A New Chapter for The Drawing Donkey: Rebuilding Better.

In 2019 and after being made redundant from a tourism career I loved, I suddenly found myself navigating a strange new world filled with uncertainty. With little painting experience, no formal art training, and not much of a plan, I made a bold (and slightly mad) decision: to start something of my own—The Drawing Donkey.

All I knew at the time was that I didn’t want to work for someone else anymore. I wanted to create a life that gave me freedom, purpose, and space to explore something creative. Becoming an artist felt wildly ambitious, maybe a little bit ridiculous, but it was exactly the kind of challenge I couldn’t ignore. 

So I took the leap.

Starting From Scratch

I wrote a big, bold business plan full of ideas, products, and dreams of creative success. But with savings to live off and the world in chaos, I chose to grow organically, relying first on pet portrait commissions to get me by. I introduced two blank greeting card packs. I reinvested what I could.

The commissions helped me build confidence as an artist. The card sales helped me grow a product line. Slowly, The Drawing Donkey became something real.

But after a few years, I realised I was stuck.

I was chasing low-hanging fruit, month after month. Commission work had a ceiling, both financially and creatively, and I kept bumping up against it. I wanted to grow, but lacked the time, cashflow, and mental energy to do it properly.

Still, I kept going.

Then Came 2024

The year that brought me to my knees both personally and professionally.

It began with me in a state of recovery after a three-week hospital stay. Then, my dear Dad passed away. I took on the responsibility of overseeing the care of my Mum, who is living with advanced dementia. A building project turned into a financial disaster, and I found myself living for months in a construction site, with everything I owned locked away in a container.

Relief work paid the bills, but my art business came to a grinding halt. My creativity was buried under grief, stress, and exhaustion.

I felt helpless, burnt out, and stuck in a cycle of reacting to the chaos around me. I questioned everything.

What Rock Bottom Taught Me

Sometimes, life forces you to stop. And in that stillness, you get clarity.

I realised that if The Drawing Donkey was going to survive and if I was going to survive with it, I had to change everything. I needed to build a business that could work with life’s unpredictability, not against it.

That meant:

• Creating a solid passive income through product sales

• Investing in a proper online store

• Streamlining my time so I could focus on painting and caregiving

• Making my business resilient enough to weather any storm

So I dusted off that original business plan. I rewrote it with hard-earned insight and a renewed sense of purpose.

The Drawing Donkey: Reimagined

Over the past several months, I’ve poured every last bit of energy (and every last bit of savings) into relaunching The Drawing Donkey with more intention and structure than ever before.

I:

• Launched a new e-commerce platform (finally!)

• Cut back on commissions to allow time for creative growth

• Repriced products down to move stock and get cashflow moving again

• Invested in better systems and strategies for sustainability

It hasn’t been easy. The exhibition I poured my heart into didn’t sell as hoped. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve stretched every shilling. But for the first time in a long time, I feel focused. Clear. Hopeful.

I know online sales won’t be an overnight success. But this time, I’m playing the long game. I’ve built something that can bend when life throws curveballs, but not break.

What's Next?

You can expect:

• New products and artwork, available online and through selected stockists

• More behind-the-scenes stories of the creative process and my life as an artist 

• A business that is human, honest, and evolving.

• Occasional ramblings about all things, art, business, dogs and donkeys… in case it helps or inspires anyone walking a similar path.

If you’ve supported The Drawing Donkey in any way over the past few years—thank you. Whether you've bought a card, shared a post, commissioned a portrait, or sent kind words, you kept this business alive when I didn’t think I could.

And if you’re new here, welcome. You’ve arrived just in time for the start of something new.

There’s a quote pinned above my desk that reads:
“Action isn’t just the effect of motivation….. it’s also the cause of it.”

So here I am. Taking action. Starting again. Rebuilding better.

Let’s see where this next chapter takes us.

With love and paint,
Annick xox
The Drawing Donkey