Buy Original Art Online - How Original Art from Devon Made it to Croatia and Back…

Red Wellies is a painting with a story.

It’s a story about how, when you love a painting enough, you’re meant to have it. Why it’s fun to buy original art online. And it’s a tale that could only have happened during the pandemic.

Red Wellies by Johanna McWeeney— acrylic on canvas

The story behind the painting

I painted Red Wellies back in 2017. At the time, I was struggling with some personal issues, and one of my favourite things to do was to head to the beach with the dog. The dog loved it too. During the winter months, Exmouth beach — which is a long, sandy and rather beautiful beach on the East Devon coast — is an absolute dog paradise.

I loved taking photos of people on the beach. You can see so much feeling in the shapes of bodies as they fight against a headwind or run towards the water.

I’d use these photos as the basis for paintings — which is how Red Wellies came about. Right in the centre of the photo you can see him. A small boy, in a big pair of wellies, kicking at the wet sand.

Featured in Devon Life Magazine, and the buyer appears

The painting’s journey began with an exhibition in Kingsbridge, Devon. I was a finalist in the Devon Life Landscape Artist of the Year competition. This was the first time I’d been part of an art competition, and I was really proud to have my work featured in glossy print.

In Devon Life Magazine

In 2018, Lauren got in touch, asking about the painting. She wanted to buy original art online and said:

“Your art somehow hits me hard in the heart.”

But at the time, she wasn’t in a position financially to invest.

On show in the Exmouth art trail

In 2019, the painting joined the Lost and Found Art Trail in Exmouth. This was an initiative in which art was scattered through the town, in different shops, restaurants and other public spaces. So, Red Wellies went to grace the walls of an upmarket fish restaurant.

Then came March 2020. Lockdown in the UK. The restaurant shut its doors. I occasionally wondered about Red Wellies, and thought about going to pick it up once lockdown lifted.

Lauren's time to buy original art

Lauren got back in touch asking if I still had the painting. She had been saving for two years to buy art online. I was really touched when she said:

“I haven’t stopped thinking about it.”

Next, I contacted the restaurant.

Only to discover they had closed for good, moved to Croatia and taken my painting with them. Not with any ill intention, of course. I was very grateful they’d looked after it. But things were chaotic during that first lockdown, and they hadn’t managed to get through to me on the phone.

So, Red Wellies was in Croatia, with a very apologetic restaurant owner, who wasn’t quite sure where it was stored.

Lauren and I waited.

The painting was found!

I sent the shipping cost, and within a week or two, Red Wellies arrived back in Devon.

The wanderer returns…

Next, the painting had to go to my framer in Exeter. My framer, Stephen, said that after its travels, the canvas was a little loose on the stretcher. So as well as framing it, he re-stretched the canvas to give it a fresh start.

It’s hardly surprising it was a little tired after all that travel.

When you buy original art online you get a personal service with a story

Finally, more than two years after she first asked about buying my original art online, Lauren had her painting. She sent me a message to say:

“Thank you so much. I will love this painting for the rest of my life.”

As an artist, there’s nothing else I could ask for. And, while none of my other paintings have accidentally left the country, when you buy original art online, that’s how much effort I will make to ensure you get the painting you love.

Next steps: It’s been a while since I’ve painted a seascape, but I still paint everything with love. If you want to buy original art online, visit my store to see my current selection of original paintings. Each one with its very own story…

Perhaps yet to be told.