A new dawn breaks in my kitchen
The work surface used to look like this on a bad day (out of focus, the way I prefer to remember it)
Where I used to blog
Where I would paint on the dining table which gave me an excuse to eat standing up at the fridge
Bingo! The reason it's all changed
I took over a spare bedroom and all this was beautifully made for me by Colin Failes, a multi-talented man who worked on the massive Armada paintings for the House of Lords [here]. I had a bit of a flouncey moment when the pinboard stuff arrived and it was a cold slatey blue. Colin looked perplexed but set about giving it the subtle trompe l'oeil effect you can just see here. I should have got him to sign it, dammit. I can only describe him as a class act, suggesting the wide plan-chest drawers and a fold down table to the right of the picture.
This isn't quite the end of the story. For a number of regrettable reasons, I have just decided to give up my studio in Bermondsey and that's full of canvases, paint, books, drawings, a mountain of paint-spattered old clothes, a glorious easel on wheels, my virgin's couch (a Vono 1950s studio bed that's past redemption) and a pommel horse I upholstered at art school. I stood there last night and practically wept. Where the hell will I put it all?
My MA (Textiles) show at Goldsmiths College, London 2003. The series of paintings entitled 'Calamity Fixes Her Makeup' are in the Ernst & Young Collection but I am stuck with the pommel horse entitled 'Last Chance for Horseplay'. It's conceptual innit.
I produced the screen-printed fabric myself which contains illustrations of how to sit in a ladylike manner from a 50's beauty book. Someone else did the upholstery, which is beyond my pay-grade, in an attempt to morph the horse into a dressing table like the one I had growing up. I am still kicking myself for not making it pale lilac instead of pink to match the ground in the paintings. I am proud to say that it was recommended for the Warden's prize but the poor man said he didn't think he could live with it in his office. I could hardly blame him. Shall I put it in my bedroom and use it as a clothes horse?
[Last two images courtesy Gerard Williams. All artwork © Rosie West]
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