When we first came across the Scottish-born, Melbourne-based artist Bobby Clark around five years ago, her distinctive, meticulously precise geometric paintings were gathering a huge following. It was clear that this young artist was destined for big things.
Originally from a small town in Scotland called Greenock, Bobby studied fashion and textiles in the UK, before relocating to Australia with her partner, Steve Clark (aka Den Holm) ten years ago. The pair originally intended to come to Australia just for a working holiday – but they quickly fell in love with Melbourne’s creative scene, and decided to make Melbourne their permanent home.
After doing a range of different creative jobs – from painting and decorating, to wedding photography (!), Bobby landed a job with local design heroes Pop & Scott. At the time (around 2012), Pop & Scott had just started making their handpainted plant pots… and they were going CRAZY. Bobby quickly found herself in Pop & Scott’s small creative team, spending 10 hour days meticulously painting plant pots in a studio in Northcote! This time proved formative for Bobby – she learnt how to design, make and sell a hand painted product, and her distinctive aesthetic started to form.
After a long time in various creative jobs, Bobby launched her own art practice in 2016, with a Squarespace website. Keen to distinguish herself from other local artists, Bobby built a website that showed her work in context, in interiors and creative spaces. She wanted her website to convey a broad aesthetic, not only a singular painting style. About two years in – when a friend noticed the huge amount of traffic her website was receiving, Bobby was encouraged to start selling prints of her paintings, and added an online store to her offering. This entrepreneurial spirit, and the ability to adapt and drive her own business decisions, on her own terms, has been a cornerstone to Bobby’s success.
In this conversation, we discuss Bobby’s path to becoming a successful commercial artist, how she’s built a really strong online community, how she tackled the challenges of 2020, as both an artist and a new Mum… and what she’s planning next!
Squarespace provides entrepreneurs and small business owners with the tools they need to bring their creative ideas to life, online. Using their all-in-one platform, you can claim a domain, build a website, sell online, and market your brand.
Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial and when you’re ready to launch, use the offer code DESIGNFILES to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
