Indie Oxford Interview: Liz Corley Art
Liz from Liz Corley Art, based in West Oxfordshire, shares her journey from secondary school teacher to branching out to explore her own artistic adventure, and the importance of nature, far beyond just inspiration. >>
How did Liz Corley art get started?
LCA started after I was dabbling at home and created some artwork and put it onto Facebook. I was surprised when friends and family started asking if they were for sale. Then I had some ask if I could create commissions for them and the business organically grew from there! I had always wanted to start my own art business and the positivity received from social media about my artwork gave me the confidence to start. My (now) husband built me a studio in the garden to work away from the house and our 4 children and LCA was born!
I then entered the Blenheim Palace start-up competition for entrepreneurs and was chosen as a finalist! This really gave me the drive to develop LCA.
The transition from secondary school teacher to branching out on your own adventure
Teaching art for over 20 years has given me the skills to turn my hand to any medium in art, making me adaptable and inventive in concepts and ideas. Using my skill set to start my own business allowed me to develop a wide range of artwork, keeping the products fresh and varied and reaching a wider audience.
There is nothing quite like seeing your artwork turned into products and then seeing these in shops and watching the public buy them. It is so motivational!
Art inspired by the Cotswolds, nature and the British countryside. But, nature is more than just inspiration
Your creativity stretches across many mediums, from pencil to acrylics. Do you have a favourite?
That’s really hard to choose as I’ve taught all mediums for over 20 years, but if I had to I think dry media is my favourite. So pencil, coloured pencils and biro are the materials I naturally gravitate to. I am planning on expanding my biro art this year and introducing them to products as they have proved so popular!
Why did you choose a bee as your signature design?
What does the future hold for Liz Corley Art?
I have so many plans and it can be hard not to rush, but to pace myself so the business grows organically.
I will be expanding the wholesale side this year and going into more shops. You can also find me at markets throughout the year and I will post where on my social media sites.
I have just launched a new area of LCA called ‘Paw Prints’ specialising in pet commissions and putting the artwork onto products and am launching this at Millets Farm Dog Show on 22nd April.
I also have plans to help other artists as I found getting very small runs of products printed nearly impossible when I was starting out so I invested in the equipment to do this myself. I will offer a bespoke service to other artists for no minimum printing orders on products and will be launching this in the summer.
Finally, I will be launching my biro products soon, so lots of exciting plans ahead for 2023!