A Lancashire artist, who sells handmade gifts and art workshops, has seen her business boom since she started making montage videos of her mosaic creations and publishing them on social media sites.
Briony Machin grew up near up holland in West Lancashire and runs a studio in Cedar Farm, Mawdesley which she opened in June 2020.
The 29-year-old is a designer and maker specialising in Ceramics and mixed media. She runs art workshops and also sells art kits for people to try at home.
Over the last year, her designs and montage videos have captured the attention of millions of people on Tik Tok, Facebook and Instagram causing her business to boom.
In the videos, Briony can be seen creating stunning mosaic artwork a some of them have amassed millions of views.
Briony said: “People kept saying to me that I needed to post a video to Tik Tok because it is the new ‘cool thing’.
“I put it off for ages because I just didn’t know how to use it so didn’t bother.
“I posted one of the videos I already made to Instagram and then about three days later it had 400,000 views which was mental.”
“A couple of the videos on Tik Tok went viral like that and we’re even featured on Lad Bible, Buzzfeed and more.
“That was in May and I’ve continued posting to Instagram and Tik Tok since."
One Facebook video shows Briony making a “sunny floral mosaic” – at the time of writing it has racked up more than 18 million views which Briony still thinks is “crazy to think about.”
Thousands of people commented, praising the gorgeous design and commenting on how much fun it looks.
She said: “I think so many people watch the videos because it is something new and there aren’t many people posting mosaic tutorials – I’m also guessing the social media algorithm liked them.”
She added that as a result of the videos the demand for her at home kits “has gone crazy”.
She added: “There has also been international interest. Before it was all UK and now my following is 60 per cent international and I get a lot of request from different countries”
Before she started posting the videos to her social media accounts, Briony has 3000 Instagram followers.
Now, her followers have exploded and she has amassed over 153,000 followers on Instagram, and 59,500 on Facebook, 30,000 on Tik Tok
While she says she is grateful for the amount of people watching, she also added that she can be “overwhelmed” with orders once a video takes off.
@brionymachinceramics Mosaic Summer Florals on a grey, rainy day 🌿🌸🍃🌼🌿##mosaic ##mosaicart ##mosaicmural ##tiling ##ceramics ##ceramictiles ##craft ##art ##handmade
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She said: “[Going viral] is really weird. Sometimes it can be a lot to get so many messages on top of my regular work.
“It’s just me, I’m a one woman band having to make all the orders and pack all of them.
“However, the messages I receive are so lovely. People tell me they find my videos therapeutic or that I have inspired them to pursue their own dreams.”
Briony is planning to continue her successful business with plans to expand even further.
She added: “I’ve got plans for online workshops so people internationally can do workshops and I plan to expand all the kits.
“I want to do community projects, subscription services and also to start making some of my own ceramics.”
To learn more about Briony Machin Ceramics, visit the company website: www.www.brionymachin.com
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