Artist with Lake District galleries wins business award

Lucy Pittaway, who started her art career in 2012 from her spare room, has grown her business to employ 58 people.

This includes in galleries, a studio and a framing and distribution centre across the Lake District and North Yorkshire.

She opened her seventh gallery this month in Bowness-on-Windermere, with another in Keswick.

The response to one of Mrs Pittaway's recent paintings, a tribute to the felled Sycamore Gap tree, has been phenomenal, selling more than 3,100 prints.

She has made a donation from each sale to help fund a new publicly accessible woodland on the Swinton Estate near Masham, North Yorkshire.

She has now been named the winner of the 'Outstanding Business Growth' category in the University of York Enterprise Awards.

The award recognises business acumen combined with a social conscience.

Mrs Pittaway said: "The team and I are delighted to have won this award as it reflects the incredible hard work that our whole workforce have put into creating the business we are so proud of today.

"I hope it helps to highlight the importance of art to the economy of an area as well as the positive mental health benefits the creative arts can bring."

Her husband and business partner, Neil Pittaway, said: "In such a challenging economic climate, winning an award such as this means so much.

"It really does help motivate us to focus on achieving our planned trajectory of growth in line with our business plan."

Mrs Pittaway has been the UK's Fine Art Trade Guild's Most Popular Published Artist since 2018.

The artist has also created free educational resources for schools to enhance their art provision and encourage creativity in young people.

She and her team aim to raise more than £10,000 this year for the Great North Air Ambulance Service.

Mrs Pittaway said: "I live in North Yorkshire, as do many of my team, and the countryside, along with the Lakes, have been a constant inspiration so it’s nice to be able to give something back."