Hello and welcome to the next in the series of artist interviews here on my blog.
This month I’m thrilled to introduce you Mary Price, otherwise known on social media as @artistintheshed. Mary and I had connected on Instagram some years ago over our mutual love of colourful and intuitive art. Mary lives in Bristol, so when I moved to the West Country in 2021 we were able to meet up in person, and we are looking forward to another art date soon!
AG: Hi Mary, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed today. Perhaps we can begin with an introduction to your artistic background and journey? How did you first get involved in art?
MP: I have always loved making things and painting. Art was always my favourite subject at school. At home there was always a supply of crayons and felt pens and I remember how I used to love recording day trips on an A frame chalk board my mum made for us all.
When I was quite young I remember a teacher bringing some lovely paints and falling in love with the colour ultramarine blue. I think I loved the name more than the colour. I chose to study art and had three glorious years flinging paint around and learning lots of different things from sculpture and ceramics to textile design and printing.
When I left college, this was back in the early 1980’s, opportunities were very different to how they are now. It was all about galleries and I didn’t really have the confidence to approach them. Also as I started to work and get on with life, being a professional artist never seemed to me like a realistic option.
Nevertheless I always painted. I never stopped. There was always a project of some kind or another on the go. I spent much of my twenties travelling when I could, going on exotic holidays and I always took a sketchbook with me. I think when you are naturally a creative person you can’t really stop yourself from making and doing things – I simply enjoyed painting for what it was and didn’t start to think about selling until the 1990s when I joined art trails and started to have exhibitions with friends in cafes. People bought my paintings and I was encouraged and it started to sow seeds that I could do more. And then the internet happened and everything changed for me when I woke up to how fantastic it is for sharing and promoting work and reaching a global audience.
AG: We are the same age so there are a lot of similarities to our stories. Bringing it up to date, what inspires and motivates your current practice? Are there particular themes, emotions, or experiences that motivate your work?
MP: Making art brings enormous enjoyment to my life. My primary reason for painting is definitely because I enjoy the process and love to get lost in the moment. Hours can go by in the studio and it’s a very good thing for making time stand still for a while.
When I paint I find myself frequently returning to favourite themes. I am currently working on the 100 day project. Sometimes doing this kind of project really helps spur on motivations. I’m painting 100 paintings in 100 days which is a tall order but it’s great for boosting interest on social media platforms and as a discipline to help hone a subject and develop an inter-related series of paintings. I’ve done the 100 project twice and learned much in terms of process development.
My work is inspired primarily by the natural world, travel memory and my imagination. Repeating themes in my work include palm trees, abstract ‘happy’ trees, meadows and travel inspired images.
AG: Talk us through a typical day in your studio. What does your creative routine look like?
MP: Because of the 100 day project I paint every day at the moment. I am a morning person so I like go straight into the studio which is in my garden first thing after breakfast. I don’t always feel inspired to work before I go in but I have found that inspiration strikes as you work. One thing I always do is wash my brushes the evening before and have clean water and a surface ready so that when I go in to the studio there are few barriers to starting. I love to listen to podcasts as a I work. Two of my favourites are Art Juice and the Laura Horn Art podcast. It’s a bit like having company in the studio and the topics these two podcasts include are always useful, giving insights into running an art business and the day to day ups and downs of leading an arty life.
Art is just a part of my life and I don’t spend every entire day painting and sometimes I may not paint for a few weeks. It is important to me to ensure time to soak in inspiration from new sources. I love to travel so I plan trips as budget allows throughout the year. These become immersive art holidays as well as time to switch off and have fun.
AG: You are described as an intuitive painter. Give us an insight into what that looks like in terms of painting process.
MP: I tend to begin with very loose, gestural brush strokes. I build up of layers of paint and then add details. I love to use saturated contrasting colour – colour is probably the most important element in my work. I use colours straight out of the tube and often mix them directly on the painting. I use one colour at a time deliberately choosing colours that spark off each other. My art is not about muted subtle colours – I aim to make my paintings the colour burst in the room!
AG: Do you have a favourite tool that you couldn’t work without?
It has to be simply my brushes. I love having a variety of sizes and types to enable good mark making variation. I also enjoy using catalyst silicone tools but you can easily improvise with household items to make marks and I do this as well. Quality of paint is also obviously important. I invest in paint with good pigmentation as over the years I have found this really does make a huge difference.
AG: As an artist with many years of art making behind you, how do you keep motivated and inspired? Do you ever get ‘stuck’.
MP:There is so much inspiration all around us that I am rarely stuck for an idea. It’s more challenging really to hone in on the best idea and to try to stick with it and explore it for a while. I find that it is possible to riff on one theme for decades and this is definitely the case with palm trees. I do keep a sketchbook with me and always making little notes when I’m out and about and something captures my attention. My sketchbooks include finished drawings but often I may collect an idea for a symbol, be it a tile on a wall, a flower, a leaf, a detail seen on a building. These often end up in paintings.
I sometimes need to take a break to allow ideas to simmer. Once the current 100 project is finished I know I will want to stop for a while. Breaks in painting can sometimes feel a bit strange but the pauses are important. I am a very motivated personality and boredom will always soon have me back in the studio before long. I’ve learned over time to embrace the quieter times as otherwise you can easily get burned out.
AG: What are your feelings about the business side of being an artist? Do you have any advice for emerging artists in terms of promotion and marketing?
MP: A significant amount of your time can get eaten into with all the web site updates, social media posting, emailing and ensuring you keep a clear record of income and expenditure. I am quite well organised and try to have good systems in place to deal with this stuff.
So for example for Instagram I take a photo of my work in progress and finished painting for the 100 project on the day that I paint it and also maybe do a short film. It can be as simple as panning around the studio and then zooming in on the finished painting. I then create one or two posts immediately and save it for my regular posting time for the following morning. When its time to post – it’s ready so I can just press post, add that post to my stories and then to highlights. I always use just a few hashtags and try to ensure they are relevant to the photo or film. Posting consistently is good but with social media the goal posts move constantly so I find it useful to keep up to date with the latest, and watch and listen to experiences of other successful artists.
The most important advice though would be to start up and maintain an email list. People who are invested in you tend to sign up. Most of my sales come from subscribers to my list and I look after these people by offering regular discounts on prints and early previews of new work giving them the first chance to buy before the web page is made available to all. But people are driven to my list primarily from Instagram so it’s all about keeping on top of this. The marketing process is so interrelated. I’ve recently started a Substack blog giving studio insights that go into greater depth than an Instagram post will allow but again this is promoted on Instagram.
There is always more that I could do but only so many hours in the day. I think you have to make firm decisions about how much time you want to put into promotion and make it doable without becoming too onerous.
I am constantly learning and have a network of artist friends who I share ideas with and from whom I learn. In many ways this is the key – collaboration is always good and it keeps what could be a very solitary pursuit social.
AG: Looking ahead, what are your artistic goals and aspirations for the future? What’s next for you?
MP: Really I’m happy with where I am. I feel unbelievable lucky to have a space to paint and enough materials to create with and collectors who buy from me. There are many other things in life though that are important to me beyond the art making. That said I am planning an online course, have plans to enter more juried shows and exhibitions and many ideas to develop my work in new directions.
AG: That all sounds great! What advice do you have for aspiring artists who are just starting their creative journey?
MP: Invest in yourself – in time and in materials. Give yourself space and time to practice. You don’t need a studio- just a little table in an alcove and a few materials is fine. Seek out help and ask questions – most artists are generous and not competitive. Be brave and share your work and put it out for others to see. Go on courses and workshops and be inspired. Learning from others is good and as time goes on you will find that your own personal style develops if you put in the work. Most of all enjoy the process and take everything one step at a time.
AG: That’s great advice. Its been wonderful to be able to have this conversation. As you have said collaboration between artists can be so fruitful.
Finally, before we go, and just for fun – give us three things that you love ❤️
MP: I love meandering around and exploring new places, listening to birds singing outside my shed in the early morning and swimming in the sea and a beautiful lake in suburbia in Bristol in the summer.🏊🏻♀️
AG: And three things you loathe?
MP: I loathe cold, damp, grey weather and shopping in shopping centres!🌨
AG: I think there are probably quite a few of us who would resonate with that! Thanks so much again Mary for taking the time to give us so many thoughtful answers. Where can readers follow/catch up with you for more?
Instagram @artistintheshed
Website https://artistintheshed.com/
