The Bizfizz effect in action: Rob Pointon

It's all very well being really good at something, but can you make money from it? Less than six months ago, Rob Pointon was just another talented artist wondering whether he’d ever make a living from his painting.

Now, with a string of commissions from local businesses, he has become one of the best showcases for the Mother Town’s new network of trade and art. He credits Carolyn Powell with giving him the belief that he could make it as an artist. “She came up to me while I was painting on the street in Burslem. You could tell she genuinely believed I could do something.”

Rob is confident in his own ability and hard working, but also modest and
unnassuming. He came to Burslem with no more desire than to paint, with no idea of the network of trade that bubbles behind a town that many have written off.
A spot at the Burslem Arts and Crafts Festival followed and now Rob’s paintings are frequently descibed in the Burslem Arts shop as ‘investments’ – high praise for such a young artist and two have already been snapped up. A show at Leek was a sell-out.

His unusual style of paintings often gives the effect of a fish-eye lens and people often assume, incorrectly, they are done from photographs. Rob is an expert on perspective and lectured in it before leaving art college in London. Like many before him, he found his talent was recognised, but that didn’t necessarily mean the money followed. As you’ll only discover from him website, Prince Charles has one of his paintings, but “he didn’t pay for it. It was a condition of the course I was on that he could have the painting free of charge if he wanted it.”

As an old fashioned painter with an obvious love for the scenes of Burslem, Rob is now working on paintings for several local shops, restaurants and businesses.
Beyond painting, he is able to turn his hand to illustrations, graphics and cartoons, all with very distinctive styles. The Bizfizz panel provided the starting point for Rob’s new business. Looking at his paintings and his series of cartoons for Stoke City’s programme, they brainstormed pages of ideas for revenue-raising.

Today, you’ll normally find him working away in some corner of Burslem, juggling a range of projects, from animations for Junction 15 in collaboration with Karen Sayle of Big Red Animation, a Christmas card for one of Staffordshire’s biggest businesses, a cartoon for Local Edition, logos for different companies and a series of commissions for Staffordshire Housing. All at once.

It means his exhibition planned for November in the School of Art has taken a new turn, when he will celebrate the network of businesses that have given him his first big break and turned him from an artist who was praised into one who could
create a real business.

He will not forget that it was the simple but convincing message from the Bizfizz coach that gave him the convidence to start his business.

“Carolyn was the first person who really had faith that I could be self-employed.”
Rob’s work can be seen in Local Edition, at www.robpointon.co.uk and at Burslem Arts, 7 Queen Street, Burslem.

A directory of Bizfizz clients has been produced for the 4 October event: call 525570 to enquire about availavility.