life as a creative can be messy
Hiya, I’m Marianne
I know what it’s like to rely on creativity to make a living
The Story So Far
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
As a child, I used to draw ALL the time. It was my escape and my joy and there are still boxes and boxes of my drawings (and hilarious magazines I created) up on my mom’s loft. My education was done in schools and a college that specialised in fine art, and I never felt like I had other paths than a creative path in my life.
THE BEGINNING OF MY CAREER
My first official creative job was an apprentice graphic designer at a firm that specialised in four colour printing and commercial window vinyl design. From there I moved on to start my first business, offering graphic- and magazine design, while photography was already becoming very important to me.
WHAT I DID NEXT
When I moved to London, I got a job as a magazine designer for a membership magazine in Bloomsbury. I stayed there for seven years, until redundancy forced me into a similar job for a similar magazine but on the south side of the river. Throughout my magazine design days, photography was a big part of my life and I created a large body of personal work, even having my picture as a part of an exhibition at Tate Britain. Eventually, I gave into the call of photography and jumped into wedding photography and full-time self-employed life.
THE HECTIC YEARS
I got into wedding photography wanting to do something different that was the norm back then and I hit the market at the right time when I launched Marianne Taylor Photography. Demand was wild and I was dealing with over 1000 enquiries per year, travelling all over the UK, Europe and US for weddings, and even got crowned national winner of the title ‘Best Wedding Photographer’ at the Wedding Industry Awards.
NEW ADVENTURES
Along my wedding work, I started an educational brand, which offered advice for creative business owners, held workshops and talked at conferences. It’s safe to say life was a bit of a whirlwind for several years! I reached a point where I yearned for a slower pace of life, so I made a big move across the country to Cornwall, and embarked on commercial photography I could do from my home studio. Through HIYA MARIANNE, I’ve gotten to work with many colourful brands creating product photography that hits a bit differently.
WHERE I'M GOING
While I’ve managed to find my colourful little niche in commercial photography, creatively I’ve been pulled more and more towards drawing and writing again. I’ve gone through enough transitions to know to trust my gut, and putting my innermost thoughts and feelings into drawings is something that makes me feel aligned with the universe. If I can take you along on my journey and teach you everything I know about making a living with your creativity, more the better!
The journey never ends
Life as a creative is a constant ebb and flow of inspiration, pivoting along with new ideas or changes in technology or the markets, and trying to find a balance between vulnerability and self-promotion. Let’s support each other through the ups and downs of an artistic life!
Set your Artistic Goals
I wrote an eBook that will guide you through setting your artistic goals and help you unlock your creative potential
The Artistic Goals eBook goes indepth with all the things I’ve struggled myself along my journey as a creative, and especially during a shift in my mindset where I wanted to feel more in touch with my creativity while still staying productive as an artist. We’ll take deep dives into the power of setting artistic goals in all the important areas from developing your skills to overcoming creative blocks and staying inspired. I also created a workbook full of supporting material that you can fill in along the way and create your road map as an artist.
