Art at Home with Emily Hadley [271]
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And that's the other thing, I'm not, like I've never liked wearing a uniform. You know, I had a job in Saints Rees as a teenager and I had to wear the most revolting polyester, weird blue dress. And I literally said then, I think I was 17, 18, I'm not ever doing a job where I have to wear a uniform. What I'm doing now is I can wear what I want, do what I want, represent myself authentically. ♪

Welcome to Art Juice. This is honest, generous and humorous conversations that will feed your creative soul and get you thinking with me, Alice Sheridan.

And today Louise is taking a break and I have a fabulous guest to introduce to you who combines amazing elements of art, home, a colourful life. And we are going to be talking about making a career change and which elements of your personality you can bring into the work and the way you do things. She's not an artist. She runs her own very unique gallery and the conversation ranges from

making changes in your life and what part of you you can bring into that and also different ways to think about perhaps presenting your art and

and how you might want to change the way you see putting it out there so that you end up with something that you feel both proud of and inspired to contribute to. Her name is Emily Hadley. You can find out more on her website at emilyhadley.co.uk and you might enjoy browsing her Instagram as you listen to this conversation. You can find her on Instagram at emuplots. I hope you enjoy the conversation. Settle in. There's a lot to listen to.

Good morning, Emily. Welcome to Art Juice. Thank you very much and thank you for having me. Very exciting and very honoured. Tell us a little bit about where are you based in the UK? I am down in Torbay in Devon by the sea. Have you been living, have you lived there long?

I was born in the town that I now live in, and basically grew up in the area. But yeah, then I moved away for uni, that kind of thing, went travelling, and lived in Exeter for 10 years after graduation. All fairly close together. Yeah, so it's a beautiful part of the UK, but it does have its...

It's challenges in some ways, which maybe we'll come back to too, because I think that's often an interesting thing that comes up that people have as a reason for why they can't do things in particular areas because of this area or there's nobody around here that does that specifically.

So I think it's an interesting thing to loop back to. I wonder if that crossed your mind at some point. But first of all, just to give us some context, tell us about what it is that you do. OK, it's so hard to sort of put into a box, really. But I suppose in a nutshell, I find wonderful artists and I showcase their work in my home or from my home. Yeah.

So a lot of that goes out, obviously everything goes out on Instagram. A lot of it will come back to, I'm sure is based around my Instagram account, but I do have a fully functioning website and everything as well that, you know, I use to showcase the work. But yeah, basically it's all about me finding out that I think that I love and that I genuinely feel works within an interior space and in a home space and then demonstrating to others that,

how it could look in their home by showing how it looks in mine and hopefully making everything look beautiful and aspirational. And no pressure then. Yeah. Delivered somewhere that feels beautifully curated. So how does it actually work then on a day-to-day basis? Are you open all the time by appointment or do you have particular events? How does that work? There's a bit of everything really and you know it's fairly new. I've been doing it for 18 months and it's sort of

I'm very nimble, basically. I'm totally flexible. So at the moment, yes, it's open by appointment.

and anyone is so so welcome to come and view art at any time but I did hold a private view for a new show that I'm doing or that I was doing earlier on in sort of October and then had an open weekend so we were just open 10 till 4 both days but going back to where I am based in Paynton in Torbay

You know, I'm in a sort of, in an area where you just don't get the footfall. It's not really worth me sort of being open all day, every day, because I'm not in the middle of a town. And it's, as you said earlier with, you know, you can't do that there because no one else does it. No one else does anything really like this in the area. Or it's just not somewhere people come to to find work.

art it sounds like it's a really interesting mix then so you've got that physical experience that you offer people if they want to come to it which all needs promoting you need to find people because you're not relying on that like local footfall so all of those have all of those connections but all of that part then has to happen initially through the online space or personal connections and

How much time and effort do you put into that online work? Because your website is beautiful. Yeah, so I used Wix and it's amazing. Like...

obviously not built a website before and it was uh you know it was tricky you learn there's a massive learning curve doing it um but it is amazing but I just love the analytics of it like going in the back office and then tweaking things and I've obviously got a blog on there so yeah it's a really really good tool did you have design background no

No, but my husband does. He's in the background. I mean, he teaches full time. He's not officially, you know, he's very useful as a sort of sounding board. No, I mean, my background is in teaching. Teacher for 20 years, primary school teacher. So I guess, you know, as being a teacher, you are the kind of like planning lessons and building lessons kind.

lots and lots and lots of basically PowerPoints and presentations that you're doing like over and over again for different things I suppose that might give me and I do think that kind of maybe that that leads into how I present things I'm so used to presenting things for children and I'm you know and I think I do sort of maybe that means that I simplify things um which I think then potentially makes things quite accessible I'm not sure um

Yeah, it's a very lovely mix. And I think often I find it hard to do. We feel that what we do is quite big and it's quite hard to speak about. But you've got very nice, small, little worded chunks that show what your belief is, like what your direction is, what you're intending to do with the different areas that you work in, the art, the interiors. And I think that breaking it down into like little bite-sized pieces is

That's possibly a teaching. First time it's coming.

like even come up and I've thought about it like that but yeah I think we've hit on something there yeah it's got to come from that from teaching seven-year-olds for many many years and you know having lessons observed and being told try like this do like that and you just learn and pick up different ways in and getting that information across I guess okay I'm gonna write down for myself right in chunks for a seven-year-old yeah exactly I mean that's how I need it that's how I need things

Yeah. And also, I think we tend to forget with our websites that we're very used to what we do. We know what we do. And often people when people are landing, we've got to put ourselves back into the position of somebody who they might have heard something about us before in order to get us there. But really, they want it spelled out pretty simply. Don't know. What do you do? Why? Where can I go next? What should I be looking at? Tell me why this is important. That's that's basically the key thing.

How did you get into this then? So if you were teaching for a while, how was art part of your world while you were teaching? So while I was teaching, I was the art coordinator at school, which I chose, you know, I'm

I was really, really keen to take that role on because I've always been really interested in art. I went to Kevix in Totnes, which has got a great reputation for art. And although I didn't follow an art route academically or anything or go to art college, it was always a really it was a hobby. It was always something I enjoyed doing and I engaged in for fun, you know. So once I was a teacher, that was definitely where I wanted to sort of direct my

I just wanted to prioritise that because throughout my whole education, that was really my favourite bit. And, yeah,

You know, I just think you get so much out of taking part in artistic endeavours. You learn so much about yourself. It gives you that space to learn about other people and all that sort of thing. And it's just fun at the end of the day. And I just always loved doing it. And also that sense of fulfilment when you've made something, you've created that thing, you can have that real pride in it and everything else.

So I always really loved it from my own point of view. And I felt like I wanted to give that to the children that I was teaching and children in the school that I taught at. So I proudly became the art coordinator. And just every available opportunity, I would visit museums, galleries and bring back to school stuff that I'd picked up.

you know, especially in half term. And then I had my own children. So I'd go to workshops at the Tate and et cetera. And I just loved being immersed in that world.

And, you know, then I started to buy art from my own house and source things. And a lot of the time it was on a very, very tight budget. So I'd find maybe an artist locally at an open studio or something and all just constantly looking for art, really. But basically, I'd got to a point with an education where sadly, after 20 years of doing it, and even though I was always banging the drum for art and creativity, the arts in general, actually, you know, at school, I

they're just so sidelined now yeah um and I'm someone who sort of feels things really deeply I couldn't sit in a meeting and listen to I was loads and loads of meetings over and over again where the art was just taken out time for that for that creative thing was removed from the from the timetable and then we were told we had to do this and I felt like a lot of time was setting children up to fail because you know the expectations were ridiculous um

And I just started to get really disillusioned with the education system in particular, the academy that I worked for as well. And then COVID came along and I think that was kind of a final straw. Yeah. A lot of the art things that we put into place. It's just the time you need time to do creative subjects, you know, just getting out the paints and the pastels and the clay and everything takes time, let alone the actual work.

time to lecture and explore these things. And yeah, I just became really, really disillusioned with the whole thing. A friend of mine suggested that I could do this thing where I opened up my home as a private gallery. Why don't you do that? And show, you know, you can showcase art in your own home. And it just set a little ball rolling really in motion. And it didn't happen overnight. But I started to sort of look into it or think about consider it. And

I mean, long story short, I left teaching, did a couple of other things in the meantime, and then started to do it, basically, to show up via my Instagram account, because I mean, I didn't have, I've got 60k followers at the moment, but

I didn't have that many back then, I probably had 25,000, something like that. Then I worked for the gallery who I was already sort of new and they suggested, why don't we send you some art? They represented amazing artists and they said, why don't we send you some art to showcase? You style it up and we'll put it on the website and everything. So that was a nice little way in. So I got some absolutely amazing art delivered to the house and I

Went about styling it, loved doing it. It was quite successful. You know, most pieces sold or a number of the pieces sold off the back of it. And it was really nice to have these pieces of art in the house on a temporary basis. And I sort of moved them around a bit and restyled them and then posted again on Instagram about them in a different part of the house. And all of these things were just sort of building up to then me thinking, right, I'm going to approach some artists again.

so I approached some artists that I already knew I approached Jenny Stewart and Sarah Smalden who are like Bristol and Plymouth based so fairly local and said how do you fancy being my guinea pig basically right yeah I'm gonna do this like let's give it a go literally that's how I did it and then I went back to them and said right give me feedback how do you think if I did this with the general art public or artist public like

What do you think? Is this an acceptable thing to do? Would 90 days be a good time to have the art initially? Would this much commission? Blah, blah, blah. And they were great. They gave me feedback. Initially, it was literally just on Instagram, but then the website came about. But I just slowly, slowly started this thing. Lots of finding your way as you go.

Yeah, lots of open ended questions that you didn't know the answer to, including the big one. Is this is this going to work? Which often I think includes, is this worth my time? Is this like when we say, is this going to work?

I think that's a question that often artists, is this worth doing? It's like, okay, what are we really asking here? Is this worth your time? Does it feel important enough? Maybe what is the return going to be from it? I wonder if those are the two parts of the balance. Well, it was a weird thing. So, you know, essentially I was at the point with, obviously I have a 20-year career in teaching, right up there on the pay scale, you know, like I'm...

I'd given that up because I was burnt out, disillusioned and all the rest of it. I couldn't really afford to give up. I can't, you know, I can't just afford to give up my, to give up. So it was a weird time, but I read a thing, I can't remember the name of the guy, but I saw a thing and he was someone who's done really, really well in business. And he basically said he was made homeless at 16, you know, family issues, this, that and the other. And

it could go down one or two ways, you know, it could go very, very badly wrong. And he could just be in a cycle of sort of homelessness and everything else, or he could make something of himself. And he had to make it work, you know, had to make it work, or he was going to be homeless for the rest of his life, basically. Yeah, it's not as extreme, but I felt like I had to make it work. Because if I didn't make it work, I would have to go back to education, which was

kind of making me a bit unhappy. When you're feeling like you're just dipping your toe in, or you're like, oh, I'm not sure. When you've had that point where you think, right, okay, it's this

Or, and it was the same for me too, it was like, okay, I either really concentrate on art and what's that going to look like? I didn't know the answer to any of those questions. Or I have to go and find a job in an office working for someone else. And that was so much down there while I was doing that. So, okay, I've got to make this work. And I don't know what this looks like yet, but I think having that real sense of,

drive towards something that's the bit that pulls you through all those moments absolutely absolutely and you know I did I had to go back to supply teaching financially at the beginning especially because you know that but so I can always do that but at the same time I was like I did not want to be in like say an office job or back into teaching because I knew that I wouldn't have the capacity to make what I thought could work

And so I just had to sort of be in that uncomfortable place. I had to put like stay in it because I would put myself in it almost inadvertently by leaving. And then I just thought, no, I can't take myself out of it. I have to stay here forever.

and just keep trying this thing. And as you say, I mean, mainly it's the time and the effort and is it going to be, is it worth it? But at the same time, it's just so worth me trying. And you mentioned the word nimble earlier, which I think is also a lovely thing to bear in mind. And we do forget that, that when we are usually the sole person in charge, and I know that you're working with other people and that brings its own level of complication.

But we do actually have the ability to make decisions ourselves, to change our mind, to do something differently. And I think it's so easy to forget that.

How much do you think what you've created suits your personality? Do you think that looking back over the last however long of your life, which parts of your personality have you pulled into the business? Why does it suit you? And why are you creating things the way you're creating them? Okay, so I think, you know, why I love teaching is like, essentially, I am a bit of a child in many ways. And I'm on that sort of, I like it.

Although I feel things deeply and I do take things seriously, you know, at the same time, I really crave that sort of slightly decadent, like fun parts of life and not taking things too seriously, but also having a sort of personal connection with people. Like I really enjoy people. I always...

Like I said, I loved working with the children. I always had a really good relationship with the children. We had lots of fun together. Generally, I really got the parents. I had a good rapport with them. I thrive off personal relationships like that. But also I like things quite uncomplicated, which is why that's the good thing about this in a way, because I can keep it as simple as I want. I can make it really super complicated or I can just keep it quite simple and

And it's all on my own terms, I suppose. So that's the other thing. I'm not like I've never liked wearing a uniform. You know, I had a job in Sainsbury's as a teenager and I had to wear the most revolting polyester, weird blue dress. And I literally said then, I'm 17, 18, I'm not ever doing a job where I have to wear a uniform. Yeah. And it's like being a teacher, like there was times towards the end, especially when they started to be a bit more like,

dictatorial about is that the word about what you wore and you can't wear trainers to school and you know I've lived in converse for the last 15 years and all of a sudden they're saying you can't wear them what I'm doing now is like I can wear what I want do what I want represent myself authentically um

and also have that relationship with people that I that I enjoy like my husband always says you know he he's so clever and very intellectual and also really creative and artistic himself but he said he couldn't do what I'm doing because he doesn't have the ability to sort of connect with people in the same way yeah and he has no want to do it in the same way yeah and

you know I'm interested then and this is something that I'm often interested in particularly with creatives because I think the relationship with this is an interesting one yes we love the freedom the flexibility that autonomy to make decisions and and be nimble what's your relationship with

with structure like when you impose it okay there's a little laugh there which means you're a bit of a structure rebel yeah yeah I'm terrible and again I don't know if that's like come off years of having to fill out a you know fill out my lesson report like do this bit of paperwork do that bit of paperwork submit this and I've kind of gone away from that now and I'm just I can do what I like

To be fair, to be completely honest, it is something I struggle with a bit, with the whole, with it actually. And obviously it's early days. I keep saying, right, next week I'm going to get, I'm going to make sure that I'm up, dressed, da-da-da, by this time. Next week. But I find what I'm doing at the minute is so a bit of this, a bit of that, a bit of this. And, you know, it doesn't necessarily need to be that structured. Yeah.

But I wouldn't mind it being a bit more structured. And I am really, like, quite laid back with the artists I represent, I think, as well. Hopefully they would agree. And I don't know if that's always, for a business point of view, the best thing, but I'm quite relaxed about a lot of things. And I know certain galleries, you know, that run in a different way and it's got to be this and it's got to be that. And I'm a bit more like, oh, we'll just see how it goes and da-da-da.

Well, you must have some kind of systems in place for like tracking the art that's coming in and everybody's content. I mean, there must be certain things that you've had to create for yourself in order to keep on top of that. But there's a response to...

previous ways of working, which is what you've consciously chosen not to do now. It's interesting to notice whether we're the kind of person who uses structure as a spirit. I bring structure in only when I get to the point where the pain of not having it is too much. And then I think I need some structure here. And then once I have it in place, then I can be free form again and ignore it a little bit, but it gives me a degree of security that,

And I just think it's a really interesting conversation to have with those of us who approach things from a very creative point of view, because I don't think it's necessarily our inherent go-to way of operating. And yet there are times that we need it. Do you have even a structure to the week or is it very, do you have a weekly planner that like these key things I want to do this week? Yeah.

No, I have a moleskin diary that I, like, scribble all over with basically lists of stuff to do. And, you know...

There is a structure to any artist that comes on board. There's onboarding stuff that they fill out, that I fill out, that things that we agree on. And so there's that structure and there's a very loose structure to, you know, I'll go and visit an artist in the studio if possible. That's when we get all our content for the website and for Instagram in terms of

looking into the studio because I think that's like such an important part of what I do is that I bring that part of the artist's life to other people yeah you know like it gives their work provenance and everything else so like things like that they're quite generally quite structured to try and make sure that we we do that as one of the first things that we do there's certain steps that we take that are structured and often I have a date in mind for when I want

somebody's work to go onto the website so I tried to space it out so that I mean I did do like a group show um earlier on but back in late September October and that was because I'd collected art over the summer and because you know we'd been away and different things I'd got the art from me I'd visited studios collected the art that was all lovely but I had three different artists and I was really keen to showcase their work so I did it all together but normally I

I collect the art, I come home, style it, take photos, et cetera, build their part of the website, write lovely things about them.

And then I have a date in mind and I try and, you know, for the drop, you know, it's like, like, when do I do this art drop? Like, is it going to be a Friday night? Is that going to be a good time for people to be looking at the preview? Because anyone who's subscribed to my newsletter always gets a 24 hour preview. So it's like trying to work out, okay, so when are they going to be most likely to have a bit time, inclination to look at the work? Is it, you know, in the past we tried to coincide with payday. Is that going to help?

Yeah, I often think about this as well when I send out my newsletter, because people are thinking about home again. Yeah. They've switched off from the work week. They've got time if they need to go and measure up or check where it's going to go. That's kind of what I think. I always picture like, OK, what would I be doing on a Friday night? Well, I'd probably be fire on, sat in front of the telly, maybe a glass of wine, scrolling, maybe check my emails once or twice. Something might pop up. Yeah, look at that, you know.

On the other hand, sometimes Sunday night's a good time to do it. People are trying to forget about the week. They want something nice to think about. They want a distraction. So in terms of structure, I try and have a date in mind and I try and be clever about it. But I don't know how clever I am really, but I try. So that's kind of the main structures are based on when is an artist available for us to visit and when am I available to travel to wherever they live? Because it can be

a four-hour drive you know that kind of thing can we just loop back to the idea of styling because this is something that I think is obviously one of your key skills and one of the things that you do really well is not only photograph things well but present art within the context of a home like that's an essential part of what you do very differently from a normal gallery and

I've got two questions. The first one is, what do you think art brings to a home? Why is it so important to have art in a home? And then I want to talk about how you go about styling. But why is art in a home so important? So I always say that I think whatever art you have in a home should be the ultimate reflection of who you are in terms of like,

the style that you, whatever you, resonates with you should be in, on your walls and on your shelves and that, you know, and also it should be a story of you and your family. So in our house, we've got stuff that we've collected over years. Like I was saying to you earlier, like at the beginning, it was just like things, postcards that we framed, but it might be like a Matisse postcard that I framed, but I know that I bought that in,

on a visit to Tate's and Ives back in like, you know, 2012 when I had little children with me and like, I don't know, but also I love my teeth and I love, so I have that on the wall because that's such a reflection of me, my history, who I am, what I like. And I just think art is just such a good way to bring depth to your, to a home. I can't, it's really hard to put your finger on a bit. Depth, joy, fun, colour,

All those things can be brought into home by whatever art you choose for it. And personally, I think your home should be sort of a really thick tapestry built up over years of maybe different homes, but then you take stuff with you and like eventually you've got this sort of space that is literally you. Yeah.

you know, and your family. And so the art should speak of that. So whatever that is. Do you see people struggling with choosing art? Or do you find that the kind of people who come to you or make choices are quite, quite clear? I mean, it's one of the absolute joys, I think, of selling art in person is seeing that moment that someone connects to a piece of art and

and I also have there are also times where I'm frustrated where I can see someone not following that gut pull yeah and the other things come in and I appreciate that money is always a consideration in it and also for me it's it's it's not about that is when people say oh I need to go and check with

I don't know, they need approval from somebody else for it. Oh, yeah. I don't know. How much of that do you see? Because a lot of the way that you show art, it is this beautiful, like lots of gallery walls, lots of cross connections, all those kind of clashing styles brought together really well, which I think is so great to showcase. You don't always have to buy art of one style or one type or this is how you can present it.

But do you actually see that in people when they're making a decision? I think often people come to me almost they're ready to buy. Yeah.

And I do feel that maybe sort of seeing it in the home space can help push them over the edge in terms of, yeah, I'm going to buy that. And a lot of the time I do have conversations with people when there's a lot of to and fro and then they end up obviously deciding actually no. And I often they do cite someone else as a reason. Oh, my husband, my husband doesn't like it. Sometimes it's just to let them off the hook, isn't it?

It is, oh, I've measured now and it doesn't fit where I thought it would go. That kind of thing. And obviously that's so deprogative. And it's that we all, you know, that's fine because it's got to be right. And that's the really, really important thing. And I think that goes back to relationship buildings as well, because if somebody has had that experience with you and you are able to let it go, that's often when they come back again another time.

So that might not have been right or the right size, but they will have that experience of choosing. And even in that to and fro, I think one of the key things that we can do at that point is to not make people feel guilty that they've said no. Oh, my God. I think, you know, buying art is so personal. It's such a, you know, obviously it's an investment.

They're not, you know, I deal with fine art. It's, you know, I understand it can be a lot of money. But there's no point trying to pressurise someone into buying a piece of art because it either speaks to them or it doesn't. My job, I feel like, is to put it out there, to maybe point out why it's a great bit of art and what's so good about it. And also, like I said, giving that provenance to the art and the art, speaking of the artist and what the artist does

the direction that the artist comes at their work and you know that can speak to people can't it you know they might know that the artist does or has done might resonate with someone who's then buying the artwork somewhere the artist lived or

something I think that's a really important thing is to give them all that information like so what the art might look like in their home close-up of the art look there's a bit of texture on there look at that mark making as much as possible the framing look at the frame look at the side of the frame look give all that information to them because obviously people don't generally see it in person here and give them that background of the artist but then it's over to people to decide and I can't

force that upon anybody and I wouldn't want to and it's just if you see a bit of art and you love it you love it you know that you know that's it isn't it yeah there is also there is something in the making that okay I think we're often not given the allowance to just do something because we like it

Yeah. Yeah. I think buying art often comes into that. Can we talk about styling a little bit? Yeah. Because you obviously have the art showcase within your home. I can imagine that there are, like any home, there are times where it gets quite a muddly mess and things need tidying up and sorting out. Like everybody's home is a living, breathing space. And also I think what we have within our home is,

It can be very useful as an artist to be able to style your work at home when you're doing photographs for your own website. How do you go about doing that? Do you have any fancy camera equipment? Do you have any top tips for styling?

When you're for artists who are taking photographs of their own work at home, what are you trying to do when you what do you even mean when you talk about styling a piece of work? Yeah, it's a really good question. So my Instagram account grew up around sort of more in the interiors. Well, the interiors of Instagram for a time was really quite interested in or like obsessed with selfies, for example, you know, selfies.

And I got quite, that's the thing where I spent hours faffing, as you might call it, putting together a little image that I, because it was back in the day when Instagram was one shot. It was just your one grid, you know, no carousels, no mirrors, blah, blah, blah. And you just had to like kill it with that one shot of the room. So I sort of, I suppose I picked up a little bit of a few tips and tricks there. And the kinds of things I do with my art is,

So first of all, I try and make sure as well, wherever possible, it's the right kind of size for the space that you're putting in. Obviously, that's quite important. I use props and it's weird. I don't know whether it's the right or wrong thing with anything. Who knows what's the right or wrong thing to do in life? But I quite often like I've got hundreds of books. I'll use some books and I'll try and tie in maybe the colours, but not in a matchy matchy way, but in a sort of just pick out a few colours.

that might be in the work. And yeah, just props like vintage things, maybe some flowers, just basically make something that looks really aesthetically pleasing. I move furniture around from upstairs to downstairs and,

The house is ever evolving, really. Obviously, there are things that are just set in stone. I can't really move my massive, great big grey three-seat sofa out of the lounge or anything very often. But some things do get moved around. And to be fair, I often style something or I have a place in mind and it does not work. It doesn't look right. And so, you know, those pictures won't be used or I just it's trial and error sometimes.

But it is interesting how it does reflect and it goes back to the conversation we were having about art in your home and reflecting your personality. And for me, I remember when I started trying to photograph my own work, and this is before the days of those in situ art apps. And I think they do have a place because, well, our sofa at the time was kind of, you know, a 10 year old family sofa.

sofa that the dog slept in the corner of like it was it was not an aesthetically beautiful thing yeah it really wasn't and now we have this crazy sofa that is covered in sort of multi multi-color velvet which is one of the most joyous things I've ever bought for my home

And I lived with huge doubt in the three months between ordering it and it arriving as to whether I just made the most expensive mistake, but it's absolutely lovely. But it's not a great thing to photograph with art above it because it's so much of a statement

on its own so when I'm working with different paintings it's it's not very helpful um I do think that those those art apps can be helpful for large pieces in particular but for small and middle size I used to really enjoy finding a space at home styling it and you mentioned flowers and plants I think those can be a great thing to bring in because they break those hard edges

Yeah, definitely. It's another way to kind of showcase what your... I hesitate to use the word taste, but it's almost like, what is your visual sensibility as an artist? And how can you include that in the way that you're photographing your work that brings in enough of you, but also leaves space for the buyer to imagine it in their own home, in their own way? Do you know, it's really funny because...

You know, you're always fighting against or working with, whichever way you want to see it, the Instagram algorithm, you know? Yeah. And I find, and I have found for a long time, that full room shots just get the most traction. With the styling, although I'll zoom in and I'll do little close-up bits and little vignettes of things, honestly, I just... The main aim is always to try and get something like a full room shot because...

At the end of the day, I feel like I'm speaking to people who like interiors and are interested in interiors and want to better their interiors perhaps and are maybe renovating a house. So I want to give them that full room shot because they might... It sounds really cynical, but they might not even like the art, but they'll like the post because they like your sofa or they like my shelves or they like the fireplace. And then that just takes that bit of art... Yeah, further. Yeah, to more people. And so...

it's a bit cynical maybe but that's kind of where I'm at I often like sort of try to channel a magazine I love art interiors magazines you know I think how I'm not saying that every picture I put on my Instagram looks like it's from a magazine because that's certainly not the case but there's something within me that's thinking like would this you know would world of interiors put anything like this photo in their magazine which as I say I'm you know

illusions of grandeur there but that's kind of I'm trying to think like what's cool in this picture that's going to really appeal to people that's then going to get lots of likes lots of traction lots of engagement and hopefully get that art out there in front of people

Yeah, there was another artist that I came across the other day. I can't remember his name now, but his whole Instagram was his art in his home space, which was rather beautifully styled, I have to say. Lots of kind of 50s furniture and it was an aesthetically pleasing space. And I think this is probably the challenge that some of us have, but it's also quite a good...

kick up the butt for just actually making a nice space for yourself to live in anyway, isn't it? Well, even I mean, I'm, I just see like you doing anything that you do yourself, you always see the flaws in stuff, don't you? Well, I do. And I think, Oh, God, I need to repaint that wall. I need that. I'm not talking about sofas earlier, I really don't.

want new sofas for my living room because I know that then I can get some really better pictures and it will look much cooler and as I said earlier then it might appeal to the wider audience because our sofas were ones that we bought when the children were little and they're grey so they didn't show the dirt and they're like very chunky and very comfy but they're not really that they're not particularly cool or stylish or beautiful um hence I don't really take many pictures in that room yeah um

and when I do it's from a particular angle but it is though isn't it is getting to know your house like which times of day are better for light in different rooms how do you approach that on a on a practical basis do you have right okay I'm going to do lots of photographs this week and I have a tidy up going to gather everything together we're going to have like take a a

a batch of photographs switching the art in and out and it's quite a thing like it's quite an exercise doing it or do you how and do you have do you use artificial lights or how do you approach it it's a really good question I mean generally like I said I'll go to an artist studio collect some art yeah they're all excited and as soon as I possibly can once I have that art

that I will style it, I'll hang it and I'll just start to live with it a bit. And if it's a bright sunny day, brilliant and the art, sometimes it's quite an easy job and that bit of art will sit there

you know on that wall that bit of art looks great in the hallway against the yellow that sometimes it really works quite easily and it can be done and dusted within and not much needs to be done really it's just literally a case of taking down the art that was there putting up some art maybe like I said chucking in a couple of books that make it look different because I don't ever want my Instagram to be samey like I used to follow Instagram interiors accounts and it was literally like people had

I couldn't, I never really understood it, like no disrespect, but like tens of thousands of followers and all they ever posted was the same corner of their kitchen. I was like, I don't understand. Yeah, you're saying the same thing again and again. Yeah, and I just don't want to be that person. So try and like style it up so that it's different. But basically, if I can, I'll do that really, really quickly after I've got the art. And then the next day it'll be nice, bright weather, light outside, and I'll just see the light flickering and getting all like, you know, against the painting. I think, God, that's a good shot. And I'll take a picture and,

So some of it's a bit organic like that, you know, like, and sometimes I think, God, I don't know why that painting hasn't sold yet. Maybe I'll try it somewhere else in the house or I will try it somewhere else so that I can post it again, something different. And it's just like, it starts off as those specific places for paintings that I think will work, get the initial shots done. And then it's a little bit organic from there, really trying to get extra things as and when.

Yeah, I mean, if I'm looking at your website now with the pages that you've got on the artist page, and it's not the same shot repeated over and over and over again with just a different painting dropped in. You have mixed things around, changed them, the angles are different. Yeah.

which actually it's quite it's a it's a different way of doing it and I think when I was trying to do it I essentially at one point I had the same shot and I just I dropped the same painting I literally did it in photoshop over this so that it was almost identical on the same wall I had the shadows and then I could drop the painting in as well without actually having having to do it because I felt that it every every image needed to be consistent I mean we're talking going back a few years ago now

But I think that freedom, each image I use of this painting can be as unique and independent as the painting is. But it does give you some quite incentive to get your home sorted out. Yeah, definitely. I mean, our playroom is called the playroom. It's sort of the room that is kind of the gallery. But, you know, the art is everywhere here. But yeah.

That was just the playroom. And then just at the beginning of doing all this, we built in bespoke cabinetry into either side of the fireplace with the view that it would make a really good backdrop for the art, the creativity, something quite inviting for people. Like I said earlier, you know, like I'm always trying to think of like what's going to get lots of, sounds awful, but lots of likes, you know, because there are lots of staves and oh, I really like that room.

That room's got a beautiful green fireplace in it anyway that we inherited, you know, it's the original fireplace. So we built in the bespoke cabinetry, like we've got like scalloped edges, wavy edges on the shelves and things. It's a special space and we did that specifically for paintings and for getting interest in general. But to be fair, it's not the best for light, that room.

You said earlier about artificial light. Like, I mean, we've got lamps, we've got, you know, photographic big lamps and everything else. But I never find it is, I never find it as good as like a nice bright day. And also when I do photo shoots or when I take photos, you know, a lot of stuff is just pushed behind me out of shots. People go, how do you live in such a like, you know, tidy house? I'm like, I don't, honestly, I don't. I'll be honest about that. It's just,

it's just behind where the photo is being taken when I do open studios and everything looks lovely and everyone says where's all your stuff and I'm like it's all upstairs piled in yeah our bedroom yeah kind of regular living junk okay I think that's quite inspiring for people to just to go and have a go look at your home fresh

find, I always think find one space that works rather than, you know, trying to do a whole room with smaller paintings is an easier way to, easier way to do it and get started with it. How do you find the artists that you want to showcase?

So basically, you know, I'm on Instagram way too much and I spend my time, a lot of time looking at art, obviously, on there. And I've found a lot of artists through Instagram. OK. And I'll follow someone for a little while, probably.

and just keep a little eye on them. Where do you see that artists do themselves a disservice in the way that they present themselves? What are your big turn-offs or the things that you wish artists would do more of? It's a really good question and I can't really give you an answer because

I only really sort of see, it sounds funny, but I suppose the positive stuff, like I wouldn't, I don't really look at any art really and think, oh, I think they should have done it like that. I don't know. I just purely go on. Do I like the art? Does it speak to me in some way? How would it look in the house? If I'm thinking about them in terms of maybe an artist that I would like to work with, um,

I suppose, yeah, I don't know. I find it fascinating that I wish that I was someone who could just literally put on a photograph of work and it get a thousand likes because there are artists out there who've got such a sort of strong following of adoring fans that that's what happens. And I find that fascinating. But when you're following an artist on Instagram then... Mm-hmm.

Because lots of people ask me about Instagram accounts. And I think one of the biggest things that I see is people don't talk enough. Like the Instagram account will just be, or it might just be a photograph

that hasn't, they haven't paid a lot of attention to how it fits within their overall way that they're presenting themselves on their grid. And they're not talking enough about the art. And I think when you don't have that, you don't have any sense of connection. There's the visual link that you need to have that immediate, oh yeah, I like that.

But then there's the second layer of it as well, which is getting to know how they work, what they think about. Yeah. I mean, certainly from my point of view,

As someone who is considering like, you know, who might I like to work with, I suppose if I've seen something of them come across on their Instagram so that often, you know, you might see someone who will post about a show they've got coming up or like carrying their work to the show or being at the show or doing affordable art fair or other art fair or one of those sort of things. And they sort of post about it and you sort of follow them along and

And what I like is when you get a sense that that person seems approachable. Yes. You know, generally, like when you say, who, what are you looking for? How do you find artists to work with? I mean, a number one priority is that they are just lovely people because that's who I want to surround myself with. I think that approachability and the invitation to get in touch is something that we probably all could do.

a little bit more often I know that certainly for this like you and I didn't know each other and and you were recommended to me and one of the first things I did was come to your Instagram scroll through find bits where I can see you talking or moving or like what is your actually at the end of the day the question at the back of my head is can we have a conversation

Yeah, fun. We're going to have a conversation that we have enough that we see eye to eye on that feels okay for me to contact you out of the blue. And that's what people are doing when they're looking at our own Instagram accounts for our own art. They're checking for that. Does this feel okay to contact that person? So yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, if you're not in the art world, but you're somebody who wants to buy art, but you have no experience in that world, it can be so intimidating. I mean, that's why I do what I do, because I feel that it's an area that's quite useful for buyers and for artists. So in terms of artists, they get in their work styled up and like seen, hopefully by lots of people via my website and Instagram. But from a buyer's point of view, it's

you know they can approach me or that are they they're not having to go directly to an artist that they might feel a bit frightened by because you know we often put artists on pedestals and think oh they're these super cool people and they're probably like busy and like doing this that and the other and they don't really want me pestering them maybe I don't know that kind of vibe but

And so it's I don't find artists like that when I approach them. But I obviously that's because I'm happy to approach them and I know what it's like, what it really is like to be an artist. Whereas I think some people who aren't in the world or haven't got that much experience, it is hard to sort of feel safe enough to approach somebody. Yeah. And confident enough to do that.

Well, it's fascinating. It's also, I mean, it's lovely to see how much your business is growing and the direction I think that you're taking it in. And on Instagram recently, because there is a lot of talk about Instagram is dead, it's not working. And as you say, you have built your follower count by paying attention to what you're sharing,

sharing helpful and good quality images and we still respond to that so it's really it's encouraging to see that at least um we often end with sharing something that's inspired you it doesn't have to be art related

Okay so last week was half term and it was very exciting, went to London and picked up some new artwork from some artists that are going to join the gallery so that was lovely but while we were there we went to 8 Holland Street. Have you heard of it or have you been? As far as I know it started off as a gallery in like in Kensington

And then it's got the guys have got some space in Bath, which is like you can stay there. It's filled with art and vintage furniture and sculpture and all sorts of lovely things. And then they've got the Bath Gallery and then they've got one in St. James's Park in London.

I really like their eye for art and things like that and what they've selected. And that's sort of presented almost like it could be a home, but not quite. And then we went to this other gallery and it's this huge terrace house on the edge of a park and went in and there's already like a David Trigley one way, like a beautiful rug on the floor, some really cool like 1950s furniture. And it's all panelled walls and these huge,

high ceilings. They've done this amazing salon hang, basically. It's like floor-to-ceiling art. Every single wall was just covered in art from Sandra Blow, Alexander Calder, loads of different artists, Ben Nicholson, some more contemporary artists, and also beautiful furniture, amazingly beautifully upholstered sofas and lamps and everything. Just everything

It was just so beautiful and amazingly curated. And for me, it was really inspirational because it made me, you know, we all have doubts about what we're doing, like, what am I doing? And like, is it really worth it? But seeing people

something similar to what I'm doing but on a massive massive scale yeah um and just seeing how well they'd done it and also the eclectic mix of art all together and it just worked so well it was so impactful and I just came away from there like absolutely buzzing in terms of like obviously I'm never gonna have that huge space in London with these huge massive windows and all these but at the same time I'm doing that but on a honest on my own scale and

It sort of made me really proud of what I'm doing, but also gave me sort of inspiration for the future and things like that. And I just, yeah, as you can probably tell, I just loved it. And I thought it was really good. That's a lovely thing as well. And sometimes perhaps, again, we don't do often enough is to think, where are we really proud of what we're doing? What are we really doing well?

What can we be really proud of? And how can we grow that part? And I think this is what I'm coming away from this conversation with this sense that

you know, if art is important in your life, if you're making art, giving it the space as well and the way that you present it and the context that it's in for other people, that's a really important part of the message too. We shouldn't be apologetic. So that pride thing I think is a really nice takeaway from this conversation. So thank you so much for your time and

Just again, I hope you've been looking and browsing from the beginning of the conversation on this, but you can see more about everything that we've been talking about on the website. You can see Emily's home gallery. The website is emilyhadley.co.uk. And of course, you can find her on Instagram. The Instagram handle is emmyplops. Can we just talk about that quickly before we finish?

Where did that come from? Very quickly. It's not that deep, but I went travelling in 1998, you know, gap year, and no one had the internet. No one had emails really back then. It was just coming...

And so you'd go to sort of an internet cafe and set up your little email address. And I was in Australia and at the time there was a brand called Kangaroo Poo, which is like a surf brand of like sweatshirts and stuff. And I proudly wore my Kangaroo Poo sweatshirt. And it was like a play on the sweatshirt and the Kangaroo Poo. But my name's Emily, so it was like emu.

Emu Emily and to be fair it was originally poo but I somehow lost the password for that one so I reset it up as Emu Plops a little while later. So that was my Hotmail account and it was my Hotmail account throughout the most majority of my teaching career and when I set up my Instagram account 10 years ago they just automatically used your email address to give you an idea for a username and I just went with it because being a teacher particularly want to advertise

that it was me. So it was a way of being a little bit anonymous. It's such a ridiculous handle to have. I would love it to sound really professional and grown up now, but I have asked my followers a number of times by stories like, right, I think maybe it's time to be Emily Hadley Art or whatever. I think that one's already taken, by the way, but something along those lines and everyone's like, no, you can't. You have to keep Amy Plotts.

So yeah, it's emu plots, like it's staying for now even though it makes me cringe at times. Oh, it's brilliant. I will put that in the outtakes bit at the end, that's fantastic.