Ahead of his new exhibition Daisy Chain at 8 Holland Street’s Kensington Gallery, Charlie Sheppard opened the door to his sun-filled South London home studio. Surrounded by flowers, piles of colourful ceramic tiles and the constant hum of making, we find an artist whose work grows as naturally as the gardens that inspire it.
Alex Heim invites us to his family farm in Somerset, where he has transformed the corner of an old stone barn into a painting studio. Returning home after graduating from Central Saint Martins, he has built a practice shaped by the rhythms of the countryside, recent travels and a fascination with the moments between things. Ahead of his new collection for 8 Holland Street, we spent the morning talking about painting, process and finding inspiration close to home.
Time spent playing with ceramics making in his garden shed during lockdown has led interior designer Gavin Houghton to the perfect outlet for his humour and wit. We take a peek inside his Stockwell garden shed to find out more...
Max Bainbridge and Abigail Booth - The Artist Duo Behind Forest + Found Invite Us into Their Newly Built Somerset Studio, Where Home and Work Fold into One Another and New Pieces Begin to Take Shape Ahead of Their Upcoming Show the House Is Full of Ghosts at 8 Holland Street: South of the River.
The past is a foreign country and, yes, they do things differently there, but artist Nikki Gardham is comforted by that thought...
“I have paint flying in the studio. It gets on my shirt, my jeans … then on the couch. It just gets everywhere!” Producing works from his Dalston studio, Zach Zono's childhood in South Africa proves a potent influence on an artist-musician whose talents seem boundless.
"You weave from the bottom and, rather like building a wall, work in triangles and diamond shapes that interlock. The work is slow; you have to make sure that what you want to weave is in essence about you - that's what drives the weaving." Newly established in her old haunt Bath - and just a stroll away from our gallery - Jilly Edwards is the doyenne of creative textiles. She talks us through the beginnings of each tapestry and the intricacies of her craft and, after moving house thirty times, feels settled... for the time being.
‘All my work is about what I think is important – and I happen to think that eels and brown trout are very important. I don’t suppose a lot of other people do, but to me everything I use has meaning.’ When talking to Herefordshire-based printmaker Julian Meredith, his deep respect and understanding of nature pours out of him; by no means preaching or overbearing, but with a gentle urgency for us all to recognise the beauty that abounds in the world around us.
Being Present in the Moment Helps Ditte Blohm Create Her Unique Sensory Pieces That Recall Memories of Feelings. We Take a Peek Inside Her East London Studio to Find Out More...
Following Last Summer's Exclusive Collection of Famille Verte Ware from 1690 Ceramics, We're Excited to Shout About a New Collection Especially Made for Us and the Wonderful Woman Behind Them - Sophie Wilson - And Her World...
We take a peek inside ceramicist Claudia Rankin's northumberland studio...
A chance experiment during lockdown led Alvaro Picardo to discover his passion: "I spent my whole life trying to figure out what I want to do, now that I’ve found this it feels like winning the lottery." We take a peek inside his Pimlico flat to find out more...
One of our Favourite Sculptors Christopher Marvell opens the door to his cambridgeshire studio where home and familiarity influence the quiet elegance of his pieces. we take a peek inside...
“When it all comes together and you can see how you can push something seemingly out of control into the sleep of a spinning top” says Nicola Tassie of the making process, “it’s a sort of sublime realisation that this happens with nothing but water and mud"
Working from the extraordinary city of Bath contributes to Florence Saumarez’s creative process, “As a creative person you do need to be happy in your surroundings; to be able to create, you need elements of peace and stability. Beautiful surroundings bring me huge joy.”
"What I don't have in space I have in light,” jokes weaver Catarina Riccabona of her small, south-east facing studio in south London. She is sitting tucked away next to the vast loom she makes her array of blankets, throws and wall-hangings on. There is barely room to move either side of it, but her love for the machine – and her craft – is clear.
Abstract painter Joseph Goody’s studio in south London is a place where his interest in music and art merges with a deep underlying interest in structure, geometry and subtle meaning. We pop in to see how they all lace together in his colourful, powerful paintings.
One of our favourite potters Georgia Loizou dipped her toe into many creative fields including graphics, fine art and knitting before taking up ceramics as a career. We drop in on her studio in Somerset to find out how she brings them all together.
8 Holland Street founder and our chief shop boy Tobias Vernon splits his time between London and a West Country cottage not too far from our second store reopening soon in Bath. Ahead of that, our contibuting editor Tom Morris takes a peek through the door of his cottage.
“Painting with feeling is so important; to look at the subject more than the page”
"At Lunch?... I always go to my mamma or nonna. It is mandatory! Every meal you miss out is a lost occasion to discover a new planet. Mamma is a pro on risotto and nonna on pasta, homemade of course. Sorry I was forgetting about my grandpa’s cellar, he always donates the right glass of something to top the experiencE..."
"The Air in Artist Prue Piper's Home and Studio Is Thick with Otherworldliness That She Bats Away as If Mundane. We Wanted to Gain Insight into Prue's World, and into Her Process That Creates Some of Our Most Loved Ceramics..."
"We need each other. Much like we need the sun and we need the moon, we need the soil and we need the sky, we need some gloss and we need some grit. Merry Christmas from Up Our Street, to yourS"
"Nothing is ordinary and no day is standard, mundane or grey in 17 Portobello Road. Whilst the Vanderbirds work to realise the designs, Stuart and his spider sit in the greenhouse, design meetings take hold, Christine gets the watercolours out..."
I Started my day by… Pallas: Coffee always and at least an hour of antique hunting online. I check the dealers’ new stock all the time to make sure I haven’t missed anything that would be perfect for a client. Freya: 30 mins of meditation...juice 1 lemon and 1 orange together! And arrived at the studio by 11am
"What Gets Me Through (The Day)...? Being Driven to Pin Down, Find Something Each Day, Something That Might Correspond to What I Have Seen, Felt, Experienced. Something That Stops the World Spinning for a Moment"