Artist's Statement
At the end of 2013 I was made redundant from my publishing job of 30 years. Suddenly I had a lot of time on my hands.
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| The Forum |
The Boston, Tufnell Park |
The Pineapple |
Map Studio Cafe |
St Luke's, Osney Cres |
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Knowing that I like big projects, my husband suggested I paint pictures of all the Grade II-listed buildings in Kentish Town, and I jumped at the idea. My working life has always involved working with words and, apart from a few short drawing and watercolour courses at City Lit, I have never had any formal training in art. But since childhood, I have enjoyed painting as a hobby, and I loved the idea of combining this with my interest in old buildings. The English Heritage website lists over 100 protected buildings in NW5, so I was going to be kept busy.
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| Apostolic Church |
Our Lady Help &
Falkland Rd |
St Silas the Martyr |
St Benet's |
St Dominic's Priory, Southampton Road |
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Catholic Church,
Lady Margaret Rd |
Greek Orthodox Church |
St Mary Brookfield |
Vicarage,
Fortess Rd |
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In January 2014, I began travelling around Kentish Town during the day, either on my bike or on foot with my dog in tow, photographing the listed buildings and monuments. In the evenings, using the photographs for reference, I draw and paint the buildings freehand on my iPad, using an app called Paper53. Keeping it local, I then get the pictures printed by Kallkwik, in Kentish Town Road. |
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| The Bull & Last |
The Falkland Arms |
The Assembly House |
The Assembly House II |
The Bull & Gate |
I have now painted pubs, churches, shops, numerous private houses, railings, gates and miscellaneous monuments of the past, such as the old cherry red telephone boxes.designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, and the green, cast-iron Victorian sewer vent pipe at Gospel Oak. Vent pipes were a common sight once the sewers were built after the Great Stink. Now they are very rare and until I looked for it, I had never noticed this one despite having passed it many times in my life. The same was true for many of the private houses, often so close to the road, that they are easily missed. Now I have been made aware of them and painted them, I hope my pictures will do the same to my fellow kentishtowners. |
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| Blustons |
Bluston's spotted dress |
Camden New Journal |
Everbest |
Harry's Fine Food |
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| Islip Street Fruit & Veg stall |
Jayne's |
Kallkwik |
The London Bead Co |
Morgan's Stationery |
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| Thomas Brothers |
Tolli Patisserie |
TwoDoorsDown |
Truffles Delicatessan |
B&S DIY Homecare |
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| Owl Bookshop |
Renoir |
Abba Electronics |
Ace Sports |
| I set up a twitter account and, to make people aware of my work, made secret postings of print-outs of the paintings to the private houses, pubs and churches. I liked the idea of being secret so that the focus of the project remained on the buildings, not me.
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| Kentish Town Sports Centre |
Zabludowicz Collection, Prince of Wales Road |
Postmen's Sorting Office, Leighton Road |
La Sainte Union Convent, Highgate Road |
The French School, Holmes Road |
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| Rhyl School, Rhyl Street |
Gate & Wall, La Sainte Union Convent |
Kentish Town Police Station, Holmes Road |
Karl Marx's house. 46 Grafton Terrace |
George Orwell's house, Lawford Road |
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| Kenwood House |
| Although the long-term project focuses on listed buildings, I have recently started a small project painting the independent shops and businesses in Kentish Town and Camden. This is to record them as the people of Kentish Town and Camden know them today but also to preserve an image for posterity. They will never be listed by English Heritage but they remain popular and well-loved features of our everyday lives.
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| 1-7 Highgate Road |
Highgate Road |
Highgate Road |
64 Highgate Road |
Fitzroy Terrace, Highgate Road |
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| Terrace, Prince of Wales Road |
Terrace, Fortess Road |
Fortess Road |
Hawley Road |
St Albans Villas, Highgate Road |
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| Terrace, Kelly Street |
Kelly Street |
Kelly Street |
Kelly Street II |
Ivor Street |
The project has now taken off and I am getting commissions from people who want me to paint their houses or the houses of their friends. It started as a hobby but it has now become a bit of an obsession. I love these buildings. Most of them built many years before I was born, they will be here for a long time after I’ve gone. I want to honour them while I’m here, and I’m pleased that my work combines the new technology with the buildings and monuments of the past.
Kentish Town, October 2014
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| Leverton Street |
1 Leverton Street |
Leverton Street |
Leverton Street |
1a Leverton Place |
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| Little Green Street |
Little Green Street |
1b Lady Margaret Road |
1b Lady Margaret Road II |
Hawley Road |
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| 20 Leighton Road |
66 Leighton Road |
22 Leighton Road |
24 Leighton Road |
26 Leighton Road |
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| 27 Leighton Road |
37 Leighton Road |
64 Leighton Rd |
64 Leighton Rd |
68 Leighton Road |
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| 70 Leighton Road |
Torriano Avenue |
96 Fortess Road |
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| Rebecca’s garden |
Lilies in June |
Sewer Vent Pipe, Gospel Oak |
Telephone box, Highgate Road |
Telephone box, Prince of Wales Road |
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| Lamp post, St Pancras Almshouses |
Victorian Gothic bollard, Anglers Lane |
St Pancras on lamp post, Inverness Street |
Railings (detail), Leverton Street |
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