Being Brave Enough to Try – Spotlight on Spouses

Name: Keziah Burt
Job: Sculptor
Title/ Business Name: Keziah Burt Artist

What is your career background? 

I am a fine artist and a qualified art tutor with experience teaching ages 4 to 84.  With a first
class degree in Sculpture and a Masters Degree in Art and Design from LUSAD, teaching was
a natural and sensible choice for me at the beginning of my art career.  It works well around
a young family but my plan has always been to return to my art full time once my children
were big enough. I now work on private and public commissions creating ceramic and
bronze figurative sculptures. My specialism is creating bespoke portrait busts for my clients,
with the occasional animal portrait for good measure.

Why did you choose the industry you work in/ Where did the idea for your business come
from?

I don’t think you choose to be an artist, particularly a sculptor, it’s a tough industry to get
into as a woman and a mother.  Art life sort of chooses you.  It has always been part of my
life. I was drawing and painting before I could talk. The instinct to create thankfully doesn’t
stop just because you get married and have kids. However, carving out dedicated space and
enough time to work, that’s been the tricky part.  I’ve worked as a portrait artist painting
and drawing since I was at University but creating portrait busts as a business came about
from sculpting a portrait of one of my best friends (another military spouse) over a glass of
wine. It naturally led to several larger commissions and now that’s my core business.
Creating bespoke art works for my clients that become a family legacy. But I still love
teaching so I regularly run sculpture workshops and teach others how to sculpt portraits.
Sharing what I’ve learned feels like a natural combination of all my skills and it’s a great
secondary income source.

How did you move from the idea to the actual business/ job role?

Slowly! And only with the complete, enthusiastic support of my wonderful husband Will. If
he didn’t believe in me so fervently, I don’t think I would have taken the risk to go full time
as an artist.  It is a big jump to sacrifice the financial security of a teaching career to dive into
the unknown. It’s taken a good few years and I am only just recently able to say I actually
work full time as a sculptor! The moving around was very problematic when you need
specialist suppliers; equipment/ materials, a foundry for bronze pouring and mould making,
my editions and a decent space to work. Dining rooms aren’t always a practical size for
sculpting, as you never know what you’re going to get. Floor plans and photos are still a
bonus feature apparently!

Deciding to make the move into a full-time role, from art teacher to artist came from the
belief my friends and family had in the rarity of my skills. It’s a pretty unusual specialism and
there aren’t a huge number of people who can do what I do in the UK. I kept thinking about
the advice an artist friend of mine offered me when I was starting out. “If you don’t take
yourself seriously as an artist, no one else will.”  Also, and probably more fundamentally, my
kids grew up. They went to school (lockdown not withstanding) and I suddenly had time to
work. Frankly, that’s when my business started to flourish. Prior to that I had invested a lot
of my time and money in training to be the best artist and teacher I could be, biding my
time until I could get cracking with my practice again.

“If you don’t take yourself seriously as an artist, no one else will.” 

 
How do you spread the word about what you do? 

I actually find this aspect of the business really awkward and probably don’t do this as well
as I should. Every time we land somewhere new I make a point of joining all the local arts
groups, searching for exhibition spaces, galleries and opportunities and try to get a
workshop booked in pretty quickly. I am very lucky and have a wonderful, supportive client
base from previous commissions and there is nothing better than having my work in
someone’s home, as an advert for my specialist skills. I use social media and when I need to
advertise an exhibition or event, I use my mailing list and paid ads on Facebook and
Instagram which have been pretty successful.

As a Military spouse, what has been your biggest obstacle when trying to balance work/
kids/ your spouse’s military commitments? 

The biggest obstacle is moving. We have talked about it so often, if I stayed still and set up a
proper sculpture atelier studio, we could have our own house and the kids would have
educational stability. But I wouldn’t have my best friend around during the week, and right
now family time is just not something we’re willing to compromise on. So I will keep
working hard and setting myself up every time and hopefully in the not too distant future
we will find a studio space where I can establish my studio full time.

What has been your proudest moment? 

Oh that’s a tough one. There have been so many proud moments, a big one was being selected to exhibit at the
Mall Galleries with the Royal Society of British Artists, and again with the Society of Portrait
sculptors. I was a finalist for the Holly Bush Emerging Women Artists Prize- The Lady Petchey
sculptors prize, which was a real honour. I think being chosen to create a
commemorative bronze Tondo portrait of the incredible Chemist Rosalind Franklin, who
discovered the double helix structure of DNA has been one of my proudest moments personally. It is now on
permanent public display at Hampstead Manor in central London. Although the purchase of
my portrait of the first British Major General in Military history, General Susan Ridge for the

permanent collection at the British Army Museum in London has been quite a proud
moment too!

Of course the really big one has been the recent portrait of the Queen, created during a six day residency at the National Army Museum in London as a commission to celebrate her Majesty‘s platinum jubilee. It was a complete honour for me to have been selected to do this commission, particularly as a military wife sculpting her majesty and her first ever military uniform.

My children would say “The Queen needs daddy somewhere else any time we need to get posted away” so it was a very personal thing for us to have had her sculpture in our military house while I was working on it.

Why is work so important for you? What advice would you give fellow military spouses
who want to get back into work, retrain for a new career or start their own business? 

Being able to work as an artist is a genuine privilege and one I am very grateful for. The art
world is sadly still heavily populated with artists who don’t feel the financial pressures of
actually making a living from their business, as they are often already financially
independent. It feels like a much more vulnerable position to put yourself in without the
safety net of private wealth.

The creation of art is all about making connections with people.

The need to communicate my thoughts and feelings through my work is such an essential
instinct in me, that having people then love what I make and want to collect my work is just
absolutely the best feeling!  I have always believed, as William Morris said, that you should:
“have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”.
It’s an exciting thought that what I craft with my two hands, from clay dug from the earth,
becomes a part of people’s daily lives. Artworks that are loved and that will be treasure,
passed down through families for generations to come.

I work on my own sculpture collections and then also on the portrait commissions and both
are so important to me. My own concept work is freeing and allows me to completely
indulge my aesthetic sensibilities exploring experiences fundamental to the human
condition. These pieces are more elemental, expressive and instinctively mine. The process
of creating a bust portrait by comparison is a completely different creative experience. It is
so collaborative and requires an exacting level of technical skill to create a true likeness that
is very demanding. Live sittings are just the best thing though, I get to meet some really
incredible sitters, hear their stores and really get to know them during our time together.
I think it is so important to find what you love doing and do it brilliantly, with your whole
heart. I’ve always been an artist and I’m learning every day to be a better businesswoman.

I totally understand that when you spend years putting your family and your
partner’s career first, it can be hard to step forward and make time and take
space for yourself and your business.  All I can say is please do it. Taking this
risk has been the toughest and most fulfilling challenge of my life.

I am exhausted making the juggle of teaching, sculpting and parenting work but if you have
the support network around you and your teammate in your corner, nothing is impossible.

You just have to be brave enough to try! So, what are you waiting for?

www.keziahburt.co.uk

facebook @keziahburtartist