My 10 Year Affair - Reflecting on a Creative Career With PopUp Painting
It’s a Saturday afternoon and the team have just parked up outside our London Bridge venue – The Horniman at Hays! We are here to Sip & Paint and help unleash people’s creativity for the day. Now, setting up in this place involves a bit of a workout as we have to drag the kit down and up a gigantic set of stairs. Anyway, with all that done we somehow managed to lose the paint bucket. (This wouldn’t be the first time I lost a bit of kit whilst loading it somewhere – but at least we found this one). Luckily, the bucket was just chilling in some bins – apparently, the security thought that it was toxic waste.
Fast forward a few more years and we get to today. Which marks 10 years of being an artist with PopUp Painting. Hurrah! A whole decade of transforming blank canvases into masterpieces… or unique paintings.
My first-ever event was back in 2014 at a venue in Hoxton called Troyganic. We were all set up in the basement of this venue to paint Liechtenstein’s ball girl. It was supposed to be a dating event, but let’s just say the men were a bit scarce! Back then, Sip & Paint with PopUp Painting was a brand new concept in the UK, barely a year old itself. Even now though, I’m certain my family and some of my friends are confused as to what it is I do for a living.
‘I help people paint, whilst they drink alcohol.’
‘Of course, it’s a responsible event’
‘NO! It is NOT a CLASS!’ are just some of the things that are burnt inside my brain as an autopilot response!
An Artist Life
I have always been an artist, drawing and painting have always been my jam! But, the one thing missing was a steady flow of income to fuel my artistic flare – materials are not cheap! Of course, event gigs are not a money-making, get-rich industry. It was at the beginning few and far between but before I was employed, I was essentially unemployed, caring for my dad. He had a liver transplant and after 3 years or so of only finding a few volunteer roles to build a C.V., barely leaving the house (except for hospital visits) and let’s just say my bank account was singing the blues. I was doing my best, even though there may have been a few tears alone at night wondering what the hell, where is my life. Then, 10 years ago, (of course!) browsing Artsjobs (a familiar haunt by then), I saw it – the same advert I had seen a year before, from PopUp Painting for a part-time artist – This time I applied. I was glad to be earning money as an artist… and the rest, as they say, is history! (what a cheese ball saying). The events are so much fun. I love seeing people go off-piste! And I love seeing how each guest’s confidence changes from ‘Oh my god I can’t paint’ to ‘I can’t believe I did that, I love it’ No event is the same – and that’s why you should come along… here go buy a ticket (got to tick of the boxes for SEO ha!)
Artist for the Loving Vincent Press Night
The Shift to Marketing
Here’s the thing most people miss – I’m not just an amazing animal artist (lol) but I am also one of the masterminds behind most of the marketing. My home circumstances were slightly changing and I could be set free out into the world to find… me! Turns out destiny had already figured that out for me. One evening in 2015 driving back to the Islington office (and feeling incredibly travel sick) with the two co-founders. I expressed that my availability might become less. Boom! They saw an opportunity and offered me extra office work. I had no experience with marketing, but I am a fast learner so I quickly said yes.
I’ve had a wonderful, very wild ride of self-discovery and learning, in a small way like watching an epic tech evolution unfold – just look at our old event photos (coughs, loving vincent above) and videos! Social media has changed the advertising game significantly. Gone are the days of TV adverts – now it’s all about eye-catching filters, trick tactics just to get you to read a god-awful long caption, and reaching the perfect audience through a device that people can’t even put down when they go to the toilet. There’s never been a dull moment at PUP either working as an artist at events or marketing them.
Let’s blow my own trumpet, shall we? Because my success over the years isn’t just being an artist. I utilised my skills to help drive the company’s growth, by 2018 PUP had expanded unleashing creativity to 6 UK cities, by 2019, we saw a crazy 60% growth spurt. It’s going so well…Then bam! Lockdown swiped us in the face with red paint (argh!). Survival is mostly all about how you adapt in this world, and adapt we did. I helped develop a creative marketing campaign to keep the brand visible, in a time of non-existent in-person events we took our events online (an era I like to call the Zoom Age). Resulting, in a significant increase in online engagement and a wider customer base – worldwide! This is all great, but it’s also a very weird time, online events took their toll and some kind of normalcy is returning. It’s a do-or-die situation with many venues too scared to have us back fully. The directors took a daring leap. In 2021 the sister company London Art Bar was born. Now it’s a whole new artistic adventure. Three years down the line PUP and LAB continue to explode with creativity – and there’s way more to come!
10 years! For what?
Why have I stayed in the company for 10 years? People say most folk move on from a job after 4 years, but who measures a passion in years? Think about it – teachers don’t retire after a set number of ‘school days’ do they.. Hmmm! I like to refer to my good friend Christina Perri here who once said in her song ‘Miles’ – ‘Don’t count the miles, count the I love you’s’ I don’t count the 10 years as a bragging trophy. What I gained over the 10 years is more valuable to me. There was never a point where I did not laugh, That I did not smile, That I did not enjoy myself. I grew in character, confidence and skills and I found many good friends… I have been lucky to work alongside my marketing assistants Charlotte, Rebecca, Surya, Laura, Sophie, and now Jess. There’s no ‘I’ in the team obviously, PUP wouldn’t be where it is today without all of us and of course the constant perseverance of the directors – Gareth, Phyllissa, and Iain! I’m also glad to have shared my years with other skilled professionals in the office Lizzie, George, and Alex. And of course all of my fellow talented artists! A lot of friends have come and gone over the years which is often tiresome and sad. But that’s the nature of a small business (now a medium business, woohoo!).
In the past year, I’ve experienced burnout to the extreme. I’m slowly feeling a little lost and now and then battling with imposter syndrome (as I don’t have a degree in marketing) but there were and still are a lot of things to love and learn about my career, It’s mine, I built it and made it my own and that’s something I’m fiercely proud of. From a solo drifter to being a part of a thriving, vibrant creative community – 10 years flies by when you’re having a blast!
A
Annie Dalton
About The Author
Wildlife artist and illustrator, Annie Dalton is fueled by a love for nature and fun stories. Inspired by classics, folklore, and a dash of humor, I hand-draw animals with traditional techniques (pencils, ink, watercolors) in both whimsical and conceptual styles.