Niching smeeshing!

Advice for small businesses is that we should niche. Find our niche and stick to it, that’s how we’ll succeed.

But success is relative. It’s personal. Is it really success if it isn’t making you truly happy, if it’s leaving you with an ache in your heart because you have so much more to give?

There are so many styles that I want to express, and so many purposes I want to fulfil.

Maybe I’m being naïve. Or maybe … just maybe … I can break the mould.

‘How to Train Your Dragon’ is one of my favourite films. The messages within it really speak to me.

Vikings fought dragons. It’s what they did. Until Hiccup, a young son of the Viking Chief, didn’t. Slaying a dragon would give him status and respect, it would make him a ‘real’ Viking. It was expected of him.

But it wasn’t in his heart. He couldn’t kill a dragon. He wouldn’t kill a dragon. But he was the first to ride one!

I want to ride dragons. Maybe I’ll fail. Maybe I’ll get fried and eaten, or maybe I’ll just have to get with the programme and slay them instead.

But for now, I’m going to take all of the dragons I want to ride and nurture and grow each one. I want to leap on their backs and see where they can take me.

Here are my four dragons:

Fine art pencil drawings

Intricate, realistic artwork created with just pencil and paper. My first love.

Sometimes a particular photo or scene just captures me and I need to recreate it with my own hand. Wildlife, nature, animals, or sometimes something completely unexpected.

These pieces are a long and special journey - something of a love affair – absorbing myself for hours to capture the smallest of details and bring the subject to life.

Once complete, I turn them into prints and greetings cards for sale, and sometimes even the odd tea towel, like my beautiful zebras. As for the original, I sometimes offer that for sale too, or sometimes I gift them. And sometimes I love them so much that I keep them.

I also periodically open my books up to commissions, so that I can capture the pets and images that are so special to you or the people you love.

Murals

I have recently completed two murals in a mental health hospital. It’s a fairly new dragon for me, but one I want to keep on riding!

The whole process, from beginning to end, is so much more than I could have imagined. When I started, I was focused on what the end result would bring to the inpatients and staff. The comfort and warmth that colour can bring, the pleasure and relaxation that looking at art can deliver, and of course, the message of hope that sits behind these specific murals – Hope Trees.

What I hadn’t expected, was the joy and sense of togetherness that painting the murals, right there amongst all those people, would bring. How it would feel as if the end result was something they were a part of and would feel so connected to, long after I packed up my paints and headed home.

I want to do more of this if I can, in other hospitals and mental health facilities, in homes, in shop, there are so many possibilities.

Business illustration

Bringing business messages to life is a core part of what I do. I love it because the possibilities are endless.

Using bright colours and innovative images, all sorts of business related materials can be transformed from dull and monotonous, to inspiring, engaging, lively and fun.

Logos; strategy and vision documents; financial reports; leaflets; communication campaigns; clip art images; even training videos and animations!

Whimsical art

Uplifting and fun drawings, full of colour, lovingly created to bring words and ideas to life, to capture memories or moments in time.

My Tranquil Times collection; character pictures; poem illustrations; greetings cards; affirmations; the drawing of my Mum reading that sits on a shelf beside me in my studio.

Each one holds meaning. Each one has purpose. Each one is so much more than just a beautiful drawing.

Some, like the one of my Mum, were in the moment, something I wanted to capture. Some, like all the Tranquil Times images, are memories that I wanted to draw and share with the world through prints and cards and homewares.

And others, like the Chateau de Beaulieu Christmas card, were commissioned. A chance for me to share in your memories and lives, and capture something so unique and personal for you. My books are always open to commissions like this, and could be of almost anything.

The bottom line … niching smeeshing. Tried it. Can’t do it.

So here’s the thing. I’ll be my own niche. I am my own niche.

I’m Emily – I create fine art pencil drawings, larger than life murals, bright and engaging business illustrations, and colourful and bright whimsical art.

I’ll illustrate my gorgeous friend Lydia’s book and poems. And I have some out of this world, beautiful, quirky and imaginative products that you can buy from my online shop, and nowhere else!

Drawing is my gift. It lights up my soul and makes my heart sing. I want to draw all the things. I want to draw for you. And that is exactly what I am going to do.