I am based in my new studio in the green Surrey Hills just outside London. I am so happy in my new space as it’s by far the largest studio I have had the pleasure to work in solo, and it has three giant windows so even on the not so best English days I get all the light that is available.

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I have had to get used to being back in England, new climate means new clothes for all the seasons instead of the year-round sun. I have fitted out my studio so it’s now both the space I create and where I send out all my limited edition print orders, which go across the globe with many going to Singapore, my home for eight years.

Studio Portrait
This studio portrait was done by Surrey based photographer Nicola Young.

I won Nicola’s photography package in the School Ball Auction last year and used it for some studio photography in my new space.

 

Studio Space
I love these giant windows and they’re one of the main reasons we decided to buy this house as it had the perfect studio space for me and the house itself has loads of history. In its day, 1840, it was literally the house on the hill and owned a lot of the land around it.

Plan Chest And Prints
I purchased a second plan chest recently from Gumtree so I can store all my prints in groups as I have a large collection now. I have a different collection in each drawer. Buddhas, Equestrian, Animals, and Singapore and London landmarks.

I use the top for preparing print orders. I sign, roll and wrap them in tissue before I add tags and they go into a tube with a label of the design on the outside. I then prepare them for local or international delivery.

I use Fedex for International Deliveries and Royal Mail Special Delivery for UK Orders.

^{My gorgeous studio assistant Lolly holding ‘My Beautiful Ginger lilies’ Prints.}

Printmaking And My Second Plan Chest
When I moved back to England I had to buy more storage for my art studio and I bought this plan chest from eBay. The family were selling off their artist father’s studio equipment as he had sadly passed away. I use it to store my drawings and works on paper. When I look at the artists calls each month to decide what to apply for I look through my plan chest of drawings and smaller paintings as well as my larger canvases to work out what fits the theme of each art call.

The top is great as its huge – an A0 size and I use it to roll out my printmaking plate for mono printing which I incorporate into many of my paintings.

Mono printing details for the mixed media paintings.

Art Books and Canvases

This corner is my storage corner. I have art and reference books, my essential oils for burning while I paint and my stack of unfinished ‘work in progress’ paintings. I swear I will finish the ‘Chinatown Singapore’ painting soon. I don’t know why but it’s just one of those paintings that has been on a stop-start journey. I tend to work on several paintings at once and move them all on in stages week by week.

I love art books and I have a collection in the house and studio. My dad used to buy me art books for birthdays or from antiques and collectors markets he visited. I treasure them all and take them out for inspiration.

I have just visited David Hockney’s retrospective in London at the Tate Britain and I love buying the catalogues and postcards of my favourite pieces afterwards.

Painting Wall
The wall opposite the windows is my main working wall. I have screws all the way across at two different heights so I can hang the larger canvases to work on the walls. I also work on the floor or the table. At the moment I am working on two paintings of The Palm House of Kew Gardens – they are part of my London landmarks series of mixed media paintings on canvas. I have completed my Liberty London painting which took a year to complete as I moved house and studio, and had to keep leaving it.

The problem with us artists is that we tend to need or collect so much stuff! I have got several bits of storage furniture on castors mostly from Ikea so I can move the drawers of paint, pens and brushes near to where I am working. I can rearrange my space quickly or move some of it out altogether if I am having a photoshoot. I do a lot of my own photography but I like to have Tamra Cave around to take new photos when I have completed a painting. Having new and fresh photography is an asset to any art business.

Artist Mother
I am an artist and mother and my studio is at home. I have nicked the best room in the house for my studio! My children have grown up around art and my studio. It’s normal for them to come home and search mum out ‘in the studio’.

My favourite Instagram page of the moment is Marisa Huber’s @carveouttimeforart (Instagram.com/carveouttimeforart). All us artist mothers have a sometimes difficult juggling act giving time to parenting, creative and art time. Seriously, I need a cloning gene… until then you cannot get a more inspiring page of how to carve out time each week to create if that is your passion!

Thanks for visiting my studio tour!