A Blairgowrie woman combined her skills and passion in order to produce her wildlife art.
Lynsey Isles works with her own photographs to produce pastel drawings.
She found time during the Covid-19 pandemic and has since been able to make an income from her artwork.
Lynsey told The Courier more about how it all began, her biggest mistakes, greatest achievements and more.
How and why did you start in business?
I have always had a passion for wildlife, the outdoors and my art.
My pastel drawing helps me to focus and also relax after a busy day. I decided to try and make an income from my art, get it seen and grow my Wildlife Art range.
With a lot of hard work, perseverance, learning from mistakes (some costly ones!), and a pandemic to get through, I finally feel like I may be getting there now.
How did you get to where you are today?
I have been testing different markets over the past year or so, finding my footfall and working out what is the most cost effective strategy for selling my art.
My art prints, framed prints, coasters and greeting card range sell well at these events. I have some regular markets now such as Teagreen Events at Bowhouse.
It is a fantastic, well run market with a great selection of creatives, food and drink traders. It’s always busy and well supported.
Who has helped you along the way?
Both my daughter and my fiance have been a great help with setting up for events.
Becoming a member of the Perthshire Artisans in 2022 has been invaluable.
It’s been great networking, making friends, sharing ideas with other creatives there.
What was your biggest mistake?
My biggest mistake this year was paying big money and travelling too far for an event in Harrogate.
I was positioned with a few others in a really quiet area with minimal footfall and didn’t stand a chance at recouping what I had spent, never mind making anything.
A very expensive lesson!
What is your greatest achievement to date?
My greatest achievement so far has been exhibiting my original work at Fortingall Art.
Fortingall is on for two weeks every year from the end of July to the beginning of August.
If you haven’t been, it’s really worth going to see. A great selection of beautifully displayed Perthshire Artist’s work in the lovely village hall.
How has the cost of living crisis impacted your business?
The cost of living crisis has definitely had an effect.
Putting prices up to cover rising costs, noticing reduced footfall in some events that would have been much busier before, more people looking and admiring but not buying.
I fully understand my art is not an essential item so you do see a change. However, it is important to adapt and find your footfall/audience always.
What do you hope to achieve in the future?
In the future I am focusing on getting my original art out to a wider audience on my social media platforms.
Not an easy task and it’s hard work. Marketing takes up a lot of time but in the current climate, it is super important.
Any advice to wannabe entrepreneurs?
My advice to any entrepreneur is to never give up on your passion.
You will make mistakes, there will be hurdles to overcome.
What’s important is what we can learn from them and take forward to make our business grow. It’s so important to evolve as you go.
Conversation