Hasketon-based specialist decorative painter Amanda Hall tells us about her skills adding colour and design to all manner of household items
Hasketon artist's passion for painting
Hasketon-based specialist decorative painter Amanda Hall tells us about her skills adding colour and design to all manner of household items
Reflecting on my 25 years as a specialist decorative painter, I guess I am in the creative world I always wanted to be in. When I left school I wanted to go to art school but I was sent off to cookery and secretarial school. I did my stint at both to keep my parents happy – until I got the taste for painting.A friend of my parents painted for the Designer’s Guild and also started up a painting course for decorative painting which I did and not long after I was hooked! When I got home I started to paint my parent’s house from one end to the other. Everything apart from the family heirlooms and the beautiful antiques, got painted from floor to ceiling. Sometimes even the ceilings got the works as well as the television which got a coat of tortoiseshell too!I started to paint for friends and soon realised this was what I wanted to do for my career. I then went to London to do a long painting course in Knightsbridge, London and started my new life of being an apprentice for two years, after which I started off on my own. Since then I have worked all over the world for royalty, museums, top interior designers, London kitchen companies, friends and friends of friends, etc. My work has taken me all over the place but I am now settled in Suffolk with my family, two dogs and a pony. My daughter often helps me because she loves to paint too!I draw my inspiration from the stunning colours of nature and the seasons, museums, other furniture in people’s homes and stately homes, books and magazines.I used to just paint for clients at their shops, houses, studios or even beach huts, on the walls or their furniture or kitchens. For the last two years I have also been buying pieces of furniture and painting them to sell. I go to different auctions and junk shops and clearance sales to find the furniture. The reason I do not have furniture made any more is for environmental reasons. So many wonderful pieces of furniture are unwanted and thrown out, but with a bit of thought and care can be turned in to a wonderful treasure for someone else!I stock all my painted furniture at Clopton Flowers, Hasketon which is a wonderful haven of colour and smell which I also find very inspiring. It’s all about the abundance of dried and silk flowers plus ready made arrangements. Both the flowers and the furniture give a very warm and homely feel to the shop. They complement each other but fortunately for us things never hang around for long. Just as soon as pieces or arrangements go in they seem to get bought. At the shop we take commissions for furniture and flower arrangements. I am not at the shop much because I am often painting at clients’ homes, but Jenny Dows is and can help with flowers or furniture, or I can always be available to come and visit customers at their homes or at the shop. I work mainly with acrylic and oils because they are the easiest mediums to get anywhere in the world!My biggest tip is to look at what you are going to paint and decide on the colour, gather a few different shades, and live with them for a few days because different lights all create different shades of the same colour. When you are happy with your choice go for it and have fun, or you can call me or go to the shop and I would be delighted to be commissioned to do the work. I also do picture framing and bespoke mirrors.- Clopton Flowers Tel: 01473738122
