Tell us a little about you? My name is Mia Elisabeth; I’m an artist, portrait painter, and musician from London. I lived and trained in Florence for three and a half years, so a lot of my work stems from the Italian palette and the music I consumed there. Bridging the gap between music and painting is at the forefront of my work and life. I’m so excited to be exhibiting this series that explores both simultaneously through Edward Bulmer colours, and I can’t wait to see where it carries my work from here! How does colour shape your creative process when starting a new piece? A lot of the time it’s the music of my sitter’s life that will inspire the colour palette I choose for them. The colour stems from an album which I’ll choose specifically for the person or scene I’m depicting. For example, the background colour of one of my favourite portraits I painted was the font colour of Fela Kuti’s Live Album with Ginger Baker from 1970. It’s through colour that I can depict the spirit of the person within the painting. Describe your paintings and the collection that you are exhibiting with us in London at the moment? ‘On Our Way to Perform’ is a collection of paintings that recalls the experience of going to “perform”. Not only in a musical sense, but also when we are in a moment of longing or hardship, and we feel we have to put on a version of ourselves that we haven’t grown into yet. It’s my first body of paintings that aren’t categorically portraits. It’s truly been a freeing exercise in letting go and allowing myself to paint from the same place and in the same way that I write music: a place of catharsis. Music plays a big part of your life as a musical artist and a painter, how do these worlds collide? It’s funny, music plays a huge part in my painting, but painting doesn’t play a huge part in my music. Painting is something I trained in and is my job, so I approach it with a certain earnestness and responsibility. Whereas music has always been something I can come to when lonely or confused as a way to release and process an emotion. I’ve performed, played guitar and written since I was 11, so for me music is a very free and uninhibited way of expressing myself. Do you have a favourite pigment you always come back to and couldn’t live without? Genuine Orange Vermillion by Zecchi Art Shop in Florence. The paint store has been located on the same street for centuries, and this pigment is made only bythem. It’s very special and is used in every painting I make. Every time I go back to Florence I stock up. What are you reading at the moment? I’m on the last pages of Patti Smith’s M Train. Just Kids is one of my favourites so I’m working my way through her archive. Listening to Images by Tina Campt is also a book that I keep coming back to and has inspired a lot of my thought around listening to painting, and making it exist in both the visual and the sonic worlds. How do natural materials influence your work? The earthy nature of the limited palette that I use is very much connected to natural pigments. When training I would mix most of my own pigments to oil paints. The feeling of building everything from scratch (canvas, paint, painting) is one that I love You studied in Florence, is there a specific period of history that inspires your painting? The method I was trained in is called ‘Sight-Size’, which was practised by John Singer Sargent, and originally used by Titian, Van Dyke and Velásquez. It means painting from life using natural light, natural pigment, and painting nature exactly as it appears in front of you. I use this method in both my portraiture and musical paintings. The immediacy between subject and canvas is at the core of the practice. To place myself within the lineage of these artists interposing their historical methods onto my contemporary subjects and sitters is something that I’m really excited by. I infuse nature and history into everything I paint, and try to use it as a springboard to a more modern understanding of emotion and spirit. Favourite recipe you cook again and again? I love making this carbonara with courgettes instead of guanciale. My Italian flatmates taught me and my goal is for it to seem like it was cooked by an Italian nonna. Let’s talk about the past, are there any influences of artists that you deeply admire and what draws you to them? It really ranges from John Singer Sargent to Gauguin. With Sargent I love his lucrative and liquid brushtrokes. It makes the sitters seem alive and in movement. I’m drawn to Gauguin through his colour theory. I want my work to seem like it’s a living and breathing thing. Constant movement and rhythm; for me, Sargent and Gauguin did this better than anyone. We wanted to ask about symbolism in your work, can you share an example? Sound is so important to me. I don’t believe that painting has to be a silent thing. Just as music isn’t without visuals (music videos, album covers, vinyl inserts) I believe that art and painting can have sound. Whether that’s the sound of a couple fighting in the gallery, the music bleeding from the headphones of the person next to you, or the monologue in your own head. For me, symbolism is always an aural thing. Many of my paintings contain instruments for example, evoking sound with their presence. Perhaps my fixation on the sonic could be read as an invitation to the viewer: I’d like you to listen to the painting, rather than just viewing it. Can you tell us some of your favourite shops, brands? Things you couldn’t live without. More than brands I couldn’t live without some big gold earrings and my huge gold gong necklace. At this point they’ve become a part of my second skin. Shopping wise I love a good charity shop or Italian Sunday market. Favourite Edward Bulmer Natural Paint colour? Sang de boeuf. I would have every single wall of my house painted that colour if I could. It’s very similar to a lot of the colours I use and am inspired by, and reminds me a lot of Italy. Sang de boeuf is also mixed with yellow ochre which is one of my most used pigments in both background and skintone. Describe to us your studio space, its looks, feel, even smell! How does it make you feel? It really feels like the inside of my mind. I work alone, unless I have a client or sitter in, so I really associate it as a childhood bedroom; somewhere I feel safe and free of overthinking. It has a little terrace with an Italian cyprus tree beneath it. That view is one that has held me for many years. Do you prefer painting in silence or is there something you like to listen to? Always music, most often an album in full. Occasionally I’ll paint in silence when I don’t want to be swayed by sound and check in with my emotions that day. A colour you love but rarely use and why? I don’t think there’s any colours I love and don’t use. I was going to say purple but I’ve recently begun using it in a lot of clothing and scenes as my love for Gauguin and his obsession with purple continues to grow. A cup of coffee, tea, or something else whilst you paint? Definitely coffee when I arrive in the studio, then a maybe little juice later in the afternoon to keep me going. Studio snacks are also crucial as I prefer to work straight through the day and stay in the same mindset. If you were baking a cake for a friend, which cake would you bake? Every year for my birthday, my sister bakes me this chocolate cake. I only have it once a year which makes it even more delicious and desirable. I’d probably steal her recipe and bake that for a friend. Where do ideas for paintings usually begin, be it a colour, a story or a piece of music? In my musical paintings, I start by going through the archives of an album and how they came to design their cover. I then listen to the album and paint from there. Compositionally I look to the country in which they recorded the album too. I then paint these female figures within the sonic landscapes, which I’ve come to realise are varying versions of myself and my sister. With portraiture, I begin with the person before me and their spirit. I like to include an object or piece that they feel really represented by. Portraiture is very much an expression of who I’m painting, whilst the music paintings are expressions of myself and the music I cherish. Do you keep sketchbooks or visual journals to note down inspiration and ideas? Strangely, I don’t keep a visual journal, but rather a written one. I like to think of my music and paintings as visual and sonic bookmarks of the moment I was in when I made it. Then when I’m 70 I can look back to all the years of my life and remember exactly what happened, with whom, and when. How do you like to spend your free time when you aren’t painting or performing? Get on the first flight back to Florence. Is there a single piece of art from history you wish you had painted? What is it, and why? Probably anything by Gauguin. I also love painted album covers; I wish I’d painted the cover for Music From Big Pink by The Band, which was painted by Bob Dylan. I look at that cover every day. There’s a bit of resentment there. If your work had a soundtrack based on your sources of inspiration, what might be on it? This is a question I think of often and is the most difficult. It’d have to be a soundtrack of albums as I love listening from start to finish at the studio. I’ve taken a lot of inspiration and healing from Coming From Reality by Rodriguez, Graceland by Paul Simon, Rumours (Live Album) by Fleetwood Mac and MTV Unplugged No. 2 by Ms. Lauryn Hill. I might also add Slow Train Coming by Bob Dylan and Woman to Woman by Shirely Brown for good measure. Best meal you’ve ever tasted? In Florence there’s this restaurant called Alla Vecchia Bettola, where they make vodka pasta. It may not be the best meal I’ve ever tasted, but it’s a nostalgic one that has met the different versions of me over the past eight years whilst eating with new friends, old friends, and family since I was 18. For that reason I would say it’s the best, and one that I’ll keep coming back to for many years to come.
Discover the new ‘Forever Favourites Collection’ Create a scheme from one room to your whole house with soft colours that work together effortlessly ensuring tonal flow and harmony. Our 12 best loved shades together in one pack. Discover the power of natural paint today.
Edward Bulmer Natural Paint wins ‘The Conscious Award’ at The Country and Townhouse Interiors Awards This July our team were thrilled to pick up ‘The Conscious Award’ from Country and Townhouse, celebrating our brand prioritising sustainable business models, responsibility and staying true to our ethos and brand mission.
Life in miniature: This darling dolls house has it all! A collaboration with Vinterior and The Kensington Dollshouse Company
The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence This major exhibition at The Victoria and Albert Museum celebrates the extraordinary creative output and internationalist culture of the Golden Age of the Mughal Court. Painted in an array of colours from our natural paint range to complement the art works.
Why use breathable paint? Breathability is one of the words that comes up a lot when talking about paint so we are going to break down the meaning of breathability, the benefits of choosing a breathable paint and what makes our paint breathable.
