WE are delighted to welcome a new contributor to cumbria24 – artist & gallery owner Thuline will introduce herself to you – and tell you more about her new TV role…..
Nearly 25 years ago now…. 25 years since moving to England. 25 years since falling in love with my husband in a little village in Spain…. 25 years since I left Belgium….
I’ve got that man a lot to thank for. I will start with my beautiful boys. But if it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have thought about selling my art. I remember the excitement of selling my first painting for £60 in the Courtyard Yard Gallery in Appleby.
I’ve come a long way since then….
When my second boy went to nursery in 2007, I decided to go full time. Painting, teaching, bringing up boys, working in restaurants and don’t forget about the husband…. It was all too much. I decided if I couldn’t make a living of the painting, I would stop.
I started doing trade shows, I got an agent… Things got a lot better.
In 2013 I opened my first gallery in Kendal. This made a big difference. I no longer just sold paintings but extended into canvas prints and gifts. The great thing about the Studio Gallery was that I also could paint there.
In 2018 I opened a second gallery. Here I had 2 rooms so I could teach there as well. But running 2 galleries as a family was too much. We decided to close one. Windermere was bigger and brighter and there was a better trade with the tourists. So the choice was easy
The cows have been there from early on. It started with a walk on Coniston Old Man. I took a picture of a cow trying to lick it self painted it and the rest is history. Back then not many people were painting cows, so this made my work very recognisable. In the gallery in Kendal people were always asking about ‘Herdies’, so I started painting more Herdies too….
I probably should tell you too that I will be on Home is where the art is with Nick Knowles on the BBC. Three artists trying to get a commission on 27 July at 3.45pm soon the BBC.
Lock down made it a lot harder…. But the one thing that is saving us at the moment is the face coverings….they are fun, make people smile… and who doesn’t love a highland cow….
We’re struggling on and doing our best, let’s just hope a lot of us small businesses survive….
Thuline
- Visit Thuline’s gallery website Thurline.com
- Follower her on Twitter
- Follow her on Facebook
