Artist of the Month: Tessa Pearson

5th March 2014: Tessa Pearson is an award-winning artist who studied Printed Textile design at UCCA Farnham and the Royal College of Art, where she won the Courtaulds Prize and was commissioned by Liberty of London to produce a collection of printed silks. As Tessa Lambert she opened her own print studio and gallery in London and successfully sold her distinctive hand-painted silks around the world. 

We are delighted to introduce Tessa Pearson as our Artist of the Month - read more in our behind-the-scenes feature. It's most definitely got the 'ooh factor'! Starting with what has to be one of the best images we have ever shown of an Artist in their studio, here is a glorious shot of Tessa at work;

What's your favourite design/piece of work & why? One of my favourite paintings is a painting called Garden Dreams Orange. Watercolour can be so tricky, it was just one of those moments when everything went just right.

What's been your best-selling design or piece of work to date? Recently, my woodblock monoprints. particularly the Alliums, have been all the rage. People seem to love the combination of the floral imagery with the abstract three dimensional quality of the layered stripes.

Which part of the process do you like most? Printmaking is addictive for me because of the element of chance when you combine layers of colours and texture. It's the ooh factor!

Which part do you like the least?! The cleaning up-and the days when my mind goes blank...

What would your dream project be? Given my current and ongoing fascination with gardens, I would love to return to my most favourite place in the world - the Jardin Majorelle in Marrakesh. To spend time there drawing amongst all the amazing colours and produce a collection of paintings, prints, and fabrics for a dream Riad would be heavenly! 

Who would be your dream client? Someone who loves colour as much as I do.

Who or what is your biggest source of inspiration? Renowned colourists like Matisse, Howard Hodgkin, Patrick Heron, Gillian Ayers, and Sean Sculy all the the ability to get me going. I love the work of garden design Piet Oudolf, and am dying to visit the tulip fields in Holland one day.

Which is your favourite Yellow House Art Licensing artist & why? I particularly like the recent work by Jane Human - her strong mark makng and bold use of colour make wonderful painterly prints.

Which is your favourite Yellow House Art artist & why? www.yellowhouseart.com is our closely-associated site selling original artwork. Ken Eardley ceramics are fab, I have a striped jug at home which I use all the time.

Do you have your own work at home? Yes, occasionally there comes a piece that is just too special to lose and I keep it, although my walls are pretty full now. Of course the image is always still available for licensing!

When designing your studio, what was the most important factor? I am so lucky to have been in just that position recently, as we are currently building a huge new studio here at my home in the Surrey Hills. My favourite things are going to be lots of storage, windows overlooking my painters garden and a loo!

What's been your biggest mistake/cock-up?! Many years ago, I was commissioned by Liberty to design a collection of prints for them, big colourful abstracts when the fashion was for little florals. I stood in Regent Street and looked at the windows full of my fabrics, but didn't have a camera to record the moment....

What's on your drawing-board/ in your kiln / on your easel / etc. right now? I am so excited, I am just starting the first of a new series of woodblock prints with a tulip image woodblock. Should be out by May to go with my Allium, Agapanthus, and Teazel prints. I am also working on a new technique for me involving open-screen monoprints which look very promising.

What is the last book you read? Marks out of 10? Does a seed catalogue count??

What is the last exhibition you went to? Marks out of 10? Although not a great fan of Paul Klee, I thought the exhibition at the Tate was fantastic. Brilliant curated 9/10. I am counting the days until the Matisse Cut-Outs show opens.

If you could own a masterpiece, what would it be? Something by Howard Hodgkin would be very high on my list.

What’s your proudest achievement? Earning enough from my work to pay the mortgage...

Tessa Pearson's sketchbook images are wonderfully loose and fresh, here are a couple of examples:

What’s been your biggest challenge? Keeping up with technology. And Children.

What attracted you to/attracts you about working with Yellow House? I trained as a textile designer, so I would love to see my work splashed across fabrics and all other kinds of surfaces - anything to get my colour out into the world.

Thank you Tessa! We really love your bold and vibrant colour and strong mark-making, it's fascinating to see your interpretation below of the Sussex Prairie garden -  simply beautiful.