Have you ever wondered what actually makes someone look at a painting and say, “I love it, I need it, and I’m putting it where I live”?
In the premiere episode of Art Crush, internationally renowned artist Fi Marks and Canadian artist Paula Telizyn dive deep into the fascinating psychology behind why people buy art and how they choose pieces for their homes. From the enduring popularity of traditional landscapes and pet portraits to the courage it takes to display “weird” and uniquely personal art, Fi and Paula explore the invisible rules that govern our walls.
Whether you are an artist trying to understand your ideal client, or an art lover looking to curate a more authentic living space, this episode is packed with candid insights on art, business, and creativity.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Making Your House “Weird”: A call to abandon cookie-cutter, Instagram-perfect decor in favor of art that truly represents your soul.
The Art of Looking: Why we aren’t taught how to truly look at art, and how slowing down can completely change your appreciation for a piece.
Public vs. Private Spaces: How the fear of judgment dictates where we hang certain pieces, and why the bedroom is often a safe haven for highly personal or challenging art.
Beating the “Wallpaper” Effect: A brilliant, zero-cost trick for falling in love with your art collection all over again by simply moving it around.
The Collector’s Sweet Spot: Why buyers in their 40s and 50s are often the most confident and adventurous art collectors.
00:00:00 Speaker 1: This is art crush with internationally renowned artist Fi Marks and Canadian artist Paula Telizyn. Today we are going to talk about why people buy art, how they pick art for their houses, what sparks that I love it, I need it, and I’m putting it where I live.
00:00:32 Speaker 2: Well, what I wanted to say is really about how as an artist, um, you when you set up your art business, you are often second guessing what you think your ideal client wants. Um, although you know which, which people say and you know that you say this, Paula, you know, you do not create art that you don’t want isn’t coming from your soul. And I’ve been in shows and been with shows, in shows, with artists who are perhaps a little bit more. I, I, I’ll say traditional, but it’s, I can’t think of the right word because traditional in different cultures means different things. But in the UK, um, people who do landscapes, animals, that type of art is exceedingly popular here in the UK. Um, and it got me thinking, why is that? Why are people drawn to that rather than something more unusual. And it, it brought back a memory of, um, when I was teaching and I used to teach in London and I was fortunate enough to go and do training sessions and take kids and young people to the National Gallery and the education team. There would, uh, say, just look at just look at three paintings. And they would teach people how to look at art, to look at the stories that they are telling stories. It’s like reading a book. You wouldn’t just pick up a book and then just leave. Well, people did do that coffee table books that people didn’t look at, but it was an actual training. And I then always built into my curriculum, uh, teaching children how to look at art, to talk about art, but it’s not common practice. And I don’t know if that’s the same in Canada. And I think if you’re not brought up, um, or shown or had the opportunity to look at art when it comes to choosing art for your walls, you’re starting at a very sort of level playing field as such. And that might be why people will just sort of go, oh, I like that landscape because I’ve been there. Or, um, I love that painting of a dog because it looks like my dog. And I just think if somehow there was more discussion about paintings and art available, I think social media has opened that up a bit. Um, I will say particularly TikTok, I think correct me if I’m wrong, Paula. Yeah. But on TikTok, there are a lot of, um, influencers who do talk about paintings and, you know, actually explain well, not explain, but throw up ideas and, you know, zooming in is that zooming in, it’s not just a solid picture. So we’ve got technology at our fingertips that if you want to find it, it can help you. Um, but yeah, so I just think it’s really, really interesting. That was a very long, sorry, long answer to to what you said, Paula, but I just think that, um, there is it’s, it’s a huge topic. And, you know, I’ve done paintings and people have loved them and then I, but I’ve realized that they don’t want them on their walls. And I’ve questioned why is that? If you love that, why don’t you want it on your walls? There’s also this thing where people in couples or who live with people. Oh yeah, well, I’d have it in a flash, but it needs to be something that we both like. It’s like, you know, who chooses the sofa, you know?
00:04:45 Speaker 1: Exactly.
00:04:47 Speaker 2: So there, there, that’s, that’s going on to another topic. But yeah. So what do you think about, you know, what I say about the UK in Canada is, is it a similar scenario?
00:04:59 Speaker 1: Yeah, we, we aren’t really taught how to look at art unless you go in specifically into art programs at school. Um, and even then it really depends on the teacher and which program you’re in. We’re not taught to stop and pay attention, and looking at art requires a bit of efforting, right? It’s not like when you have a movie and it plays whether you’re paying attention or not, and you can still get the gist of it. Um, it’s more like looking at a book, except that you have to figure things out. So when you stop and look at a painting or sculpture, you can look at the surface and be like, okay, that’s a nice dog. Or you can start reading a little bit about the artist and what their motivations were. And oh, that’s their dog who passed away, and they miss them and like having that connection. But you have to effort. You have to research or read or, or learn about the art. And a lot of people don’t have the time or bandwidth or even understand that that’s required. So representational art is very easy to sell because they can say, like you said, that looks like my dog, that looks like my town, that looks like my house kind of thing. It’s very, very easy. And I’m not calling it a cop out by any means because I spent my.
00:06:07 Speaker 2: I don’t know any art, you know, as I say, it’s just throwing this idea out there and, you know, hopefully getting people to think, well, why, you know, I because usually you can ask people and I say, well, I just liked it.
00:06:22 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. And they don’t think any deeper than that.
00:06:24 Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:06:25 Speaker 1: But I think there’s also, uh, an angle of people feel like what’s in their houses represents them and they’re very hesitant to be, um, challenging or different. So I just saw a TikTok yesterday that said that we should be making our houses weird. We’re so busy about making Instagrammable houses and, and photographic magazine style houses, we should have the weird stuff in our houses.
00:06:50 Speaker 2: Well, I think, I think you and I already are ticking that box.
00:06:53 Speaker 1: We are, but we’re we already have an advantage as artists that, you know, my my walls are covered in art and swords and, and just things that are things that amuse me and make me happy. But, you know, a lot of people don’t because they are so worried about, about people’s perception that when I was selling my art and I did pop culture art when I was selling my paintings, a lot of them ended up in bedrooms. Those are private spaces and houses. You don’t typically have your friends come in when you host a dinner party. People aren’t wandering into your bedroom, so it feels like a safe place to put in art that is very personal. Um, so a lot of what informs people’s decisions to buy art for their houses is where are they putting it? Is it going to be in a public facing space or a more private space? Um, and I know for myself when I’ve hung my kids paintings up, um, from when they were little, not my kids paintings as, as adults now, um, their, their childhood paintings, which are cute and, and just very childlike. Those are personal. They end up in the personal parts of the house where most people won’t see them because they are our story for us. So I think when somebody’s hesitating to buy a piece that for their houses, because your art fee is, is not specifically representational, it’s very a very unique style to you, but on the surface, somebody might call it naive or or whatever, and it’s not, but it just on the surface. Um, you can ask them where would you put this in your house and encourage them that if they’re hesitant to be different in their main public facing areas, encourage them to put it in their private areas for them to enjoy?
00:08:32 Speaker 2: And I think what you say as well reflects in clothes as well. And you know, how people, you know, express themselves full stop. If you are a very expressive person, you are more likely to take risks with what you wear, what music you listen to, what art you put in your house and what your house looks like, and say yes. And I suppose again, that’s that takes confidence. And I think, you know. Yeah, you know, so I think to be able to say yes, not only do I like that art, but I want it in my house.
00:09:13 Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:09:14 Speaker 2: Is is, is it’s almost like that commitment is, is big because it’s almost like committing to a relationship. I mean, the other thing about why you choose your art, you’re saying about the bedroom, but I think that it’s quite important to move your art around so it doesn’t just become wallpaper. You know, obviously as an artist that’s easily, easily done, but you know, the amount of times people say, oh, I’d love to buy a piece, but I’ve got no more wall space left. And I just am itching to say, go and have a look at what you’ve got on your wall. Can you move it around? Could you take something down? Put something fresh in it. Because gone are the days, you know. And I don’t want to sound like a sort of consumerism, um, sort of appetite, but, you know, like when my grandparents bought their house and furnished it, they never changed it when they died. They had the same sofa, you know, whereas now we do change things. I mean, things aren’t made to last, which. But yeah. So look at the art on your wall if you’re not looking at it. If it’s not, then move it. Move it to another room. Move it to another space and you’ll see it with fresh eyes.
00:10:38 Speaker 1: Yeah, that is so true. When I moved to this house, um, obviously I took all my billions of paintings and art pieces and whatever with me. You gallery my gallery of both my own art and art that I’ve purchased or art that I’ve inherited. Um, and I didn’t want to put things in the same rooms, but not only because it was difficult, because this is a much smaller space, but also because I wanted to experience the pieces again. So for example, the pieces hanging in the bathroom are very different from what was hanging in my previous house bathroom. And so now when I am in that room, I actually see the pieces there. Not just, oh, this is bathroom.
00:11:16 Speaker 2: Exactly. I mean, but you were in. When you move house, you’re forced into that position almost. Yeah. You know, but it, you know, you can do that on a regular basis. You know, it’s to say I would say if you’ve stopped looking at something because the if the art is there being ignored.
00:11:37 Speaker 1: What’s the point of it?
00:11:38 Speaker 2: What’s the point?
00:11:39 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So so having that conversation with your potential buyers and talking about the confidence and, and where they’re going to put it, I think helps people feel better about purchasing art that can be challenging. We all want to be sort of seen and heard, but we also want to be accepted. And that balance of, of, um, worrying about what people think and being accepted by our family and our peers. And all of that does affect our decisions on art buying. Even if we do love something, um, it can make us sort of hesitate. And I think that as we get older, we care less and less about trying to be a certain way, and we care more about being who we are. Do you find that your buyers for your art are older or, um, maybe a little less?
00:12:30 Speaker 2: Generally, yes. I mean, I don’t know whether it just reflects your own age, but a lot of mine, I mean, I’d say it’s quite, quite strange, but yes. Um, and again, I don’t know what I would have to research what paintings young people are buying. Are they buying. I mean, I know my son will buy original art, but it is sort of to do with television programmes a bit like the stuff you used to pay for. Yeah. You know, like, oh, you know, oh, I bought this. And it’s a drawing of a character from The Walking Dead or whatever. Yeah. You know, and, um, yeah, so I know that that is probably more, more. But but then then he’s the only got his bedroom to put it on. He has to put up with all my art and the rest of the house. But yeah, yeah, so it is interesting. Um, but then also a lot, if you, if you are aiming for a more elderly client, a lot of them are like, I’m not buying anymore. I’m downsizing, you know? So that has its other other challenges, shall we say?
00:13:53 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the sweet spot for buying more challenging artworks, probably somebody who’s in their forties or 50s. Yeah, they’ve got the money. Um, and they have are rapidly losing the desire to, to pay attention to what other people think of them because you hit a certain point where in your life where you start losing that ability to care about your other people’s perceptions, we can’t control what other people think of us. We can’t. We. We do our best to try to present ourselves as acceptable and normal and whatever. But you know, you can’t control what somebody else is feeling or thinking. So I think that sweet spot of forties and 50s where they’re still collecting art, not thinking about, you know, they’ve had enough stuff and whatever in our downsizing is sort of the great age. I certainly sold most of my paintings to people in their forties. Um, yeah.
00:14:45 Speaker 2: And also they’re probably, you know, got a bit more disposable income as well, you know, so they, they start thinking of that sort of thing, you know, but again, it’s very hard to know how much they’re looking.
00:15:00 Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:15:01 Speaker 2: What I mean they say in the end it doesn’t matter. You know, if people see something completely, that’s absolutely fine. But just just keep looking. I mean, I it’s like my little catch phrase is my art’s a bit like, where’s Wally books? You know, those. Yeah, yeah. Like the more, you know, you have to look carefully. The more you look, the more you see. And, uh, yeah, and I, but I just think everybody should look at all artwork like that because there is none. That should be straightforward. Really?
00:15:31 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So as artists, it’s our job to help people learn how to look at art. So then they hopefully buy more of our art and until.
00:15:43 Speaker 2: Until the curriculum takes over, which may never happen.
00:15:46 Speaker 1: Exactly, exactly. And I think that wraps up today’s discussion, uh, for Art crush. So, um, thanks for chatting with me today, fee. That was fun.
00:15:57 Speaker 2: Thank you.
00:15:58 Speaker 1: Yeah. And we’ll be back in another episode to talk about art, business, life, creativity, and more. This has been Effie Marks and Paul Italian talking art crush. We’ll see you next time.
