Today we’d like to introduce you to Barbara Hulme

Hi Barbara, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

Hi, Ive always done art and did a course, ive had brief breaks from it when Ive been ill, but always come back to it. I did art A level and a foundation course and then did a portrait group with my friend Liz, that we also ran the group together.

After having oesophageal cancer and a massive operation, 10 years ago, My friend Liz got in touch with me and we started going to a local life drawing class which I relished, She also gave me lifts in the evenings, to a weekly class in life drawing and portraiture.
Unfortunately Liz got cancer herself and passed so I was unable to attend the classes, due to my agoraphobia.

During Covid new opportunities arose and there were life drawing classes online! This was awesome for me with my agoraphobia, a fantastic opportunity. So I started attending these classes and posting my results online on instagram and facebook.

From me posting my art work on instagram a woman called Laetitia De Guiche reached out to me and asked me to paint a portrait of her showing her breast cancer scar as she would find it empowering, and this was the start of a totally new direction for me! Ide found my path!!

Being as I am disabled myself, I thought I can apply this to disabled people as well as people with scars.

So now I do series of paintings in which I empower disabled people by painting sensitive portraits of them and ask them to tell their stories in their own words to accompany their portraits – and then share the results to social media. I also include myself in these portraits and tell my stories.

and this was the start of a totally new direction for me! Ide found my path!!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

how I overcame a massive obstacle in my business, with fortitude, determination and a massive helping hand from you tube and the fabulous person Tyler Moore, who I had never heard of until I went looking!!

I was informed on a free 5 day business mentorship programme run by the fabulous Paula Telizyn at https://betterthancheese.com/ That in order to run an art business it was essential to have a website. I was a bit put out by this as I had no website and certainly not enough money to pay someone to make one for me!!

I had attempted in the past, to set up websites and shops with Etsy and Wix and not been able to get my head round them.

I decided it might be an idea to look on youtube and see if there was anything on there, as its pretty well known for having the answers to everything. In my searching I found a fantastic video called “How to set up a wordpress website step by step” by Tyler Moore. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnjeR-bsRM4&t=7s&ab_channel=TylerMoore ( I think hes got a more up to date version out now)

I watched the video all the way through and took notes before even attempting to start anything as I wanted to check that this was even feasible for me.

After watching the video over a period of 2 to 3 weeks, I then got stuck into building the website.

There were a few hitches along the way, the worst one being not aware that to undo something is a simple ctrl and Z keys can undo it. So I made a mistake and reinstalled the whole basic website from scratch again and had to start rebuilding it!

However – he we are a few months down the line, with an up and running website. Im still working on building the shop and have also had some advice and input from Paula with the last few niggles, like installing paypal, royal mail and a newsletter facility.

To subscribe to my website, which Im very proud of! Please click the link here https://barbarahulmefineartist.com/

Also – attending Arts festivals and getting my art work to galleries can be very challenging – as I am agoraphobic. I managed, with much fortitude – to attend my local arts festival. And some art galleries have been very accommodating with allowing me to send my artwork to them via normal postal services. However a lot want you to have your work professional couriered which is beyond my income unfortunately, so my disabilities bar me from having access to some art galleries.

I am lucky to have found an organisation called Outside/In which helps people with barriers to the art world – and I have exhibited one of my paintings at Sotheby’s in London in their Humanities Exhibition in 2022/23

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

I specialise in painting watercolour portraits of disabled people which are accompanied by the subject of the portrait’s stories in their own words.

I am very proud to be a disabled artist and to represent disabled people in my artwork – as I feel we are under represented. Key to what I do is having the subjects of my portraits, tell their stories in their own words. as too often I feel we are spoken for and spoken over and not listened to directly.

Key to being able to do this is to have the trust of the disabled people that I am dealing with, both that I will represent them well in their portraits and that they trust me with their stories, some of which are very personal. The choice of how they want to represent their stories is down to the disabled person as it is their story.

I feel very honoured that I am trusted enough by so many people for them to share their stories and feel its a great honour and responsibility to portray then well.

What sets me apart from others in this field is the sharing of disabled people’s stories in their own words that accompany their portraits, and also that I am portraying us as people and not as figures of pity or as a medical illustrations – which has, too often in the past, been the case.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?

Most people dont realise that I was a goth/rock chick in my youth and did a lot of partying and went to see lots of bands! Had a brilliant time doing it and great fun. I used to go to rock festivals and have seen some excellent performances in my time. The Best gig Ive ever been to, was to see Rage Against the Machine in a nightclub called The Ritz, in Manchester UK. in the early 90s . I love what they stand for and also used to go on a lot of protest marches when I was younger too. So the ethos of Rage Against the Machine, was right up my street – great to see them still going strong and having kept their integrity.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://barbarahulmefineartist.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbara.hulme/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarbsJewelleryAndFineArt

Image Credits

Barbara Hulme