BARBARA SHAW THE ACCIDENTAL INFLUENCER
Barbara Shaw is a septuagenarian who loves knitting, painting for fun and is a prolific textile artist. But just how has this sweet, story-book-looking grandmother amassed a 120,000 strong social media following in just four years, that most businesses would kill for?
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Barbara posts every day, sometimes twice and it’s appointment viewing for her engaged fans, most of whom are women. Her audience is global and they love to comment on and share her updates. Of course for the algorithms of Instagram, Facebook and Threads, her chosen platforms, this is prime content and they regularly amplify her profile.
Being in that digital sector myself, I had to meet this media genius and find her secret. I had pictured Barbara’s home in my mind’s eye, having conjured up an image based on her posts. I imagined a sweet country cottage with bags of character and quirky clutter inside, an abundant garden, an art/craft room and Barbara herself quietly bobbing about making tea while engulfed in reams of fabric and balls of wool. Well, that was perhaps a little too perfect.
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED Her rural Herefordshire village is indeed picturesque but Barbara lives in a modern townhouse. However, she has certainly made this her own and outside she showcases her love of floral displays in hanging baskets, pots and planters and her bold artwork house number as well as the trompe l’oeil paintings of animals in her tiny back garden.
She welcomes me dressed in red from head to toe. A voluminous plaid skirt, red jumper, red cardie and heavy, lace-up sparkly red boots. She is accessorised with a chunky necklace of ceramic beads, mushroom shaped earrings and multi-coloured glasses. Even her apron is colour-toned. I am realising that this lady is never underdressed.
The comforting aroma of warm homemade mince pies (it was the festive run-up when we met) and the smell of fresh coffee wafts from the modern pristine kitchen, but we partake of these in the light bright living room where I am given hot milk for my coffee, how thoughtful. Of course we are nibbling and drinking from unique ceramics crafted by local artisans, collected on Barbara’s regular trips to galleries, markets and artistic spaces where she can support such creatives. There are plenty of those around Herefordshire. The walls, all the walls, in every room, are adorned with her own art and you begin to see her distinctive characteristics in each piece. Murals lift walls and doors instead of wallpaper, “it’s fun because if I fancy a change I can just paint over it” she smiles mischievously.
Where did these visions come from and how did she develop this individual style? Well, it really is a beautiful evolution of personal discovery.
AN EXPANSION OF BEING Born in the south east, Barbara’s father decamped the family to north west England and marriage took her back down south with spells in America and France. Barbara always knew she was a little different, her mind didn’t see things conventionally and this was not always welcomed. In an era before such diversity was embraced as we do now, she was often supressed from her expressions and, struggling to make social connections, she became introverted and lacked confidence.
But she was bright, both intelligently and with an inner
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LOCAL PEOPLE BARBARA SHAW
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