a back seat. Until recently!
