Nestled in the middle of Teignmouth’s vibrant Arts Quarter is Laura Wall’s equally vibrant gallery. Laura has been a fixture of Teignmouth’s community, attracting all walks of life who come to watch her paint Devon’s landscapes, and contributing to local events such as creating the front cover for the programme of the Teignmouth Air Show.
With an impressive body of work as an illustrator, an author of sixteen children’s picture books available all around the world, and a gallery owner, Laura Wall has a lot of experience that has successfully turned her art into a business. But everyone has to start somewhere, and Laura Wall started her career as a television editor after graduating from the University of Wales with a degree in fine art, illustration and media.
How did you take the leap from television editor to full-time artist?
When I left university, I landed a job straight away as a runner at a television company. Although I should have been delighted, I was a bit disappointed because I had wanted to take a year out to try and get a career as an artist. However, I worked hard making lots of cups of tea for different editors, then climbed up the ladder for a good three years and became an editor assistant.
TV was such a demanding job; you’d work night shifts, weekends, and a lot of long hours. I tried very hard to paint pictures on my time off yet found that I was very depleted.
I knew the more that I started to earn or got into it, I’d never leave. One day I saw this editor who was so passionate about a programme that he was editing, that I thought the only thing I’ve ever been passionate about was painting.
That was a light bulb moment for me. I handed in my notice and I remember my boss couldn’t believe it; he didn’t even know I could paint. I had enough money to pay my mortgage and live off for two months, but I knew I couldn’t rely on my partner-now-husband Dave to keep me afloat. So I locked myself in my spare room and painted and painted and painted to get a portfolio together before that time was out.
How did you promote your art before you opened the gallery?
Dave would drive me to a town like Dartmouth and I’d walk into every single gallery to show them my portfolio, then I did it in another town and another and another.
Initially I sold by Sale or Return to a lot of galleries, where you loan the artwork then they pay you as they sell it. I soon learnt that it was important to have the self-belief to ask and encourage the galleries to buy the art up front, as I found they are more likely to put it on their wall and work harder for the sales.
In the first year, I visited 100 art galleries and had a one in five success rate. That was a lot of noes, but it was a matter of absolute hunger and determination on my part that drove me to get those yeses.
Soon, I had a business model. For the gallery in Dartmouth, I’d paint in watercolour and ink a scene of Dartmouth, then a painting of Tavistock for Tavistock, and so on. It was about being commercial, but you had to love what you were doing because that would show in my work if I didn’t want to do it.
When did you start earning enough to open a gallery?
I didn’t make much money in the first year of being an artist. I only turned over £4000 and found I didn’t have enough time to do the marketing, chase the monies, go to the galleries and paint all at once.
When my husband got made redundant, I asked him to work with me so he could do the admin that I couldn’t keep up with. We managed to create enough income for us that made it suddenly viable to live off an artist’s wage. We started selling to more galleries, we put on bigger exhibitions, and it was simply because it freed me up to paint.
Soon, we needed to find a studio where we could both work somewhere open to the public. Teignmouth was just perfect since we loved it so much, and we walked around town and on Brunswick Street we found an empty shop. We called the number on the window and had the keys by the end of the week!
Then in 2019, we had the opportunity to get the bigger gallery in Northumberland Place. Now we’ve had it for five years, it’s the best thing we ever did.
What have been the difficulties of maintaining your own gallery?
We are constantly adapting. The bricks and mortar of the gallery is fundamental, especially in a town like Teignmouth. It’s crucial we adapt the business for every price range, as well as focus on gifting rather than just the paintings, and source as much as we can within the local area. The gin and candles, for instance, are made in Teignmouth and the chocolates are from Cornwall.
Marketing strongly on Facebook and Instagram are quite important for us as well as mailouts where we’re contacting the customer personally.
How have you engaged with Teignmouth’s local community over the years?
For us, it’s all about making those personal connections with our customers. I want all of them to have a memorable and lovely experience. There are actually chocolate coins inside a boat shaped counter for children to have when they come in!
When COVID happened, we had to close the gallery and move everything online. The personal relationships with our customers were still fundamental, so me and my husband turned into full time delivery drivers and drove to every single person’s house to fulfil those orders, often stopping on the doorstop to chat to those people.
Another key thing is supporting other charities and groups. Along with creating artwork and raising money for the Teignmouth Air Show, we also sponsored Teignmouth Rugby Club and donated 250 pint glasses with our artwork on it for them to sell and raise money from.
Have you got any advice for anyone wanting to break out as an artist?
Don’t worry about the knockbacks, because I literally did have a one in five success rate. You’re not born with motivation; you get motivation through life and you have to have a hunger for it. Your artwork’s never going to sell if it’s on the floor of your bedroom. It’s about getting it out in front of people whether that’s through social media or visiting galleries face to face, and talking to as many people as possible and being you. The more people you show it to, the more likely you are to get it sold to the right person.
What is your favourite thing about Teignmouth?
I love everything about Teignmouth. I love the community, I love that you can walk down the street and say hello to five different people. I love the scenery as there’s no end of things to paint here; you’ve got that iconic Ness headland in Shaldon that drops into the sea. I love the way the sea sparkles. It’s just a beautiful town.