As a restauranteur with a restaurant brand focused on regenerative agriculture and compassion in food, I think a lot about soil and the structures within that soil that supports and sustains life; that holds water; and carbon; and a nutrient bank that is then taken up into the plants and grasses; that in turn sustains us both directly and through the animals that graze on it. In this way the ideas of reciprocity, of collaboration, of cooperation are at the heart of everything we do. The whole structure is nothing without the sum of its parts and those parts being healthy. In this vein, I’m really excited and in fact honoured to announce a very special mural we commissioned recently, painted by Ilona Russell, a practicing, London-based artist. A commission that did in fact start as a glorious misunderstanding and ended up being the feature wall in our Nunhead site. Ilona is an artist with an innate relationship with colour and flow, that nod firmly to landscape and natural form. Her compositions exude an intrinsic femininity. My gut sense is that she is likely one of the upcoming painters of our time. And time will certainly tell. As an entrepreneur who has dipped in and out for working with designers and creatives; and as someone who loves supporting others to find their feet and their voice, I’ve often wondered around the elusiveness of the creative process and how to be a great client. And how do any kind of creative present themselves in ways that make it really easy to connect with them – whether commercially or otherwise? Characterised by reciprocity, cooperation and collaboration, the creative evolution and back and forth between client and artist has been incredibly enriching and inspiring. At the end of the process, what was supposed to be a 10-minute reflective chat is now condensed into 40. It is a verbal record of what it was like working with each other and the key take-aways for others on both sides of the commissioning table. Through it all there emerged one piece of pure gold for both of us and that is offered to you should you care to listen.
http://www.ilonarussell.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ilona_russell/
https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/
http://www.trilbynelson.com/
https://www.28wellhung.com/
https://www.instagram.com/28wellhung/