For The Record – Shane Record

Shane Record is known and loved across Folkestone and beyond for his passionate portraits of the people and places around town.  He was Creative Folkestone’s longest-standing tenant having moved into The Old High Street in 2005, and leaving, pretty much to the day in September 2025.  Now, he’s based from his beloved VW Campervan – Julie – and with the freedom of a portable studio, his portfolio is growing.  Folkelife parked up alongside Shane for a cuppa and a chat.

“I saw The Old High Street transform over the time I was based there.  In the beginning, in 2005, nearly everything else was closed on the street.  There were a few CF – Creative Foundation as it was then – tenants, and I was one of their residential tenants.  Inspiring Interiors was there, along with Wild For Flowers. I would hang work in all the derelict buildings because the CF had the keys to these places, I’d put curtains up behind and smarten up the windows and use the street as my gallery. 

“After about a year of doing this, someone suggested I should put prices underneath the pictures.  I had thought if I put prices on no one would buy them, but it turns out, as soon as there was a price, I started to sell my pictures!  Business advice 101! By the time I had moved into my studio at number 19, the street was beginning to pick up.  By 2009, as things were getting busier and looking really promising, we were hit with the credit crunch, and everything collapsed.”

tough times

“I’d given up everything, my steady job teaching, my reliable ‘pays a pension, sick pay and holiday pay’ job to be an artist, and then this happens!  It was tough going for a number of years, and I really wondered if I had done the right thing.  Painting-wise, I had done a lot of the red phone box on The Stade which had been really popular.  By the time it got to 2013/2014, when the Harbour Arm was looking better and more accessible, I started to paint that.  And that’s when I realised I’d found another subject that was popular with people. It helped me turn a corner, and has kept me going for the last 10 years. 

“The Old High Street started to grow too.  Objectables joined in, and Hannah at R+R Jewellery who put so much into the street working.  Things are incredibly tough for people right now, and I thought I’ve ridden through the credit crunch, and Covid, and I could do it again, but that’s not what I want to do as an artist.  So releasing myself from the confines of the studio, and being able to take advantage of the weather being good, or to take a trip away to find new subjects to paint, is giving me the freedom to be the artist I want to be. It’s exciting!”

Julie

“My beloved sister died so suddenly and it was a real shock.  We were really good friends and I miss her daily.  I found this campervan at an auction, and that was the start of my liberation from the studio, and also has helped with an element of my grief.  I’m working to get her – the van – into a state where I can drive off and camp out and work from her.  I’ve named her Julie, so she’s always with me. 

“If you’re in the business of selling what you make, it is very much about being authentically you.  People see through a false persona very easily.  The more you are authentic to your ethos, the more people support you and follow what you do.  Charlie, my dog, Julie, the van, and me going out to paint on the spur of the moment, or on a planned trip, all has the energy of who I am, who we are, and what we create.”

deconstruct the mystery

“I think it’s really important to inspire people too.  And by filming what I do, and how I create my works, everyone can see what really happens, and if I make a mistake or a fool of myself, that’s all me too!  It’s not hurting anyone, and it’s what really happens, we all make mistakes, but we learn from what we do.  I think it’s important for adults to know, as well as children, to not take yourself too seriously.  And creativity is really important to this narrative too.  To be able to take a step back and view what you’re doing from an objective setting is vital.  It also helps with getting sponsorship and brand alignment.  The environment is incredibly important to me, so being able to leave the studio and get out and see, and paint what’s happening around me is how I want to work.”

self belief

“This is also key too – you must believe in yourself.  I love painting, and I love studio painting, and getting out and painting outside, but it’s hard!  I was painting waves at the weekend and they’re incredibly hard to do.  You have to keep at it, until it drives you mad – and that’s usually a sign that you’re nearly there with it looking ok! 

“But then, moving on an working on something else if it really isn’t going well is another tactic. That way, thinking about something else completely can help give you the idea you need to solve the first problem. 

“The freedom I have now from being tided to opening times in the studio means I can arrange to see clients at convenient times to both of us, and also get out and about to discover new subjects to paint.  There has always been activism in my work.  If you look at my community work, I have been involved in all sorts of causes that mean a lot to me.  This is important, and if people can come to understand or learn about a cause through looking at one of my paintings then this is how I can influence and inspire people.”

bravery

“I know that my work, and being an artist, has survived during the tough times such as Covid and the credit crunch.  Now, taking the risk to branch out and be more independent is, yes, exactly that, a risk, but I know that I can adapt to make it work for me.  And if it doesn’t work, well, I’m sure I can think of something!  It’s about being open minded to new opportunities, and you don’t know where they will lead, but they will be exciting. 

“If you’re a professional artist it is hard to make a living, but that’s what makes it fulfilling for me.  You do need to diversify, and do different things to make it worthwhile.  Not only to you have to be a bloody good artist, but you have to be flexible, be able to take criticism (which is hard for most people, artists especially, sometimes!) and be Head of Marketing, Sales and Procurement as well as feeding the dog.”

passionate

“Above all else, you need to be passionate. People buy passion. So do the things that you’re passionate about, and not everything will work out, but people will discover you through your passion, and love the work you create, and become passionate about it themselves.   And if they don’t know what they want, your passion will lead them to it!”