Art so popular you’ll wait years for it

You may want a whimsical portrait of your beloved pet, but there’s a catch: you’ll have to wait more than three years for one particular artist.

Aucklander Olivia Bezett, 20, has become so popular she’s had to cut off her commission wait list.

The Albany woman left school at 16 to create her coloured-pencil-drawn critters full time.

“I was drawing all the time and made a Facebook art page, and that took off really well. I thought I could maybe wing it and make a career out of it.”

Miss Bezett said she began taking commission orders last year, but never expected the wait list to get so long.

“It’s getting a bit ridiculous. I took them all without really thinking how long it was going to be.”

The artist has given herself one week for each piece, more than she needs, “but you can’t really rush art”.

Commissioned piece requests are “90 per cent people’s pets”, coming in from as far away as Europe and Alaska.

“It’s very randomly scattered…For some reason my market in Sweden is even bigger than my Australian market.”

Olivia Bezett's Safari Sleepers. Photo: Supplied

The artist “definitely” has people willing to wait three and a half years, while others tell her it’s too long.

“It does surprise me people are still willing to wait that long now.”

Although initially hesitant to take commissioned orders – “it’s a lot harder than me just deciding I'm going to draw a rabbit” - it was the uniqueness of each animal that kept her work interesting, she said.

One family requested their cat be drawn with giant ram horns.

“They wanted me to make it look angry, I think its name was Satan so they had a bit of a joke about it.”

Miss Bezett said her pricing is very specific to what customers want, but they can cost anywhere between $300 and $1200.

Ponsonby’s Endemic World gallery owner Elliot Alexander, who stocks Miss Bezett’s work, said it was her “disciplinary, focused approach” that stood out.

“The world of art has changed, it doesn’t matter where you studied, anyone can pick up tools and start making art…It has no reflection of our successes as an artist in this day and age.”

Mr Alexander added most of Miss Bezett’s customers probably had “no idea of the skill that it takes to draw like she does”.

Massey University Wellington's school of art head, Dr Huhana Smith, said Miss Bezett had “obvious" drafts talent. "She can draw, she can render naturalistically, she plays with some kinds of aspects of surrealism."

Dr Smith said the pieces appealed to anyone who wanted to buy an original work.

“I would say she would spend most of her days drawing and creating and that’s a job, good on her.”