Becky also provided some background on how the trend of recreating the art first started:
“When lockdown began across the world, the group interactions dropped dramatically as most of the charity shops had closed. We were a bit worried about the group, which had been so active until then. Then, one day, a member called Ceri Ashton asked if she was allowed to post a 'recreation' of a post from the group. Matt and Ann (two of our key admins) mulled it over for a couple of hours. We are normally quite strict about what we let in as we don’t want the group to become swamped with all those kitsch statues of ladies dancing or awful cat plates…. The group was originally aimed at awful paintings or drawings by amateur artists (this is also something I’m really keen on as I’m an artist myself) and we try to keep true to that original vision. In the end, Matt and Ann thought 'what the hell, only a few of them will be bothered to join in so what harm can it do?' and the group had become so quiet during lockdown they thought it would provide some entertainment… little did they know! None of us expected the reaction we got!”
“When it hit, the group went crazy! Everyone was up for it, people were sat at home with nothing to do and the world was full of death and awful news, this was EXACTLY what people needed to lighten the mood and we got some truly hilarious interpretations of terrible art from the group,” Gouverneur detailed why the recreations became so popular. “Ceri also ended up creating her own group (Recreate Artwork With Things You Find At Home) as well so the craze can carry on long after TAICS (Terrible Art in Charity Shops) reverts to normal life!” she explained.
