LAURA Hedges set up her painting business after studying photography. She realised she was good at studying body language and started experimenting with watercolour portraits which have prompted emotional responses from recipients. In the future she hopes to have a bigger customer base and try teaching.
Name: Laura Hedges
Age: 28
Position: Founder
WHAT’S THE BUSINESS CALLED?
Laura Hedges Art
WHERE IS IT BASED?
Alva, Clackmannanshire
WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
THE first memory I have of painting was when I was five years old. I used to paint for children in school – they would request a picture and then take it home. I continued to do this growing up. A year ago I decided to do it full time. I studied photography and was most drawn to portraits. I liked watercolour the most as it is so delicate and flexible. When people think of watercolour they think of huge seascapes like [JMW] Turner. People see art as high-brow and I thought I could fill a gap in the market. I started off painting flowers then realised I’m really good at studying body language. Lots of artists do a looser style but I like hyper realistic. Feedback has been really good. One man with dementia was given a portrait of his old cat and he remembered the cat from the portrait. There have been a lot of emotional responses.
WHAT’S YOUR TARGET MARKET?
WHEN I started out I didn’t have one as I didn’t know what was going to happen over time. I wanted to target those who didn’t have art in their house because they couldn’t afford it. I was trying to reach out to them. That probably would have been me at one point. Lots of people buy my art as gifts – those are mainly female but the ages vary from 15 to 80 year-olds which is exactly what I wanted.
Most – about 90% - of customers are from Scotland. I’ve had a few orders from Australia and America as well.
WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING THE BUSINESS?
AS a personal thing I have to limit myself – I can’t fit 10 portraits into one day. I am constantly moved by people’s stories. It’s about trying to stay creative and practical at the same time. Running your own business is definitely a learning curve as you don’t have anyone telling you what to do.
HOW DOES IT DIFFER TO COMPETING BUSINESSES?
IT is personal. All the portraits are unique and must carry a lot of meaning for people. It is also affordable – if someone has a budget I can accommodate that depending on the number of people in the painting. I like to have a lot of dialogue with people beforehand and ask them who it is for. Getting feedback is important.
It is popular for people to do digital art but what I do is much slower as it is done by hand from start to finish. I’m keeping watercolour classic as it was always supposed to be. I always update people as I go – ask if they are happy with what I’ve done so far before I continue. They like being involved and sometimes ask me to change things like an expression on someone’s face. It’s a big element of surprise – people have no idea they’re receiving it.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
I LOVE people’s stories the most – listening to customers and putting a face to the portrait. It is worth it for the feedback – I get a lot of lovely messages. I love running a business in Scotland. Scotland is a naturally beautiful country and Scots have a natural appreciation for beauty. It is easy to set up a business in Scotland. Networking is really good here. I am part of the group Boss Girls which is for women in business. Thousands of women from all different businesses are in the group and I have found some artist friends there.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?
I AM obviously hoping for a larger customer base. I hope to order larger sizes, more paper options and just generally improve. I would also like to look at teaching. My brother is severely autistic and has a photographic memory. He can express his emotions through art when he can’t talk so I would like to teach special needs people or people who have not tried painting. Art is for everyone. I think people think art isn’t for them but they don’t know until they try.
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