London's artists: the West way

(Left to right) Georgina Barclay, Alex Chamberlin, Henry John, Natasha Morland, Will Ayres, Tanya Brett

With studios ranging from a disused gas works to a Utopian dream of an artists' commune and a charity-run studio complex, there is nothing uniform about these artists' styles or approaches.

Between them they cover classical portraiture, impressionistic animal sculpture, curiosity-filled landscapes and realist drawing and have worked with everything and everyone from princes to tramps and bulls to army offcers. If you don't find them at work in their studios, try the Chelsea Arts Club - they'll probably be propping up the bar.

Georgina Barclay

Suffolk-born portraitist Georgina, 31, did a ine art foundation course at Newcastle University before training for three years at the Charles Cecil school in Florence.

In 2007, she became the youngest artist ever to paint a British Royal when she was commissioned by the Black Watch to paint the Prince of Wales, a portrait that was first shown at the Mall Galleries. She has a studio at the Gas Works in Fulham and her first solo show will be held at the Air Gallery, W1, from 16 to 20 November (020 7409 1255).

Describe your work
I had a classical training in Florence but have since loosened up quite a lot, so my portraits are lifelike but free.

Why West London?
The Gas Works is like a little community, I'm surrounded by nice people. It's lonely being a painter, so it's nice to have other artists nearby for help or critique.

Alex Chamberlin

Chelsea-born Alex, 37, studied ine art at university in Newcastle before spending three years in the army. Returning to London in 1998, he started working from a council-owned studio in Chelsea, before moving to his current space on Queenstown Road in Battersea.

A portrait and landscape painter, Alex has completed commissions for The Cavalry and Guards Club and for his former regiment, the Light Dragoons, and is planning a solo show of alpine snowscapes in the French ski resort Val d'Isère this winter.

Describe your work
My portraiture is fairly loose, somewhere between a Sargent and a Monet, and it's quite painterly. For my landscapes and figurative paintings, I use a soft palette that I think people find quite appealing. A lot of my buyers are bankers.

What type of artists are drawn to West London?
People whose work is going to be a bit more commercial.

Henry John

Henry, 28, has art in his blood; Augustus John was his great-grandfather. Trained at the Ruskin School and the Prince's Drawing School, he works in Chelsea Studios, a 'village' of artists' studios created in the 1920s.

Henry has exhibited at 20 Hoxton Square, Eleven Gallery, Thomas Williams Fine Art and with the online gallery murmurart.com, among others.

Describe your work
It's traditional but it veers around. I try to be playful with figurative line drawings in watercolours and inks but it's not laugh-out-loud funny.

Why West London?
It's green and I have a lurcher, Arrow (right), so it's nicer for him.

Who would you be alongside in your dream group show?
A Danish painter called Tal R. He's really fun in his approach and plays interesting games that are approachable and enjoyable; a real painter with quite a childlike approach.

Nathasha Morland

London-born painter Natasha, 36, was brought up 'in the middle of nowhere' in New York state. She read English at Bristol and worked for Stephen Bayley and Andrew Martin before studying painting at Chelsea College of Art and City & Guilds, graduating in 2007.

Her buyers include Matthew Mellon. Natasha works in Shepherd's Bush in a studio owned by the arts charity Acava.

Describe your work
Landscapes are the backdrop. I like city parks, a breeding ground for the uncanny. I mix incongruous vignettes to create ambiguous, open-ended stories. Turner on acid, I suppose.

Why West London?
I used to have a studio in Hoxton. It's important at first to have similar-minded people around you, but I have an 18-month-old son now so I go to the studio, work really hard and leave.

Who do you admire?
The video artist Bill Viola. I saw an incredibly moving piece he had at the Venice Biennale this year.

Will Ayres

Will, 35, was born in the East End and studied at Central Saint Martins and City & Guilds. He had an East End studio before moving to the Gas Works, where he could afford a bigger studio, which he says is clinical, like a dentist's surgery.

Several of his paintings have been bought or commissioned by The Groucho Club, and his work has appeared in group shows alongside Mario Testino, Andy Warhol and Andreas Gursky.

How does Fulham compare with the East End?
There's more of a vibe in the East End and it's more contemporary. West London is more traditional, but you find interesting collectives of artists in both places.

Describe your work
I'm a realist. My work is like snapshots, very nostalgic, of friends and from the internet and Polaroids. I transform those into drawings and paintings that look at life. I'm inspired by the everyday, the people I meet and the places I go.

Tanya Brett

With two artist parents, it was no surprise that Tanya, 33, followed a similar path. Trained at Chelsea College of Art and the University of Brighton, she sculpts animals - everything from peacocks to life-size horses - in ceramic and bronze, in her railway-arch studio in Battersea.

She takes commissions (including a pair of six-foot hares for hotelier Alistair McAlpine) and shows at the Jonathan Cooper Park Walk Gallery in Chelsea. One of Tanya's patrons is Marco Pierre White, who 'likes the roughness and immediacy of my work'. She has a solo show at Marco at Stamford Bridge in November.

Describe your work
I sculpt animals, in an impressionistic style. I work very quickly and spontaneously.

Why animals?
I've always been drawn to animals, dead ones and live ones. My flat is full of taxidermy. You end up doing really macabre things, but you're drawn to it because you love animals and want to see them close up. It's about loving their energy.

Why Battersea?
I was originally near Old Street but Battersea is cheaper and close to my galleries.

Do you think similar kinds of artists gravitate together to similar places?
No, Anish Kapoor has a stone yard just down the road from me.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in