Dais Scott-Bennett was studying animal conservation and doing her Master’s in museum studies when her art got a bit more momentum and she decided to swap science with art. She is passionate about wildlife and nature, trying to raise awareness about birds and the beauty and fragility of nature with her drawings. As she says, everyone sees a bird every single day, but this might not be the case forever.
Petra: What made you start drawing in the days when you were “just” a naturalist?
Dais: When I was working in museums, I learned that there are animals we had in the UK that we just didn’t have any more or it was fewer of them. It’s a bit sad and people don’t seem to pay enough attention to the nature that’s right outside their door. For instance, everyone sees a bird every single day. And that, sadly, is not going to be the case with some birds as we’re not always going to see them. So I started drawing more and more of these birds, making them pretty, and showing people ‘Look: we’ve got all of these birds!’.
I’m trying to combine science and art. It’s kind of what I’m about.
Petra: And, currently, you are on this mission to draw all the birds native to the UK.
Dais: Yes, which is a very big goal, but I think it’s good to have a big goal like this to keep me motivated and give focus to my art. There are about 500 birds native to the UK and I have done about 60 of them so this project will keep me occupied for a while 😃. I’m inspired by a Victorian artist, Marianne North who drew plants all around the world. She documented what she saw at a time when women didn’t really travel, draw, and paint. There is a gallery named after her with a permanent exhibition of her works in Kew Gardens in London. When I go there, I feel like, if I could be a fraction of this woman, then I would have done my bit. You don’t see too many illustrations like hers these days because drawings are now mostly replaced by photos.
Petra: What are you working on right now?
Dais: I’m kind of evolving with my art, and at the moment I try and draw two birds at once. I’m doing a bee-eater which is quite a rare UK bird. My list of 500 birds in the UK is a very big list that includes rare visitors and some migrant birds that are overall constant UK birds. Plus, I’m like, if it appears in the UK, it’s fair game. It’s also more fun this way. The other bird I’m working on now is a marsh harrier which is also a rare UK bird.
Petra: Drawing these birds, you are able to raise awareness about different species, right?
Dais: Yes. For instance, in the next few weeks, I’m also going to draw a white stork, which is a bird that we didn’t have in the UK and it’s slowly been reintroduced and started to breed more regularly, and we are actually seeing a rise in them. But there are a few birds that are really going to struggle, like the snow bunting. They live at the very peaks of our mountains that we have in the UK but slowly their areas are going to become smaller and smaller because the heat is just going to get too high for them. They’re going to end up being pushed out because they just don’t have enough area to be in so I’ve drawn one of those a year or two ago, as well.
Petra: Your background in science and knowledge of birds seem to prove very useful in this project.
Dais: Yes, it does, and I love what I do, but sometimes I do worry that I’ve got all this training and I could be literally helping these birds, and instead, I’m just drawing them. Hopefully, this is still a worthy use of what I know because I can share these birds with people. I really love it when I get someone who sees I’ve drawn a bird that they’ve always loved or simply, a bird that always visits their garden.
Petra: Have you always drawn, like when you were little, or was it a discovery later in your life?
Dais: I’ve always drawn, I actually come from a family of artists.
My dad’s an artist, my mum works in the theater. My sister studied costume design, my younger sibling is a graphic designer. So I always did draw and I was always surrounded by art and then it was outrageous because I went into science 😅. My family was like ‘How dare you? We’re a family of artists. You cannot leave. This is your birthright.’. Now that I’m back to being an artist, they’re like ‘We got you in the end!’.
I mean, obviously they’re very happy that I study science but it’s true that from the age of about ten or thirteen, I did draw every single day because it was such a good way for me to relax and have fun that way.
Petra: When did you start your art business?
Dais: I started doing my bird project during the Covid lockdown, and that’s when I started being a bit more serious. I had five or six birds that I drew and I was happy with, and said, let’s try this. I found places that would sell my art and found people that were interested in my drawings. Two out of those first six are still my absolute bestsellers. One of them is the barn owl, an absolute classic, and the other one is the long-tailed tit.
Petra: I know that you do the art business part-time so I presume you have to find a good balance between the different parts of your life.
Dais: I’ve done it both ways now, full-time and part-time, and I really think I struck a good balance now. I work part-time in a coffee shop and bakery. I really like being able to have a second job partly because of the money because art is always a little bit up and down and you never know what’s coming and I like to be able to take the pressure off that. Furthermore, I find I work a lot better this way. When I was working full-time drawing the birds, I had a tendency to over-procrastinate. I wouldn’t get on with things and I’d also get really lonely because I’d be at home chatting away to my birds and the dog and kind of losing it. I would be like, ‘I haven’t actually spoken to anyone today’. My work also means that I can physically get something done because sitting and drawing doesn’t make you move around a lot, of course.
Petra: When you decided that you would start selling your drawings, what was the first things that you did?
Dais: I set up an Instagram. Then, I ordered some prints and they weren’t very good quality 😅. I was so worried that I really underinvested on purpose. And sure, I also didn’t have much money at this point, but I said, I was going to do this. I set up a website, and I told all my friends and my family. I was like, ‘Please, just go and give my Instagram a follow and have a look’, and I started posting lots of content and trying to get my art out there. Sometimes I’ve really struggled and I still do even today to make content and to make it consistently because I feel like there’s always a bit of a need to be perfect.
But anyway, I was lucky in the fact that I did find a few people who showed interest in my art and then I managed to get it into some local galleries. But for them, I had to rethink everything. I needed new, better-quality prints. I remember the cards being such a huge investment. I got a hundred or two hundred cards or so which only cost about 60 pounds, but I remember at the time thinking ‘This is such a big risk. This is terrifying. I can’t do this.’
Then, I didn’t pay for having any brand information on the back of the cards, so I ended up hand stamping them all with a stamp that I made because I was so scared to spend more money.
Petra: And did you sell those cards in the end?
Dais: Yes, I sold them and I quickly had to buy new ones actually.
I still always worry about the money part, even now. I worry when I buy something new that maybe I’m spending too much money. But, I think it’s just about having faith in yourself, and I’m slowly getting that, believing in myself more and more every day.
Petra: Which one of your art products is the most popular?
Dais: I earn the majority of my money through the prints but the originals are kind of my best things to sell because it feels really good to sell an original, and well, yes, I also make more money with them per item. But right now, I sell a lot more cards than prints and I offer them at a good price because I like people to have access to my art no matter their budgets. I find that art isn’t selling as much as it used to but I also have a few really lovely clients, some of them who are definitely friends at this point, who are always up for commissioning and are always on the lookout for what I’m doing next, and those people really help everything keep going.
Petra: Do you have a made-to-order process set up for the cards or do you work with stock?
Dais: I keep stock because of how I do my prints with adding the gold embellishments and stuff like that, and so I package every print myself, too.
Petra: You mentioned working with galleries, too. How does that work?
Dais: Well, at the moment I do a lot of my business selling through galleries. They let me know when they need more stock and I send them a batch which works really well with how I have to process my prints because as I mentioned, I need some time to finish each print.
Petra: Did you reach out to the galleries or did they find you?
Dais: It kind of works in a variety of ways. I contact them or sometimes you get galleries that reach out to you and want to stock your art. I really like being in galleries, but it’s tricky, getting the confidence to ask them. I have been rejected so many times but it’s just one of those things that is okay anyways. Sometimes you’re ignored. Sometimes they miss you. But when you message a really nice gallery that you want to be in and they say yes, you feel very validated.
To other creators and particularly people starting out I’d just say, don’t be afraid to ask because galleries want interesting people and now more and more particularly, in my experience. I find there are more and more galleries that work with real local artists, which is really nice and these types of galleries are always really great to work with.
Petra: Where is your art found in these galleries?
Dais: I’m more in the gift shop range. They have a variety of artists that they stock and you are among other artists. They have my prints, cards, and a few of my original art, as well. They’re responsible for selling it and then I receive my commission — the amount I get really varies depending on the gallery. Some of them do well, selling prints, others focus on smaller sales like cards, and those few are better at selling originals. It can happen that you don’t hear anything in ages and then an original is sold. But because of this strange timeframe, you have to balance it all out.
Petra: When you agree on the commission, do the galleries set that price for you or do you offer a price first?
Dais: Normally, the galleries have a set commission that they work with and they tend to keep it pretty similar amongst all the artists. Some galleries are a bit more loose, a bit more independent so they can do a bit more of a negotiation to work out a deal. I always have in mind, how I price my art, what I do with my art, my retail price and wholesale price, and then the cost to me, so it allows me to sell at a price I’m comfortable with and a reasonable price I know I can sell my art at.
Petra: Why do you think it’s a good idea to try and have your art in galleries like that?
Dais: It’s a good thing as an artist to be in a gallery even if you’re not making as good of money as you can in other places because you’re being seen by some really interesting people or you’re doing a lot larger volume in sale and then you’re getting commissions through that,
… and that’s what I want eventually, to get people who really like my art, and I want them to reach out to me and build a connection with me and then we can make art together when they commission me.
That works out being best for me and also best for them because they can get a bit more customer service, they can kind of pay for exactly what they want to pay for which is really nice, and they can be involved which is really nice as well.
Petra: Do you have more commissions or more people buying through your webshop? What is the ratio?
Dais: It’s very tricky because sometimes it’s all online but at the moment, I’m doing a lot more commissions. But, I make that really clear when somebody’s doing a commission from me that a big part of my art is that I want to share all these birds with everyone. I want this to be accessible to all in varying degrees. So if you’re getting original art for me, you are allowing me to keep the rights to do all of my prints and to use that original in different ways. I find that I’m really lucky because the people who commission me regularly completely understand that.
Petra: Speaking of webshops. You told me that you tried Etsy but let it go. What was the reason for abandoning that platform?
Dais: I didn’t really get much traffic there which is kind of the only reason I was on it and so I got a new website which I’m happy to say: really represents me well.
Petra: What about the other platform you use, Instagram? Do you feel like it’s hard to grow your follower number and generate engagement there?
Dais: Definitely. I think Instagram’s really changed over the course that I’ve been using it. I find there is less engagement than before, and the engagement I see is from only people that I’m already aware of, who have been supporters for a while. My posts aren’t seen by as many people which is really irritating — particularly when you think people would really like to see a drawing because you think they would like it. Then I get a bit downhearted and I tend to put less effort in or I don’t post as regularly which is the worst thing you can do because you have to keep pushing. So, Instagram has changed a lot, sadly, but, it is still the best platform for me currently that I’ve tried.
Petra: Have you thought of trying other platforms to promote your art?
Dais: I looked at some, and I sometimes think about swapping or introducing other platforms, but I’m never that sure about it. I’ve looked at TikTok which I think is really good in terms of lots of people already being on it, but then again, I don’t think it’s a great place for my art to be seen and sold. I don’t think it’s kind of the right audience and it might be really hard to get noticed particularly for what I do. I do really like YouTube and I think it does really lend itself to the content that I like to see, but starting a YouTube channel also sounds like a lot of work and something really intense. Still, it’s the kind of thing that is good to bear in mind.
Petra: When it comes to your website, from where do people arrive there to buy your art? Do you monitor where your traffic comes from?
Dais: Yes, I can see if somebody came directly to my website or through a link, but a lot of the people who come and purchase from me have first seen my work in a physical gallery. I also know that the age and generation of people who buy from me really vary, and so I think my art does have a real appeal to different ages. I do tend to find that often by the time you’ve become a really established birder, you are older, and so a lot of the prints and originals I sell to the older generation. They’re fully invested and they have money to spend on these things. They’re really great to work with, too.
Petra: It’s nice to see that you have younger and older buyers, as well.
Dais: Yes, it’s a real mix. Some of them are older. Some of them have family. Some of them are young and some of them are in uni studying.
Petra: How frequently do you have new artwork in your shop? Do you draw something and then you upload it or do you have planned collections?
Dais: What I do is that when I have a few originals ready, I order the prints, and as they come in, I list things on my website with all the pictures. I’m pretty good at getting them up quickly. The thing I’m worst at is putting up my originals on the site. I’m just really bad at uploading them. Also I often simply ask people who buy from me regularly if they want it but these things also take time, waiting for a person or a gallery to respond. I need to be better at just listing everything in my webshop as I go because I think it helps people keep returning to my website since they know it’s changing often, with the art pieces coming and going.
Petra: How often do you get commissions?
Dais: It does really vary. I think at the moment, I tend to have two or three commissions a month, but it really goes up and down. I try and keep a waitlist of people who are after a certain bird who don’t want to necessarily commission it but also when I do draw it, they want to be let known that it’s drawn and then they can have first pick at getting the original or first to get the print.
I also ask people on my Instagram which birds should I draw next, and I get them to vote, so then at least I have some idea of what people might want to see and therefore what they might want to purchase.
It gives my art a bit more focus, which I do find is really important with the commissions as well because it motivates me to draw when I might otherwise be a bit unsure of what I’m going to draw or I don’t know if I can quite be bothered that day.
Petra: I think it’s great that you build anticipation that way.
Dais: Yes, and people often seem to build collections this way, too. Like, if they have the barn owl they could then get the next version of it because I sometimes draw a bird more than once but in a different way. And that’s the thing: people who like birds, they love a collection, they love to kind of take them off the list.
Petra: How long does it take to create a drawing on average?
Dais: Probably a few days or sometimes weeks. From start to finish, the bee-eaters that I’m working on at the moment will be around a six-hour piece at the end, but once I put the paints on there’s a really long dry time. I try to work on a few at once when I’m between stages so I can swap between some drawings. But sometimes I do some real big drawings, like a life-size heron and those can take a few solid days of work.
Petra: I saw on your Instagram profile that in the past you had coasters, little decoration pieces, and pillowcases for sale, too.
Dais: Yes, I’ve got them available in different spots, and the coasters and charms still sell, too. I’m still working on the pillowcases though. What I found is that I just need to make more stock and have more stock to send out or to list easily on my website, and I know I need to create more physical products.
I used to do mugs as well and I want to make more of them because they are nice, particularly for people who cannot afford a piece of art but could afford a piece of art that’s functional, so the mugs would be a kind of good way to access those individuals. Also, I’m trying to do these things in a way that’s ethical and doesn’t consume too many resources and it’s local.
For example, my wooden charms are a good example because they are made in the UK by a small business.
Petra: Have your pricing strategies changed from the beginning?
Dais: Yes. In the beginning, I read loads of resources on what people recommend and what to do and then I went to lots of galleries that were selling similar things and tried to work out from there. My A4 prints have stayed the same price since the beginninging which is 30 pounds, and I’m quite proud of that, because at the time I thought this might be too high of a price point, even though it was a fair reflection of what I’ve done, and now even though costs of change had gone up, I’ve been able to maintain that price because I’ve been able to build relationships with printers and work out how I can make my prints affordable. Also, getting my dad to make my mounts and things like that means that I’m able to sell things at cost. So overall, I’ve been able to keep my prices pretty consistent.
The main change in prices I’ve seen is my cost for my originals because there is more demand and I’m not able to necessarily produce as many as I used to be able to in the beginning, because I’ve got other areas of the business I have to work on. And, I think the way I draw originals has gone beyond what I like to think better, so their prices are slightly adjusted to reflect the effort in them.
Recently I’ve been thinking I might have to readjust prices again to things like cards because the cost of cards has really changed and to be able to make the right amount of money off them, I need to change their price.
But I do find the pricing hard because I want it to be fair, and I want to be correct, and I don’t want to undervalue myself. But I also want art to sell. So it’s a really tricky line to walk but it’s really important to be able to do it so that I can keep drawing all my birds.
Petra: You mentioned galleries. Do you go to art markets as well?
Dais: Not yet but I’ve literally been starting to go to art markets and work out which ones I want to try and attend because I’m trying to find the right one. Some of them are very different from others. I want to be amongst fellow creators. What I’ve heard from other artists is that markets are very good and they’re such a good way to reach your audience directly and to kind of have that conversation and work out what you want to do next. So I really am going to start doing them soon. I’ve looked at applying to one or two this summer and before Christmas I’ll have a bit more markets I’ll attend.
Petra: Since you mentioned Christmas. Do you see any kind of seasonality in selling your things?
Dais: I definitely do. I find that I have a good amount of people who get my art for Christmas because if they know someone who loves birds, they’re like ‘This is the person to help me’. I also find that I have had a really good hit over the summer because people are out and about more and they find and buy my art in the galleries. Then I have my down periods, particularly after Christmas, that time is really quiet, so I try and lock in a load of commissions for around then, saying like ‘Gift a commission to your partner’ to try and fill out that area of my calendar.
I also try and target galleries that have a continuous audience and that have more of a tourism location because then I will see that kind of bigger hits there whereas the other ones get a more consistent flow.
Petra: With that said, I imagine it’s not like you have roughly the same amount of income each month. There’s some kind of fluctuation then.
Dais: There is a big fluctuation. Some months I’m so proud of myself and I’m sat home and I’m done so well and then the next month, I’m like, ‘God. What happened?’. That’s why having a second job really works for me because it takes that stress out and it allows me to kind of be like ‘That’s fine. Oh, dear, never mind.’
Petra: And would you like to someday do art full-time or is it a better balance now for you to have a regular job on the side bringing you some kind of stability?
Dais: I really thought about this because often I’m like, ‘What do I want to do?’. I think I’ll always draw and I’ll always have my business and do my art. I think I do really well now with a second-form outlet in terms of day-to-day work, but I think that will really change in the future. I think it could be that I’ll focus a lot more on working part-time in conservation in the future. doing more physical field work or working in museums, or having another side business.
I think I really am one of those people who need not to have all of their eggs in one basket because I think it doesn’t do well for my mental health and it also doesn’t do well for my focus.
I think I focus better on something if I’m like ‘I’m doing this today, doing this tomorrow’, and some days I don’t have to think about certain things and other days I do. I also think you can come up with better ideas if your mind is not thinking about art or creating at all, and then suddenly you get an idea and you feel really revved up about when you get to kind of follow it through and that’s really nice to give your brain time to turn off and switch back on.
Sometimes I think it is a bit tricky to explain to people that I’m an artist because then later on it comes up that I work also making coffee and they’re like, ‘So you don’t do it full-time.’, and I say, ‘No, I don’t but that’s by choice.’ And, I still fully view myself as a full-time artist because when I’m making coffee, I am still thinking about art, then I go home, I draw, and it fully consumes me.
At some point, I made more money from just doing my art and thought that maybe I should get rid of this extra job and just focus on art. I find it really tricky but right now I’m very happy with the balance I’ve struck. Since I have a partner, it’s also nice to be able to feel that I’m contributing, in terms of money, even when I might not be making so much money from my art.
Petra: Do you track your finances and do some financial planning and reviews?
Dais: My business is on a fully separate business account, and I tend to have a rough plan throughout the year of what I’m going to do and what I’m going to invest in my business or what I need and what will be my main expenses that I’m going to have that year. This way, I can then track what I’ve done and I’m aware of what’s coming up and as long as I’m bringing in more than I spent that month, that’s good — which I’m always very good at, making sure that’s happened. And then sometimes I bring in a lot more than planned, and that’s when I reinvest into things. I’m also always aware of how much physical stock I have on hold and what’s the value of the stock. I think that’s really important for how I run my business, particularly with the physical galleries. All in all, It’s important to know what you’ve got and the potential sales you have.
Petra: Moving on to lighter subjects, where do you get your inspiration and motivation to do your artwork?
Dais: I do a lot of wandering around and take my dog on all of our walks, that really helps, and I do really like to go to art galleries and visit collections. I’m really into going to historic homes and enjoying their gardens. I go to a lot of museums.
I find that if I fill my life with lots of culture, then I feel motivated to go home and draw, even if I’ve gone and seen a costume collection. It does make you feel like ‘God, look at all this great work, look at all these people, I want to do some stuff, too’, and so you just feel really motivated and good. To see people doing their passion makes me like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna do it, too.’.
Petra: How do you find work-life balance? Is it a struggle or does it come easy to you?
Dais: I think I’ve definitely gotten better at it over the years. I cherry-pick my day and choose what I like to do and then I kind of force myself to do the kind of tasks that I’m less motivated to do, as well. I also try and give myself at least one day a week that is my admin day. I know I have to get those things done.
Petra: When it comes to drawing specifically, do you ever experience self-doubt?
Dais: Yes, and that’s why I have a few methods that I use to kind of cope with it first.
I try to never not finish something I’ve started even if that means I have to put it away for a month to not have to deal with it. I then try and finish it because sometimes even if you don’t like what you’ve got at the end, you still finish it and you still can try and do something with it. I also try and break my drawing stages because that helps me push through them and tell myself, “It’s okay, you’re always feeling like this at this point. You’re okay. Keep going’.
I don’t think I’ve scrapped or given up completely on a drawing in years through trying really hard to not give up on a drawing because if you break the routine of giving up, I think sometimes that really helps you moving forwards. Accepting that giving up is not an option is key and even if you hate what you come out with at the end, you can say, ‘I didn’t give up’.
Petra: How would you define or describe a creator in your own words?
Dais: I think creators come in so many forms. The thing that motivates them is they have an idea and they want to follow it through. I think that’s really a tricky thing to do because we can all have ideas and we all, kind of, have a plan but it’s trying to get that plan and idea let out of yourself and try to produce something from it, even if it’s not what you meant in the beginning but then at least you’re doing something with it. I’m impressed by creators. You are sometimes in awe of their ability to do something and put something into practice, and following that process is really amazing, and I’m like, ‘God, I’m nothing like that. I just sit there and I draw. What am I doing?’ But then I think, that’s what they’re doing. Their brain works like that. They’re doing that in their way and it’s really magic.
Petra: What do you think is the biggest challenge for a creator today?
Dais: I think the biggest challenge today is that a creator is treated very differently to I think how they once were, in good ways and bad ways. I think they’re probably their own worst enemy often, and they also have to do a lot. I think how people work has really changed. They do their business, they do their social media, create new ideas, and keep working day in, and day out. I don’t think that was always the case. From gathering up the tools to putting yourself out there, it’s hard, especially so because most of them are more introverted anyway. They decided to stay at home and do something quietly on their own rather than go out and hang out somewhere. On the other hand, I think we have got a lot more privileges and we have got access to people and you don’t have to be from a certain walk of life to be able to go from stage of idea to creation. It’s all very tricky.
Petra: What tips would you give to another creator who is about to start a creator life or has recently started their business?
Dais:
Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself and believe in yourself. The fear of failure is really important — you might fail but you also might not 😊. That is what I found in my career. I’ve had lots of little failures but I’ve just kept going and I’ve been consistent and I’ve stayed true to the bit of the business that I really like which is just drawing.
As long as you start knowing this is the bit, this is what I love, this is why I want to do this and I’m going to keep doing this while also trying to create something, you’ll be okay. And if you keep investing in that bit that you really believe in, then eventually you’ll get somewhere and you’ll also just keep going.
Just don’t stop. Keep creating — and eventually something will come of it or you would have had so much fun, just doing what you want to do and you’ll never regret doing what you want to do.
Find Dais:
Source of featured image: @dais.sb.art
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