Henry discovered his interest in painting at the age of 16
thanks to the encouragement and support of an astute art teacher who recognised
his talent. He was introduced to oils
and fell in love. Interestingly, the art teacher wasn’t the only one who
noticed his work and Henry realised that a fellow student had been making
prints of his paintings and selling them for charity! As a result though, Henry
started to really believe in his ability.
Whilst at University he studied Politics and Economics by day and created
artwork by night. His then landlord was
so impressed that he asked him to draw all over the walls of the house and the
exposure to guests led to further interest and commissions. Painting was the
activity that really energised him but after his degree he needed a steady job
and went to work in London at an advertising agency whilst continuing to do
commissions for friends and family. Henry also let his creativity flow into
music and realising that he was as driven in that field as in painting, he formed
a band and started to play gigs around London.
He worked really hard to develop his craft in both areas but,
whilst working a full-time job, he struggled to carve out enough time needed to
get to the next level and, although his ability and confidence in both music
and painting had continued to soar, neither were earning him any money.
In September 2019, whilst signing on at the job centre, he was directed to the
Inspiring Enterprise programme and joined us. Thinking practically, Henry came
to us with a plan to set up a marketing and design agency as something that seemed
to be the best commercial use of his skills. However, it quickly became
apparent that his passion lay in portraiture and music. Henry says “Inspiring
Enterprise helped to bring clarity, inspiration and empowerment to his
situation” and he and his mentor knew that the right business for him was to
grow his painting commissions, work on his music and develop as an artist. Today, only 5 months later, Henry has 3 well paid
commissions complete and 6 more in progress.
He is developing his portfolio of art and music combined and has plans
to interest galleries next year with a visual and auditory experience.