With my friend Jane from school
In 2005 I received offers from IKEA, Laura Ashley and a Canadian Company to licence my art works, whilst I appreciated the opportunities of having works sold through global brands I did not feel my work was suitable for a commercial mass market. In 2005 I also received an offer of representation from Lumas Gallery in Berlin, I flew to Berlin to meet the founders, who were interesting, fun, people and excellent conversationalists. Lumas is an intriguing gallery, I admire what they were trying to achieve, working with them was a wonderful opportunity however at the time I felt it was not right for my work. In 2007/2008 I received an offer from The Hilton Hotel Group in America to supply prints of my artworks for their hotel rooms, I turned this down as well. The commercial realities of being an artist and managing your work means artists cannot always be particular about the galleries they work with and who they sell their work to. However, I humbly believe it's better to hold out for the right opportunity, develop your vision and have something meaningful to say rather than compromise on the quality and integrity of your work, though sometimes such idealism can be naive. This is why more should be done to support and encourage our artists and artist communities to grow and flourish, there should be more grants, artist programs and special tax concessions ;) for artists and arts initiatives; artists enrich our communities creating a vibrant, tolerant, kinder, socially and culturally responsible society.