Sitting down to talk to artist Rusty is like enjoying an overdue catch up with an old friend. “I have a dream of living on a farm with donkeys, pigs and all my dogs, but I think I may be too much of a diva for that…” she confides in us, with a laughter that is contagious. While we may not have met up on a farm this time, we caught up with the painter at her mum’s eclectic house in Deal, Kent – where she has been staying and working until recently. Fast becoming one of our favourite creative locations, Deal encompasses a bustling high street, a beautiful seafront and a warm sense of community. So it felt like the perfect place to delve into the creative mind of the artist.

I come from a pretty creative family of writers and designers. My grandad was a really great painter who trained at the Royal College of Art in the 1950s and I remember always being very aware of the paintings I was surrounded by growing up. I often find myself subconsciously referring back to these when I work nowadays too.

I think they are gestural, immediate, expressive, painterly and decorative.

Ideas don’t always just come to be honest. I think most creatives will agree that they happen when you get to work. That being said, I sometimes see an image or a photo – in a magazine or somewhere else – where an expression or a design will kickstart an idea for painting.

I think painting women has always interested artists throughout history, but for me, images of women painted by other women have been under-represented in contemporary art. The woman’s voice is so strong now though, so it felt like a good time to review the female form from the point of view of my generation.

I have a background in textiles and interiors, so the colours and textures that stage a figure are always important to me. As well as that, a lot of paintings that have influenced me are set within colourful interiors. I find that interiors can also be expressive and really reflect a mood.

Colour is so important. I will often jump on a colour, say an earthy tone from nature, then set it against a complimentary or bright colour that jars with it. From there I develop a palette that may inform the series of paintings. If I’m working the other way round and I am putting together an interior piece, I may take a colour from another painting as my starting point or direction.

It’s a long list but to start with Picasso, Louis Bourgeois, De Kooning, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Matisse, Basquiat, Chantal Joffe – just to name a few.

Painting is a form of storytelling. Every piece has something to say and I find that so intriguing. It captures feelings in the moment and it can be universal. I think that paintings never fail to stir some kind of emotion when they are seen – no matter what style, colour or size they are.

Because I work in a gestural way, one of the challenges is having the confidence to attack the canvas or blank sheet. Of course, I rework paintings but my gestural approach means that I quite often have to get it right the first time or I sometimes scrap it. The other challenge for any artist when you have found your voice and a recognised ‘style’ is to not repeat yourself or become formulaic. It’s about continuing to push ahead, and get out of your depth and comfort zone.

Not at all! During lockdown my situation was a little makeshift. I moved out of my flat in London and came down to the south east coast and I would paint wherever I could. Now I have a studio in my house which is a real treat. I like to have space with no visual distractions other than the painting in front of me. Oh and good lighting, that obviously helps!

Great question. It’s so hard to narrow it down. I listen to a mixture of everything from pop to soul. Some of my favourites are Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, Talking Heads, Jungle, Baxter Dury and Ian Dury. There are also some incredibly talented female artists on the scene too at the moment; including Joy Crookes, Priya Ragu and Rosalia.

Another long list: Danny Fox, Florence Hutchings, Faye Wei Wei, Cannon Dill, Tracey Slater, Layla Andrews, Farshad Farzankia.

I guess it’s not really up to me. I paint what I paint and I know that some of the faces or people I paint will encapsulate a mood or feeling, but I try to keep things ambivalent so that people can take what they want from my work.

I would say I have learnt a lot about my own process and how I work. Being patient with myself is important on days where I just can’t get it right. I’ve learnt to step back when things aren’t working and return to a piece of work with fresh eyes, then sometimes things gel more. I think it’s not about pushing at a painting but letting the idea distill for a while, then coming back to it. That way I find that the alchemy often happens.

I’m so delighted to be working with Whistles and I’m thrilled to be the first artist to collaborate with you on your new programme ‘Whistles connects’. My mum actually has a navy sweater from the Covent Garden store which she bought back in the 80’s and it’s still going strong! It’s a classic fisherman sweater and it’s one of her favourites. So we’ve always loved the brand.

I love how you don’t shy away from more masculine cuts or colour, so I took these two ideas as my starting point for the series; female figures who pioneered male cuts and designers who pushed the boundaries of colour and style. For example Elsa Schiaparelli and Marlene Dietrich. The portraits aren’t specifically based on these women but as I said, I like to find my starting point and then run with it and experiment.

As part of Whistles Connects, a new series that aims to support emerging creatives, Rusty Studio is one of the first artists we are collaborating with to celebrate contemporary art.

Portraits from Rusty’s ‘Muses’ series are now on show in the windows of our London flagship, St. Christopher’s Place. Stay up-to-date with Rusty’s projects and follow along over on @rusty.studio_.
 

Words by Helena Stocks
Images by Tami Aftab