Alex Fleming, Award Winning Pet Portrait and Wildlife Artist

In this episode of It’s A Bonny Old Life, Bonny is joined by the award-winning pet portrait and wildlife artist, Alex Fleming, who she had the pleasure of coaching briefly in 2020.

Bonny shares her admiration for Alex’s work and the unique way he puts himself across on social media. Alex explains why he posts the things he does, how he tries to avoid coming across as “salesy” and why he prefers to put his faith in “bricks and mortar”, relying on galleries and exhibitions over social media.

They talk about their family life, with Alex sharing that he cares for his father part-time, which was one of the factors that initially encouraged him to leave his previous job as a postman and take up art full-time. Bonny talks about her children and how proud she is of them and how they have dealt with the difficult death of their father. They discuss the importance of caring for your family and the people that you love, as well as the strength you gain from being helped by them in return.

Bonny and Alex discuss their different approaches to drawing and business, and Alex explains why he likes to avoid a rigid business model. They talk about teaching and Bonny shares details of her teaching style and explains why she decided to
introduce her own teaching platform, the Bonny Snowdon Academy.

They talk about the benefit of having people around you when you spend a lot of time alone drawing and Bonny talks about her team and how they help her daily. And, of course, they talk about their artwork, the different approaches they have to draw, and the sense of fulfilment that completing a piece brings.

To find out more about Alex Fleming and to view his artwork, head to his website here, follow him on Instagram here and find him on Facebook here.