Our first Friday Feature of 2025 is the incredibly talented (and equally lovely) Lucy from Illucetrate. Lucy is a self-taught artist, hand-painting bespoke pet-portraits and other commissions.
Lucy started painting again as a way to keep her occupied during a difficult time in her life. She then grew that creative hobby into the most wonderful and inspiring small business. So let’s find out more about her…
In all honesty, and my family will say this on my behalf, I truly think I was born with a creative streak! After showing an interest in drawing and colouring from the moment I could hold a pen, my Great Grandad would sketch out little villages and shop fronts and let me use his ‘fancy’ paints, I’d sit at their dining table and he’d set out little tubes of all different colours that I could water down and mix together. He definitely encouraged my creativity, as did the rest of my family and I’m so grateful that they did, it’s definitely led me to where I am now. Following on from this I went on to take Art at both GCSE and A Level, so painting was very much present throughout the majority of my teens also.
As for my pet portraits, that came about during a difficult time in my life; a redundancy in the midst of a global pandemic. I was 20 at the time and had already been through one job loss just 11 months earlier, the thought of having to start afresh was both daunting and deflating. I had been out of work for a week and being a ‘busy body’, I was climbing the walls with boredom; on a complete random whim, I cracked out the paints that I’d not used in a fair few years, and set to work painting my Grandparent’s new pup for their Christmas present. It was then that ‘Illucetrate’ was born, and I haven’t stopped painting since!
There have been so many, but mainly for me, they are smaller milestones. Truth be told I’m much more of a ‘celebrate the small wins’ kind of girl, but I would say my collaboration with another small woman-owned business ‘Hey Bert’ was a definite highlight! My job was to paint the competition winners pet onto one of their handmade denim pet jackets. I was, and still am, very honoured to have been asked to work with them. Alongside this, I’d say just the little community of genuinely lovely people I’ve built by creating my small business. Growing an art based business on social media is not an easy task, mine is definitely a slow growing one at that, but I am so grateful for each and every face who supports me, whether they just stick around to like my posts or have commissioned pieces of work – it is all a highlight to me.
Perhaps the sheer time and effort that goes into each and every piece of work I produce and the running of my small business. I am a one woman band, and do absolutely everything, not only just the creative elements, but the mundane, from keeping on top of my stock levels, to completing my accounts and tax returns. Lots of people are completely unaware of the enormity of running a small business, especially a creative one at that. When you are a single person behind the bigger picture, sometimes it is hard for others to understand. When you run your own small business, you are essentially one major cog in the machine; the mechanics simply don’t work without you present along every step of the way.
Believe in yourself! I am still guilty, even now four years down the line, of doubting myself and my abilities. The more time that passes and the more I reflect on the creative business I have built, solely on my own at 20 years old, I often think about how proud that young, naive and clueless but creative girl would be if she could see me now. I know self doubt will always be a part of me and my work, that’s something I have come to accept (and is also such a common trait in creatives) but I am so proud of what I have achieved in the last four years, and for not giving in when things have proven tough.
Yes definitely! Creativity has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Even from being a toddler in nursery, I always had a very vivid imagination and would spend any spare moment colouring, doodling and crafting. I’d make tiny wallpapers for my ‘Sylvanian Families’ house or hand design Birthday cards for family, I always always had a project on the go. Even now, when I’m not painting, I’m always thinking, always creating. I like to put creativity into whatever I do, whether that be simply baking a cake and decorating it nicely, or out on a walk, I’ll be taking pictures – because who knows when they might come in handy!
One thing I have tried in the past that I’m not sure I’ll ever be rushing to try again is knitting. It’s not at all related to my business thankfully, and was a skill I had to learn as part of my studies in Sixth Form, but I simply could not gel with it and that is more than okay. You simply cannot suit everything, even as a creative individual.
During my A levels I studied fashion and textiles and spent most of my time whirring away on my sewing machine. Though I didn’t take much interest in the fashion side of my studies, I absolutely loved and still do love interiors. Interior design is something that’s always interested me, but more specifically, upholstery! I think the fact you can bring something old back to life or transform a wooden frame using fabrics and threads is really clever, though I will admit, having watched videos it certainly looks like a hefty task.
Creative blocks always come and go, personally I find they are few and far between as I work mainly on a commission basis so my pieces are very specific to my customers request. However, should I encounter a creative block in the midst of a pet portrait, I’ll take a step back and shift my focus onto something less intricate. Often when I’ve been looking at the same piece of work for so long, I become what I like to call ‘paint blind’ and you almost get stuck or feel as though your work isn’t progressing quite as it should be. I find it helps to step away, and move onto something that requires less thought, such as priming for example – still a very necessary and productive task, but very different to that of my acrylic pet portraits.
Absolutely without a doubt, yes! Suffering with anxiety and depression, I find that my creative business has become an outlet in many ways. For one, it keeps my mind occupied, my brain is a very busy and sometimes complicated place to be, and so it really helps to have something so intricate to focus on. I’d say my creative business has also helped from a social aspect too, whether that be liaising with customers or connecting with other creative likeminded individuals online.
It means a whole lot, I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am currently. Though my small business may not be on a vast scale in comparison to some, it means everything to me. I suffered some massive artwork related confidence knocks during my school years and truly believed for a long while that my work was unworthy of a grade. It was mainly due to this experience that I stopped being creative for a period of time, a shame really as I think that’s a huge part of what makes me, me. Though not a fun experience, my second redundancy forced me to reconnect with my creative side which had been pushed aside during full time employment. Had this unfortunate circumstance not have occurred, I’d have likely never picked up a pencil or a paintbrush again, and so I’m so glad in many ways that I was put in this position. It’s allowed me to be a part of such a wonderful community of creative individuals, brought me so much happiness and fulfilment that I feel an ‘ordinary’ job would not be able to provide me any more. Albeit difficult, demanding and all consuming at times, being a creative woman in the small business world is one of the most empowering feelings!
It’s obvious that creativity runs through everything Lucy does, even down to her Instagram reels. She’s well worth a follow if you enjoy creative content (@illucetrate). Instagram is also the best place to get in touch with Lucy if you want to commission your own pet portrait… and, why wouldn’t you… have you not seen the photos above?!
If you haven’t already found us over on Instagram – why not come say hi and give us a follow. We would love for you to join the conversation and help spread the movement by sharing our content.
Any and all opinions expressed by third parties in our content are not necessarily the opinions of FCS. All FCS content, including content provided by third parties, is intended for general guidance and inspiration. Third-party products and services mentioned in content have not necessarily been tested by FCS. Any content feature, mention of a third-party product or service, or link to a third-party business and/or external site, does not suggest an endorsement from, or affiliation with, FCS. FCS is never paid (or directly compensated) for any features, opinions, or information provided in our content about any third-party services, products, sites or miscellaneous topics – unless clearly stated otherwise.
