A Northampton mother’s new abstract art company, which was only founded in January, has continued to grow and now has a two-month waiting list.
Lucia Tonna, 28, first launched “The Modern Art Mama” after she posted an abstract artwork she was making for herself and people asked if she would start selling them.
Lucia Tonna, the founder of The Modern Art Mama, and her two-year-old son Archer.
Lucia said: “I knew what piece of art I wanted for my living room, but it would cost me around £1,000 to buy it. How can this be justified for anyone?”
After she bought the resources and posted about the process on her personal Instagram page, people she knew were really impressed and wanted Lucia to open up to commissions.
“I created a separate account and everyone loved what I did,” said Lucia, who received such a huge response that she still hasn’t finished the piece for her own living room.
The 28-year-old, who lives in Wootton with her partner and two-year-old son Archer, wanted people to be able to buy art without the “exorbitant prices” and “prides itself on keeping costs to a minimum”.
Just two of Lucia’s abstract art commissions since she founded The Modern Art Mama in January.
She said, “It’s not a priority for normal people to spend that much on art.”
Lucia’s talent and affordable price tags have increased her monthly waiting lists from eight commissions to between 40 and 50.
Juggling her new business with motherhood and her day job, the 28-year-old plans to dedicate one day a week specifically to art — both evenings and weekends.
“I’m overwhelmed with the response,” said Lucia. “It all doesn’t feel real given that I’m still so early in running a business.”
Lucia has spent a lot of time researching how to grow a business and invested in advertising, growing her Instagram followers to almost 5,000 and placing orders from all over the world.
What started as selling art locally has grown into orders in Scotland, Ireland, Dubai and the US.
One of Lucia’s hopes was to master shipping nationally and internationally, and she says she’s still learning and finding the most effective ways.
“It’s crazy that people like to pay for my work,” said Lucia, who was surprised when one of her favorite social media influencers placed an order with her company.
Blogger Hattie Bourn, who has nearly half a million followers on Instagram alone, bought a piece of artwork from Lucia.
After Hattie received her order and posted a photo of it in her house, Lucia gained another 400 followers in just 24 hours.
“I’ve been following her since I got pregnant and the fact that she has an artwork of mine in her house is a moment for me,” said Lucia.
Reality TV star Jess Wright also reached out to let Lucia know how much she loved her creations.
When asked what’s next for The Modern Art Mama, Lucia said, “I want to keep improving my work and learning different art techniques to give customers more options.”
Once Lucia is off her waiting list, she also plans to set up a website.
When the entrepreneur last spoke to this newspaper, she hoped that one day she would be able to take her artwork out of her home and have a dedicated space or studio for it.
Lucia takes on up to 50 commissions each month and is contemplating this leap much sooner than she thought would be necessary – some commissions are for canvases larger than herself.
She said: “Everywhere you look in my house is art, that’s mental and another pinch me moment.
“Sometimes I wonder if this is really happening to me, and the success motivates me to push myself and grow even further.”
Lucia says she’s always been artistic and sees what she’s doing now as a “therapeutic hobby after chasing a wild toddler all day”.
“I don’t stop from the time I open my eyes in the morning to when I go to bed,” she said.
While Lucia admits it can be “difficult at times”, her motto remains “if you want something, just do it and adapt”.
