This is Disruption

Haus of Lucy: Crafting Modern Art from Classic Finds

• This is Disruption • Season 1 • Episode 15

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What happens when a serendipitous discovery in a charity shop turns into a flown blown artistic journey? I was so delighted to have not one, but two opportunities to chat with the fabulous Haus of Lucy, a multimedia artist who playfully turns classic ceramic figurines into modern art pieces.

Lucy shares her steps from a chance encounter in a London charity shop to her evolution as a full-time creative professional. Two of the things I love most about Lucy is her humour and authenticity, and in this conversation she uses both to share the ups and downs of her artistic path, from teaching herself how to craft mini food items from clay to dreaming of collaborations with Poundland, inspired by the likes of Virgil Abloh and IKEA.

Lucy’s transition from a magazine industry professional to a fulltime artist is one full of great stories, including a pivotal partnership with Adidas that set her on her current path. She recounts her experience at an Adidas store launch featuring Run DMC, and how that fuelled her desire to fully embrace the art world. We also explore the world of brand collaborations, from a cheeky wee note to a Primark exec leading to unique projects with Greggs, to the challenges of gaining recognition without the usual social media perks.

Navigating the digital landscape as an artist today presents its own set of hurdles, and Lucy opens up about the risks and rewards of relying on digital  platforms. She candidly discusses the toll of losing a platform, the complexities surrounding copyright in art, and the necessity of resilience in the face of these challenges.

Lucy also reflects on the importance of structure in her creative routine, the unexpected lessons from forced downtime, and her plans to diversify her skills with pottery and sewing.

We also mention Wayne.. you'll have to go and check lucy's page to see him. It's worth it, I promise.

Thanks again to Lucy for sharing these stories around creativity, personal growth, and for sharing lessons that I know will resonate with artists and art enthusiasts alike.

You can find Lucy at:

Instagram: @houseoflucyart
www.hausoflucy.com
https://entergallery.com/collections/lucy-bryant




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Speaker 1:

Hello there. You are very welcome to. This is Disruption podcast, with me, your host Rua. This podcast brings you in-depth interviews with the fearless creatives in street art, graffiti, music, photography and beyond, who boldly challenge the status quo, break barriers for others and share their work unapologetically. Each episode is a deep dive into the lives of artistic risk takers, exploring their motivations, their inspirations and their reasons for their willingness to disrupt societal norms. Some of these stories involve revolutionising their industries, while others are pushing the boundaries of legality with their art. Coming up on today's episode.

Speaker 2:

Well, the way I got started was I just couldn't stop. Once I started, I couldn't stop. It was like a compulsion. I just had to put things in these old paintings and I amassed quite a body of work. I still think back. My goodness, what were you thinking? But I am so glad I did it and I took the plunge. So it's not going to appeal to everybody all the time, but you just kind of keep going until something you do sinks the land and people like it and I pinch myself. I still pinch myself every day that I'm able to actually be the master of my own destiny. So I'd say believe in yourself, believe in your worth, believe in your value.

Speaker 1:

I'm a little bit sick, so I'm going to keep this one brief. For this episode, I was joined by an absolute icon, house of Lucy. She is incredible, she's super talented and I cannot wait to share this interview with you. As always, these episodes are best enjoyed if you listen while you are creating something. Thanks for tuning in. This is with you. As always, these episodes are best enjoyed if you listen while you are creating something. Thanks for tuning in. This is Disruption.

Speaker 1:

I am so grateful today to be having this conversation with an incredible artist. I'm super grateful because she is somebody that inspires me and inspires many people she is a really wonderful person but also because this is actually a re-record. We had an original conversation which was so fantastic and unfortunately, it was one of the files that I lost when I had a data loss recently, and she has so kindly agreed to record with me again, so I'm feeling incredibly grateful. I am joined today with the absolutely wonderful House of Lucy. Lucy is a contemporary multimedia artist who works across many mediums. One of the things she is best known for is her work with ceramics, and she playfully modernizes ceramic figurines. One of the quotes from her website states Lucy thrives on creating a contrast between old and new, urban and classic, and I think that sums it up very well. Lucy, thank you so much for the second time speaking with me. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 2:

How are you doing I'm doing really well. Thanks, Rua, and don't mention it it's a pleasure to be doing this twice.

Speaker 1:

I'm so grateful when I lost some of my files. I was so grateful when I lost some of my files. I was so devastated because this was one of them that I had been after our conversation. I was so excited to put it out because it was just filled with so many gems and little nuggets of hilarious stories and wisdom. I was really devastated, as you know. So I just appreciate it so much that's okay.

Speaker 2:

And now I'm thinking back. I'm like, oh pressure, because I don't remember funny stories. And now I'm thinking back, I'm like, oh pressure, because I don't remember funny stories. Now and I'm thinking, well, if there were, can I repeat those stories? So I'm going to have to dig deep.

Speaker 1:

Well, I hope that we can give it something similar to last time, because it was such a good conversation. The stories all came from you and your story, so I'm sure that they'll come back up again. So, first and foremost, let's give everybody listening a little bit of background. On House of Lucy, can you please tell me in your own words who you are and what do you do?

Speaker 2:

Well, you summed me up very well earlier. But yeah, I'm a multimedia artist. I do work across different platforms using different mediums in order to kind of get my, get my message across. So I might take ceramic vintage plates and give them a new lease of life, same for the ceramic figurines, but then I'll also work digitally. So I sort of use my hands and I paint and I'll draw. But I also do use the computer for some things as well. And in fact, yeah, when I think about the sort of the body of work I have, I do utilize quite a different, quite a lot of different techniques. But I think that's because I'm always jumping on to something new and always wanting to sort of come up with new ideas. I hope that summed it up, that's.

Speaker 1:

So it's just this mixture of things that you do and, like you said, you work in many different mediums. The ceramic figurines is something that's really interesting. It's quite a unique thing that you do you take something very old and you make it really playful and modern. Can you tell me how did it all?

Speaker 2:

begin. I can remember that the day it began it was yesterday actually I was living in London and I went to a charity shop in South London where I lived and I found a ceramic figurine of a lady. She had her hands held up quite near her face and she just looked like she needed to have something in her hands and at that moment I just thought I need to. She needs to have a burger and there needs to be ketchup and mustard dripping down her dress, because that's what I do every time as soon as I've got something nice on, that's it. There's food down it. So I bought the figurine and took her home and then went onto YouTube to essentially teach myself how to make miniature food from polymer clay. So that's how it started.

Speaker 2:

And then I think Instagram wasn't quite in its infancy, but it was, say, six years ago I did pop a picture on my Instagram and somebody said, oh, this is really cool. Is she for sale? So I realized that there were. You know that there was a potential market out there, but also I wanted to do these things just for me anyway. So it was never about trying to sort of actually make money for my art then, because I still had a full-time job, but I kept seeing figurines and as soon as I saw them I knew instantly what I wanted to do with them. So I'd find boys and girls and put them in tracksuits or have them drinking whiskey in tracksuits or have them drinking whiskey. But there always has to be either a cheeky element or a political element or something contemporary. You know like the most beautiful, refined, elegant lady has to be in an adidas hoodie or I've done like shopping bags and so on. But also it wasn't just the figurines. I used to jump on photoshop in my lunch break when I was working in the magazine industry, which is essentially where I came from. That's my background. I used to be a graphic designer and do the layouts and these magazines, but it wasn't very creatively challenging. So I'd sit there in my lunch break and just find old masters online and tweak them in my like what I'd like to see in that picture or something that would be quite jarring and contrasting. Always, always that juxtaposition. I remember what I think.

Speaker 2:

One of the earliest ones I did was a painting that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery with the toilet of Venus and it's a lady lying with her back to the viewer looking into a mirror. So I put some plastic surgery bandages on her face. Actually I turned her into Kim Kardashian. What am I talking about? She was Kim Kardashian and I had her who's a grown-up child, now northwest, as a baby, holding the holding the mirror up for her in the face of the terror. And it was only later on I realised that Banksy had done very, very similar, but I hadn't seen his version. So I just thought, oh, that's a bit annoying because people think I copied him but I didn't.

Speaker 2:

But the way I got started was I just couldn't stop. Once I started, I couldn't stop. It was like a compulsion. I just had to put things in these old paintings and I amassed quite a body of work and I had had them all printed out by a professional printer and, unbeknownst to me, my husband, jason, took some of these pictures to work on the day when an artist liaison was coming in to see him about the archive that he used to work in and Jason scattered the sort of pictures around his desk and when the artist liaison saw them he said, oh, these are really interesting.

Speaker 2:

Who's the artist? And Jason said, oh, it's, um, it's just some, someone I know called Lucy, didn't let on, obviously that it was his wife, didn't want any sniff of nepotism, but the artist liaison was like great, I'd really like to get a meeting in with her. So we chatted and I got signed up to that artist, to that gallery, and it was only six months later. I said, by the way, I am married to Jason, and they said it doesn't matter, we like to work independently and it really isn't an issue, because I would hate to. I don't like, you know, doing favors for people, even though Jason did initially get my work under their nose. I was signed up and I'm still with them to this day. So, yeah, they seem to like it.

Speaker 1:

I'm a really big believer in synchronicity the right person coming along at the right time, just when you need that connection and somebody slipping the work under their nose, however it gets there can be a good thing, and then they make their own decision on whether it's something they want to pursue or not. So what a lovely little thing that he did and great that they were able to see the value and what you were able to bring and took you on. You mentioned working in the magazine world. Can you tell us a bit more about the contrast between working in the magazine world and then you tell us a bit more about the contrast between working in the magazine world and then moving into being an artist that's freelancing and working for yourself?

Speaker 2:

I don't think you can find two different things, two different disciplines, and I pinch myself. I still pinch myself every day that I'm able to actually be the master of my own destiny. Because when I first started in magazines, I must be honest, it was really creative. We had budgets, we did photo shoots. When I first started out, I was the just two designers on the magazine, so it was my art director and then myself and it was Karang which is it's still going now, but it's quite different. But it's um, it was a rock magazine, metal metal magazine, but we used to have the most creative times, meetings about what we were going to do with such and such and how we're going to shoot them, and it was so good and such a learning curve for me because it was my first job out of university in actual professional magazine terms and I was with Kerrang for five years and it was brilliant.

Speaker 2:

And it was a really unusual magazine to work for as well, because I didn't realise how different it was until I moved into the world of women's weeklies and and then that was also a very, very big contrast to working at Coran, because there was no hierarchy. We had an editor, of course, and a deputy editor. But everybody really mucked in and everybody had the same goal and I think it's because it was a music magazine of this very, very particular genre. Everybody had the same love for it. But working in women's weeklies was a bit of an eye-opener, because I left voluntarily. I left because I thought, wait, I could stay at Kerrang forever but I really should get some different design experience. So I moved across to weeklies such as Heat, closer, bella Woman, lots and lots of women's weeklies and I was also freelance, so I'd be working on different titles every week and I worked at OK Magazine so so many I've lost count and a lot of them have closed since, obviously.

Speaker 2:

But the budgets shrunk and shrunk and shrunk to the point where we weren't even able to use photographers anymore. We just had to use stock, stock photography agencies to to get our pictures, and that's why I became very creatively frustrated. It became very much just a layout job rather than a creatively thinking job. So the day I was actually able to leave that magazine industry behind and start my new kind of life, I suppose an artist was just, it's just unbelievable. And I still, like I said to you earlier, I still pinch myself because I'm able to sustain myself my life. I certainly don't have much money to throw around, but as long as I'm able to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head, then that's all. I'm so thankful for that, and I'm my own boss.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's amazing. It must be quite a big step to go from having this focused career where you know what you're doing Monday to Friday, every week, even if it's a different shoot, but then you are becoming an artist for yourself. Inspiration's going to hit you. You've got to be making something different. You're going to be changing your medium all the time. How did you make the decision to move into being an artist for yourself?

Speaker 2:

It was really difficult, I must admit, because I'm really risk averse. I don't do anything if I think that it's going to go wrong. I'm not very brave in that respect, and it was because I was commissioned by Adidas so this is back in 2018, to work on a little collection that they wanted for their flagship store in Oxford Street, and the way they found me was through an agency, a design agency. I was on the books of them, but I'd only done a couple of group shows. Design agency I was on the books of them, but I'd only done a couple of group shows. They got in touch because they knew what I did would work, for this added us commission. They wanted figurines, they wanted plates. I mean, it was just perfect.

Speaker 2:

And although I wildly under budgeted for it because I I didn't really know much about budgeting then, but I must admit I still don't to this day oh, I'm just happy to do it. Yeah, just pay me a fiver, but it was still an incredible experience. But it gave me that impetus to think, look, I could do this, I could do this, I should just do this. And also, I knew that I could go back as a freelance designer if it did all go wrong. But as the weeks went by, the weeks turned into months and I was still able to keep sustaining myself with my art. To this day 2024, I haven't had to go back into an office or do any magazine work. That might not always be the case, but for now it was scary and I still think back, my goodness, kind of what were you thinking?

Speaker 1:

but I am so glad I did it and I took, I took the plunge well, congratulations, and I'm so glad that you did, because what you create now is so fun and I love seeing what's going to come out of your mind next, so I'm so glad that you've been able to focus on that full time Now. I know that you are a massive lover of fashion. What was it like, first of all, collaborating with Adidas, and is there anybody that you would love to collaborate with in the fashion world?

Speaker 2:

Well, working with adidas, and that was was great. I didn't meet anyone, though. I mean, I guess when you're an artist and I mean you're working alone most of your work is conducted via email. I mean, we weren't even zooming them. This is pre pre-covid and the actual launch of the flagship store, which is what I prepared this collection for. They had a, they had a launch party and the lady who had been my main liaison was so, so lovely. She wasn't at the party, like she wasn't at the launch party, and I couldn't believe it because I thought, you know, I've sort of like really bonded with these people all over email, because there's a lot of back and forth, obviously, and a lot of, a lot of changing, a lot of tweaking, and then it's all locked down and, and you know, you're so happy because you know you've done the job. So I must admit that was slightly weirdly anticlimactic, but, um, I think it's quite normal, I think, when a designer or an artist is commissioned by a brand. You know it's often the way. But I did go to the launch party and it was amazing because Run DMC did a show and I was just there in the front with Daryl, just oh, it was incredible, just just rapping in my face. So that was unforgettable. I still think about it now.

Speaker 2:

And and the next question was who would I like to collaborate with next? And I have given this a bit of thought, really, because you asked me this question before and I wasn't happy with my answer. Oh yeah, I felt like I really fudged it and then when you said, oh, we might have to do this again, I thought, good, because I know what I want to say and that it has to be Poundland, because I'm all about the high-low and I love mixing sort of budget with elegance and glamour. So I feel I could bring something really exciting to Poundland and they are me In the same way. That rest in peace. Abloh for Virgil Abloh for off-white. He collaborated with ikea and I always thought that was a really, really smart collab and I would like to be like that with poundland and hopefully elevate them, not the.

Speaker 2:

I'm not casting a spurs on poundland. I go there all the time, but that's me. I am poundland, poundland Rua. I'm not Gucci, I'm not Chanel. I'd like to be and I'd love to wear their clothes, but I'm too honest, I'm too grassroots. It's just, you know, for me, it's just about honesty, and I can't even use the word authentic. I hate it. But you know what I'm trying to say when I say that I, what you see is what you get, and I just can't bullshit. I'm very, very honest. So I'd love to yeah, putting it out there now, poundland, if you're listening let's talk.

Speaker 1:

We have to send this to Poundland, lucy. I can't even imagine what that would look like, but I would love to see it. Poundland would be blessed to have House of Lucy collaborating with them. I would love to see it. Let's see if would be blessed to have House of Lucy collaborating with them. I would love to see it. Let's see if we can make that happen. I love it when you talk about what you look like. For anybody who doesn't yet know Lucy, you're going to after this episode, of course you're going to go check her out, but you are so glam, lucy. You are a fellow lover of everything glittery, holographic, shiny. Every time I see you, you've got this fabulous holographic, iridescent eyeshadow on. I'm like Lucy you're amazing, you're very into fashion and you're very into a little bit of sparkle, which I love. Can you tell us how did that all start?

Speaker 2:

Do you know? I think it probably kicked off when I did leave the magazine industry. But, having said that, it was unusual in that there weren't there was there was never really any dress code on the magazines, because it's a creative industry, even if it's not as creative as it used to be, it still is. So there were no rules, no hard and fast rules that you might have say in an office where it's all about finance and insurance. So I was always able to kind of express myself and I've been dyeing my hair different colours for years, but I think, possibly working alone, I just I feel that if I get up in the morning and I put something nice on and I put my face on, then I can meet the world and it makes me feel good.

Speaker 2:

And when the postman comes in the morning, I wear a dressing gown. At home because it's quite chilly, I always like shuck off my dressing gown before I answer the door because I don't want the postman to see me in this ratty old dressing gown that I live in. But underneath, you know, I might have a sequined top because even if it's just me on my own, it it really, it really elevates my mood and I must admit it's. You know it is a bit of an obsession for me and I spend far too much time on vinted, but there's no need to go to the high street really anymore when you've got so much second hand. It's not, it's hopefully saving it from landfall. At least that's what I tell myself every time I buy something else with siblings. But I do appreciate again that I'm fortunate because I can express myself the way I want to and no one's in my office is going to give me a bit of side, although I might get that on the street sometimes.

Speaker 2:

Obviously, living in Brighton, I feel like I've kind of found my tribe down here as well, because there's so much colour. Honestly, I just get love when I'm on the street. I do get people shouting at me across the road and I love it. I could never think, oh, not today, because I'm the one that's made the decision to put that ridiculous gold coat on or floor length gown. So it's, it's, it's on me, but it's always well received. And if I can wear it in someone else's day up because because they like my gold coat, then that makes me feel really good as well just today I saw you in a matching smiley face rain poncho with Wayne, and we need to tell everybody who Wayne is.

Speaker 1:

So it was a matching poncho for you and Wayne. Wayne is a superstar in his own right and he is Lucy's dog. Tell us all about Wayne, please.

Speaker 2:

The world needs to meet Wayne he is the love of my life I'm so sorry for to my husband. I mean, it's a different kind of love, isn't it? I don't have children and I've never been the kind of person that would say oh, you know, my dog is my child Because he's not. His mum was a dog, I'm not his mum. I love him so deeply that it's like an visceral emotion in me and I didn't know I could feel this way, because I had childhood dogs, but they weren't really my dogs, if that makes sense. You know, they were my parents dogs, but I loved them.

Speaker 2:

But Wayne is, so I'm utterly responsible for him. He's so dependent on us for everything, for his food and shelter, and just the other day we were kind of laughing about the fact that an animal lives in our house and it's just so strange. So when? But you know I start my morning every day by walking with him or taking him for a run, although I have screwed up my ankle, so I'm not running at the moment and I have this poncho with smiley faces on it. And then I saw on the website that they do matching dog ones and I just thought I can't do it. I can't do it.

Speaker 2:

I can't be that person first of all, like dogs don't wear clothes. They shouldn't wear clothes because they have coats. And I'm not into anthropomorphism on any level. I think animals are animals and humans are humans. But I just couldn't, I couldn't resist, so I ended up buying him this, this coat, but he really doesn't mind it because it doesn't impede his movement, so he can. He can run around. And again, just honestly, whenever it's rainy, I'm sorry we do bring joy. We do, because people just go oh wow, I can't believe. You know you're in matching, matching outfits and then they seem to like it. So it's good Wayne gets to stay dry yeah, it was so cute.

Speaker 1:

I saw it this morning and I was like, oh my god, I love this. This is hilarious but also so adorable. So I love your Instagram, lucy, because it's very humorous. It's just really funny. You're constantly posting all of the time it's always new content. It's just really funny. You're constantly posting all of the time it's always new content. What you're working on funny little bits throughout the day, like this morning seeing you and Wayne in your matching raincoats. I loved it. Something that we had spoken about before that I'd love to talk about again is the relationship with Instagram and to the fact that, unfortunately, you had an unfortunate event with Instagram. I'm just going to hand over to you, if you wouldn't mind. Can you please tell us what happened with Instagram to your old account, because the account you have now is not your original?

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, it was August 2023. I was going to Gloucester with Jason and I was just pootling around on my phone, went into Instagram and a message popped up on the screen saying we have suspended your account. We believe that you have been selling counterfeit goods. And I just froze. Just you know, when your heart just drops, your stomach drops because, as an artist, obviously Instagram is so, so important. It's our shop window and I had I had quite a lot of followers then, not by stupid accounts, but just you know enough and I had just accrued a couple of quite A-list followers, which, again, it doesn't really matter, but it helps. It does help in terms of your engagement and the fact that when people see who's following you, it's it's kind of an endorsement to to your work. So obviously I went into kind of panic mode and clicked on the link that they provided and I had a two-week window in which I could appeal this decision and I actually got a solicitor to help me draft my letter. They were really helpful and really nice and didn't charge me because we didn't officially engage. I just said, look, we think this would sound good. So I sent this response to Instagram and they came back saying, basically computer says no, they replied within 10 minutes and shut me down.

Speaker 2:

But to the point where and this is where I sort of like feel like I should be a little bit, maybe a little bit careful, because I don't even know if I should be on Instagram. When I tried to set up a new account, they blocked me. They had my IP address, they knew who I was, even with um using a different phone number. It was so distressing because I just thought if I can't get back on, what can I do of? It's possible to have an art career without Instagram, but it really is a major, major factor in most artists being able to sell their work. So I've managed to get back on, but I use a separate phone. I literally call it my burner phone. I have to carry two phones around and when I post and when I take pictures, I have to send them to the burner phone. I tend to write my posts longhand in my, my main phone, and email them to the other phone. So it's convoluted, but I sort of feel like gosh. Should I even be saying this? Because if anyone that works at meta hears this, are they going to shut me down again.

Speaker 2:

Nothing I've done is illegal. I have never sold anything fake and I wouldn't. And it upset me it was that I had this real sense of injustice, because I have a strong, strongly developed sense of justice and what's right and what's not. And what they did wasn't right because I use logos in my work. I use them in in parody and social commentary. But what I was doing wasn't like I was just trying to sell a Gucci t-shirt from from China. It was my, all my own designs. So that is what happened and that's where I am now.

Speaker 2:

So I have got a relatively small following now compared to what I did before. It's much, much harder now to grow your account because it's much more about sponsorship and paid posts, and I don't even have a card linked to my account because I'm too scared. I can't verify myself because I'm too scared. I don't have my full name on there, just in case they go oh, there she is again. If it was shut down again, I don't know what I'd do. I don't know what I'd do with myself. I'd have to start again and I would, and I know people that have picked themselves up a third time. But the? Um, the people that were following me that were quite high profile. I can't get them back because Because if you message them and they don't already follow you, their message falls into this kind of chasm of other messages. So it's just, it's very, very difficult. Yes, I lost a nine-year-old. So many pictures, so much work. That's the story, can you tell?

Speaker 1:

I'm not over it and you tell him not over it. No, I can understand how distressing it would be, because not only is it the audience that you've built and connected with who find you when you're relatively small and invest in you, and then, when that all gets wiped away, you disappear from people's algorithm. They may not remember to go and find you in the same way that they did, unless it was somebody that you spoke to often and they heard what happened and were able to find you again. So I totally understand. As you said, instagram really is your shop window. It's where you show what you're working on. It's where you show opportunities that you want. It's where you can connect with people.

Speaker 1:

I do not love social media myself I spend too much time on my phone and I'm trying to work on that but it really is a great way to connect with people. So I'm so sorry it happened. But the other thing is it's your archive. Like you said, you had hundreds of photos that were lost because they had existed on this account. I remember you telling me that. What led up to that? Do you want to talk about that again?

Speaker 2:

well it was. I can only speculate that it was possibly a T-shirt, but it could have been other things as well, because, like I said, I do use these logos and you know you could actually point the finger and say, well, didn't you breach copyright? But I believe that there are some rules surrounding the copyright of these brands when it comes to parody. But I did a T-shirt that essentially, uh, said Gucci, but it was done like the little logo. So I feel, in that respect, I didn't breach copyright either, because it was colored, but it it wasn't the little logo and it wasn't the Gucci logo, but I designed it and I got one t-shirt printed for me and then put myself on the grid going, oh yeah, look at this t-shirt.

Speaker 2:

And I had quite a few responses and requests to get this t-shirt done. And then a fashion blogger with a very high following bought a t-shirt I didn't know that she bought one and she posted herself wearing it on the grid and then asked me and that at first, gosh, it was very, very overwhelming because I suddenly found myself with hundreds of messages from people. It was inundated and you might think, oh, that's really cool. But it's possibly that that triggered this event, because I ended up actually getting a few of these t-shirts printed and perhaps Instagram thought, well, she's monetizing this, because with everything else I do they are. They're mostly one-offs, particularly the vintage plates. They're all one of ones and originals, but this one t-shirt. But then we're talking the smallest, smallest amount as well, when you think about the runs that you know a shop like Zara might do. I had a couple of hundred printed. That was it, but curtains for me after that.

Speaker 1:

I'm so sorry the way they came so hard for you with your IP and your phone number and everything.

Speaker 2:

It just feels terrifying it is, and I would say to other artists just remember that we don't own Instagram and that they don't owe us anything and they can literally call the club whenever they want. And I know other people it's happened to as well, or they've been shadow banned, but I also know other artists that have managed to get their accounts back, but unfortunately I haven't, and they took it really, really seriously.

Speaker 1:

Well, fair play for exhausting every avenue and for getting legal advice, like some people would just sit down and be like, okay, well, that's a shame, but you actually really tried to fight it, so really well done for that. So we briefly mentioned the collaboration with Poundland that we're manifesting, that you hope to do. Has there been a particular collaboration or work that you've done that you've really loved and you're really proud of?

Speaker 2:

yeah, definitely, that was Primark and Greggs. So a couple of years ago Primark put out a range of clothes with Greggs so we had t-shirts and sliders and bags and caps and things like that. And before, before it launched, I'd already been in conversation with the CEO of Primark. He's a lovely man called Paul Marchant, because I was informed that he had one of my prints in his downstairs toilet and this particular print is it's a John Singer Sargent painting of a lady reclining on a sofa, but I've put Primark bags all around her feet because she just looks exhausted, like she's been shopping in Primark today and I put it all shopped out and that's one of my most popular prints. But he had this in his loo and I dropped him a note, quite cheeky I suppose, but just said look, I've heard that you've got this, this print of mine, but I, you know, I think we should do something together. And he said it's funny that you've got in touch because I'm going into a meeting this afternoon and we will be talking about you. So I just thought, oh, what are they going to say? What's it going to? And then one of his team got in touch with me the marketing department and just said look, I had to sign an NDA, but obviously it's all out now.

Speaker 2:

But they did this collaboration with Greggs and what they wanted me to do was produce a range of the figurines just for them, not for sale, just for them. But they'd all been modelling various garments from this range and they sent. I mean, all they had then was flat pdfs of what the clothes would look like, because I hadn't even been made at that point. So I had um, yeah, I had like ladies in t-shirts. But also they had their little cafe, their Greg's cafe, which had a special name I can't remember what it's called now, but it was donuts and sausage rolls and so on.

Speaker 2:

So I had the figurines eating the donuts and sausage rolls and the steak plates whilst wearing the range of clothing. So that was really really good fun. And then they had a little pop-up shop in Soho where they had press days and also days where people could go on Eventbrite and snap up some tickets and then go and see the range before I actually hit the shops. So I went and saw it all on that day and then the figurines ended up in the Primark head office showroom, which is really nice because I've been back a couple of times since, and they're just like there on plinths and it's lovely, but I did some prints for them as well, which was, yeah, just really exciting.

Speaker 1:

That's so fun. I didn't know that this is a new story. This is so fun. Wow, Lucy.

Speaker 2:

I knew it. I can't believe I didn't mention that the first time. But, yeah, craigson Primark Although I would say from an artist's point of view, you'll always get full transparency with me, will it? Because I think people for the most part like to always paint a picture that everything's amazing, particularly when you get commissioned by companies like Highmark and Greggs. I've got no pushback on social media whatsoever as no exposure, nothing.

Speaker 2:

And of course, the day, you know, I got the email saying we'd like you to do this, my heart soared and I just thought this is amazing, I'm going to be famous. I mean, I didn't really think that, obviously, but I knew that it would be really good for me and to get my work out there and to get more eyes on it. But there was nothing from them, nothing from their channels. And when I questioned this and said, obviously, from an artist's point of view, it would be so beneficial to me if you could just put me on the grid, well, do you know what, even if it was your story, which, of course, lasts 24 hours, they came back and they said that they couldn't actually post my work because it wasn't for sale and that their punters, their buyers, would get annoyed if they put me either on the grid or on a story and it's something that they can't borrow.

Speaker 2:

So Greggs have since done gold jewellery collaborations with Dion Kitson, which was amazing and I loved it, but of course because it was for sale. They're sort of like promoting each other, but mine weren't for sale. It was just to kind of a fun thing that they got an artist to do to kind of promote the brand. But in the end it didn't really promote the brand because it was never seen by anyone other than the people in the showroom and I must admit that was disappointing for me, like yeah, I can't, I can't, I can't dress it up in any other way. It's just one of those things. But you know, you live and learn all of this is a lesson.

Speaker 1:

That's what I find. When you collaborate with somebody, there's this kind of agreement that you're going to help each other and you're going to support each other, and when that is one-sided, that's really disappointing. And even if it was this commission that they decided to keep for themselves to be able to credit you in some way publicly, to direct other people.

Speaker 2:

True, it's just how it is. You're right, you have that kind of I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine If I'm doing something with another contemporary, we'll last each other all over the shop and then do a collaborative post, and I know it's different with the big brands, but I do think they went out of their way to commission a small artist, which was incredible. I'll never not be grateful for that. But just one little mention like oh hey, we did this with this artist and I think it would have looked good for them to have done that as well, because everyone would have gone oh, that's cool. They've actually, you know, they've commissioned an emerging artist, as opposed to just doing it themselves in-house or using AI or marketing.

Speaker 1:

they actually got got me to do it yeah, it's definitely one of those things, though, that the more of these things you do, you learn, you know, next time to kind of agree up front, maybe, or to say we'll do this collaboration and that will include x amount of exposure posts or whatever it is. It's just one of those really hard lessons to learn, unfortunately.

Speaker 2:

Yeah it is and I also. I think I am actually quite naive and I'm very trusting and I don't particularly want to change the way I act because I don't want to become cynical, but I do know that I need to thicken my skin up a little bit sometimes and maybe not be quite so wide-eyed about everything.

Speaker 1:

So well, there's a couple things I'd like to ask you on that. So I know you said when you started out you weren't aware of when you went with Adidas, you had underpriced yourself and you weren't aware. What would you advise new artists to do who are starting out and who just have no idea where to start?

Speaker 2:

well, for starters I'd say don't send your budget in and then realize that that hasn't included your materials. By then it's too late. So you essentially end up with 10 quid profit at the end of it because I had no guidance at all. And also it's very, very difficult when a brand is saying can you give us a budget for x, y and z. Very, very difficult to budget for that, because I can be really honest about what.

Speaker 2:

What it was that I did for Adidas in that very first commission. But they wanted some figurines. That's great, only that I get on eBay in antique shops. But they also wanted some vases, some white lions, some dogs, that would all be. They had to be turned white and gold and have the Adidas trefoil somehow sort of put onto all these items. So everything looked white and elegant with touches of gold, but with the three stripes in the trefoil. And they also wanted a full english tea set, cups and sauces, jugs, sugar bowls, the lot all done with the trefoil. So that was technically very, very difficult for me as well, because I at that time it could even work out how I was going to get the, the trefoil in gold onto these cups. I ended up hand painting every single cup 24 pieces in this collection as well.

Speaker 2:

So I sort of undervalued myself in terms of the hours that I put in but also physically spending money on the lion and the dogs and the urns paint everything. But I remember thinking but how long is a piece of string? How do you know? And I think ultimately, I think really I have to. You have to sort of say, well, they're a huge brand and they, they do have big budgets. And I think I thought if I pitched too high they just wouldn't hire me and I just massively undervalued myself and what I do. So I'd say believe in yourself, believe in your worth, believe in your value, try to work out your day rate separately and then think really really logically and rationally about what you might be spending on materials. So I definitely say that and I probably could have done with some guidance at the time, but I didn't really know who to ask.

Speaker 1:

that's all excellent advice. Something that I would say is, if you have even one connection who does something similar to what you do, to go to them. If they're a nice person, they'll be happy to share. You've just shared some really helpful advice there to think about your day rate and your materials, because somebody who's brand new to doing a commission may have no idea and no concept of that, so that's super helpful. The next piece of advice I'm going to ask you for is for somebody who's in a structured role, like you were when you were working in the magazine world, and who's looking for that little bit of bravery to make them follow their dreams, to live every day feeling like they're doing what they're meant to do. What advice would you give them?

Speaker 2:

Oh, that's so tough because I was already getting some commissions when I did quit that full-time job and I also had a three-week long pop-up in a little shop on Carnaby Street called we Built this City, who Are no More, which is a massive shame, but they were a great shop selling London souvenirs by artists and all very, very like alternative souvenirs and I feel like, because I could have gone freelance, it was easier for me to have that as a fallback plan. So I would say have a plan B if it doesn't work out, like if there's, if you could bear to sign up to a temping agency, for example. So if you find that really you're not able to make ends meet, then there's a job that you could go back into quite quickly because it's important if people have got bills to pay they have to have, they have to have the moolah. But ultimately I'd say, oh my god, just go for it, try like, follow your dreams, keep it as a side hustle and grow from there, because that that is essentially what I did see.

Speaker 2:

If there's an you know, I think if you're, if it because it comes down to money again if you're not selling the work, if you don't have an audience I'd say to exercise some caution and to maybe keep keep plugging away at the day job. But I know so many artists that still do do their day job and then do the art on the side. Then they get to that point where they realize that it's become a tipping point where they could sustain themselves from the sales of their art. So I think you've just got to kind of test the water yourself and if you think, yeah, well, this month I made x amount from my art alone. I could do this, then go for it, otherwise be a bit careful again.

Speaker 1:

Excellent advice and super practical once you saw that you had something and you had this little bit of like okay, what I have is interesting and this is going to be something that I might be able to test the water and do, and then you were able to do it, and it's about finding method, of audience and also putting the work in to do that. Definitely, definitely.

Speaker 2:

You touched on something earlier about having a structured day and I must admit it can be a tricky one working for yourself as an artist, because I might wake up one morning and think I'm just, I'm not going to do any work today.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I I wouldn't, because I very much keep my sanity by maintaining a structure to my day. But I know that some people might struggle with not having someone kind of standing over them and saying I need this delivered by 12 o'clock or whatever, and then I'm literally having to kind of invent my own projects really, because it's just for me and I never know if it will be received well or not. Sometimes I might design a plate and it just it's like a dance break no one likes a plate and it just it's like a damp squib no one likes the plate. And I think, oh okay, well, that didn't really work, but it's on my vision, so it's not going to appeal to everybody all the time. But you know, you just kind of keep going until something you do seems to land and people like it. But I could talk all day about structuring days and how to keep your kind of your momentum going when it's just self-generated and it can be tough. Yeah definitely.

Speaker 1:

I definitely feel that, and when you have multiple projects that you're working on as well, I think there are people that that really works for. That works for me, but not everybody's like that. Some people really want the. This is how I start my day. This is when I have my sandwich. This is when I have my tea break. This is when I finish Everybody's different, so it's all about whatever works for you, definitely.

Speaker 2:

And I am that person. Laura, are you? I could do a Marky Mark. You know he gets up at three in the morning and plays golf. I'm not like that, but I could break my day down almost like daily.

Speaker 2:

It's probably the same kind of routine because I really do like I'm definitely undiagnosed ADHD and I do flip from project to project and I leave projects unfinished all the time because I get bored and then want to do something new. It's always the new getting that dopamine hit, which is why it's so great that I get to. You know I can put different things on plates because oh, that's one I haven't done before. Or this big green. I've put one in the Adidas hoodie, but now I can do one in something else. So it's always that little bit different.

Speaker 2:

But I mean I get up at the same time every day and I pretty much go to bed at the same time every day and I do have my cup of tea at 11 and I do have my lunch at half past.

Speaker 2:

Well, and then I might go for a stroll, quick stroll, in the afternoon, but it's, it keeps me on the straight and narrow and it keeps me in the place that I need to be, because otherwise it would be very easy for me to become derailed and spiral and then, you know, possibly not even do any work, and that I so I need that structure definitely and I kind of impose it upon myself. And then there's a special treat sometimes I might take a day off, like really rarely we're talking a day off in in months. I certainly don't take the 25 days off a year that that most people do. But you know, in that day off I think, oh, you know, I'm not going to be in trouble because I'm having a day off, because it's just me. In fact, I don't give myself any days off. I know I really should and stop feeling guilty. But that's another thing I've struggled with. It's it's, yeah, it's like the guilt of not doing things when I feel like I should be doing.

Speaker 2:

I might be wrong, but I feel that everybody creative always feels that when you have so many ideas and you're not working, you feel guilty for that definitely I feel like I'm bunking off somehow and I must admit, even in going on holiday, I find it very hard to switch off and relax, and when I say holiday, I don't take holidays. The last time I went away was 2017, I think, and I just just had three days in Benidorm for my husband's dad's 80th. And even when we were there, I found it very difficult to sit down at any point. Just sit down and be.

Speaker 2:

I have to be walking, walking around, looking at things, discovering things, getting up in the morning, walking the entire length of Benidorm back and I know it is a bit of an issue I have, and perhaps I need to go into some more therapy about that. But yeah, it's just that constant need to keep moving, keep moving, keep doing things. And as soon as I sit down, I think, oh, the world is just galloping away without me. You know, I have to keep up. It's um, it's quite exhausting sometimes here, I must admit.

Speaker 1:

I feel the same. So there's no advice for people in this part of the podcast. Give us advice, please please.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I actually give myself permission in the evenings to sit down and watch TV, because that's TV time that's allowed. I know I wasn't really like this a few years ago. I could quite easily have gone on holiday and done a beachy reading holiday, but now I'd be going insane and tearing my hair out and thinking, oh, but there's so much I could be doing. I'm never not doing. I blame my parents.

Speaker 1:

You mentioned a little while ago that your ankles hurt at the moment. I had a really bad fall about a month ago and I sprained my ankle so badly that I was forced that I couldn't walk at all. I was forced to be on the couch for two whole weeks and I couldn't do anything. And I had the best time Because you were forced to.

Speaker 1:

I was forced to be still, but also I've got all my paints around me, so I painted so much just for enjoyment, not for anything. So I just painted and I edited loads of podcasts. I just had a lovely time. So sometimes I feel like we're forced to be still. My ankle still hurts, but I can walk again, I can move. So I'm back to running around London all the time now, but it was really good. So there really is something. If you can force yourself to stop for a little while, it can be so beneficial. And I didn't need to feel guilty because I literally couldn't move.

Speaker 2:

I hope your ankle's okay as well well, I have this thing called plantar fasciitis. I can't say the word plantar fasciitis and um, but because I love running so much, I've just run on my foot for too long and then, literally yesterday, I took a bit of a tumble like an old lady because I was walking down a really steep hill in Brighton and I knew it was slippery and I was kind of like but I'm just going to be quite sure-footed about it it was quite rainy, but I just went half over to hit it on this really really steep hill on the ankle. That's dodgy. So it is really really painful right now and I should probably take some ibuprofen, to be honest, but, um, it is that enforced thing though. I mean, isn't it funny that it took you completely destroying your ankle and you couldn't walk to make you sit and just not move? But even even then, though, you were still active, you were still doing the creative things, which is amazing. Yeah, I hope it doesn't take a broken limb to make me just sit down.

Speaker 1:

I'm so sorry that you fell over and when I the fall I had was so dramatic that I said to everyone I can only describe it as going arse over tit like it was spectacular, so I hope yours was less.

Speaker 2:

I just landed on my bum, that's all.

Speaker 1:

It's one of those oh gosh, you poor thing. I hope your ankle heals up fast now, but take some time. If you can relax as well thank you.

Speaker 2:

Do you know what actually helps you saying that? Because I feel like if she's given me permission, then maybe I will but sometimes that is what it takes.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes it is somebody just saying just take a breather. You've done so much this year. We're coming to the end of the year now. It's getting into the time of year where we reflect on everything we've achieved and hopefully take a bit of a break. So I hope you get to chill out a little bit and relax.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I hope so too, and I'm sort of thinking about what I might do next year, if you know, like if I should go on a course, because I'd love to be able to diversify my, my skill set. I don't normally speak like that, by the way, but there are things that I'd love to be able to do that I can't do, like pottery or sewing, and I keep having ideas for garments that I can't make because I literally can't sew and I did so badly at school in needlework and it was a real source of frustration for me. But I keep having these. Oh, but I want to do that, and I want to do that, and I want to do that. And I want to make a balaclava that looks like the underneath of a knight you know, a knight's in shining armor or chain mail. I want to make a silver knitted balaclava because I think it's going to. It would look amazing, but I can't knit.

Speaker 1:

I am so here for House of Lucy's Passion Line. Please, please, go take a course.

Speaker 2:

Sign up I want to take a course. I do because I've got a lovely other. She's a jeweller but she can sew really well, creating a dress for me at the moment from beer towels there's going to be a big Walker's Closets one at the front and I just can't wait.

Speaker 2:

And the style of it's going to be like quite corseted. It will look quite Tudor, but I love that whole like future medieval style again, the mashing up of the old and the new. I am the embodiment of that in myself, I think, as well as my artwork.

Speaker 1:

Wow, well, I'm so here for it. By the way, helz, my friend who if people listen to this podcast they'll have heard her episode before Helz booked me a pottery class on Saturday night, inon, and we got to use the wheel and we got to do handmade stuff and it was so fun. I really recommend if you have any interest in pottery, go go take a class.

Speaker 2:

That is so fun, so so good well, I really need to, because both my parents putted oh, oh, wow, and my mum used to teach in the 60s. So I feel like, for their sake, I should get myself on the wheel and start making the actual House of Lucy range of homewares that everybody needs. Maybe that's what I do with Poundland.

Speaker 1:

Usually I ask people what they're going to be working on next, but we heard it here first House of Lucy, fashion Line, pound Lad Ceramics. There's so much to come. I'm sure Now, lucy, we are pretty much at time. But there is one more thing that I would love to ask you, and that is because last time we spoke, you told me the cutest story, and it wasn't part of the questions, it just kind of came up. It was the cutest story. I just kind of came up. It was the cutest story. I am such a romantic and I love a love story. And you told me how you met your now husband Well, not how you met him, but how you knew that you were going to stick it out and be together and that there was a pilot of a TV show involved. Can you please tell us about that?

Speaker 2:

Oh my goodness. Well, it's still on now and I do watch it occasionally. It's called dinner date, that pilot that you were talking about. But my path had crossed with Jason's over about a period of 20 years because he used to run a recording studio that first of all, I had a boyfriend that used that recording studio to rehearse, and so I used to see him there. And then Jason went on to become the MD of a music magazine that someone else I knew ended up working for. So we just like weaved in each other's lives. But he was married, happily married with a child, and then years later they ended up separating and Jason and I ran into each other again, actually on the bus.

Speaker 2:

I didn't realise it was him on the back of the bus. He had a hoodie on and I was really pissed and my friend was saying go and speak to that bloke at the back of the bus. And I went and sat next to him and I was like you all right then, and he turned round and I went oh it's Jason. Oh, my goodness, it's Jason. Sorry, so we'd always stayed in touch. When I found out that he was again single, I, sort of like, did reach out and we went on a date and I remember thinking, when he walked in the restaurant, how weird it was because I'd only ever seen him as a friend. I couldn't see him in that way because he'd always been married. And when he walks in, I remember thinking, yes, I could kiss him, I could snog him, because you kind of know, don't you? When you first you just know. So that was the first thing that made up my mind. Right, if you can snog them, then there's scope.

Speaker 2:

And then, after we had a few dates, I did get approached. I'd already done this pilot river, I'd had already filmed this pilot. They just got in touch with me saying they wanted me to be on the show itself because it had been commissioned. And I said to Jason so, dinner date, he said, oh, they'd actually like to film an episode with me. And he said, oh, oh, I think we should just go for it. And I remember thinking, oh, that's not really the answer I wanted. So I said, really, do you really think I should do it? Because it doesn't feel. I don't know If we're dating, it's not very honest. And he went well, actually, I think I'd like it if you kind of didn't in that case. And then we both went, oh all right, I won't do it. So that's how we kind of knew that it was a bit more than just early dates and there was a bit more to it.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I love that. I love that a production company were the ones who forced you to admit your feelings for each other. It's difficult, isn't it?

Speaker 2:

Because I just I mean, I just had three years of single fun and having the best time of my life. I guess at that point I was looking for something more serious, but you never know, it's that one until they come along and something changes, and it did. It's like the light on my taxi just went out oh, oh, that's so sweet.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for sharing that story, and that's an even better version than I had the first time, so I'm very grateful, lucy, that is all that we have time for today. Again, I am so grateful that you did this, not once, but twice, with me. We've touched on your fantastic Instagram, which is so full of comedy, and you get to see Wayne. You get to see your amazing creations and the upcoming pottery line, so that people can go and find you on Instagram and your socials. Can you please tell us where that is?

Speaker 2:

So my Instagram is houseoflucyarts and it's all spelled as it's said H-O-U-S-E. I don't really do Facebook, I don't do TikTok, so it's just me on Insta come and find me Perfect.

Speaker 1:

So, houseoflucie, thank you so much. I've loved this conversation if possible, even more this time around and to hear your insights and your perspectives, I really appreciate it. So, thank you so much and everybody, please go check out House of Lucy on Instagram.

Speaker 2:

Thanks Rua.

Speaker 1:

There you have it. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of this is Disruption. If you've enjoyed today's conversation, make sure to follow the podcast and never miss an episode. You can find us on all major podcast platforms Apple Podcasts, spotify, etc. Stay connected with us on social media. You can find the podcast at thisisdisruptionpod on Instagram and TikTok and you will find updates and snippets of upcoming shows. Until next time, keep challenging the status quo, embracing your creative spirit, and be brave. Go and create. Thank you, and see you in the next episode.