Elizabeth Rose is a multi-disciplinary artist living in Dorset whose practice encompasses fine art, interior design and bespoke pieces for the home. She holds a degree in Fine Art from City & Guilds of London Art School and a Distinction Certificate in Interior Design & Decoration from the Inchbald School of Design. Elizabeth took her artwork beyond the canvas when she started painting lampshades in her distinctive style during the renovation of her Dorset cottage in 2020. Since then she has been  painting shades for interior designers and private clients alike, including commissions for The Ned for Soho House, interior designer Max Rollitt, and photographer Marte Marie Forsberg.

Combining over 20 years experience in interior design, and her fine art background and drawing on her values of timelessness, natural materials and her passion for French art and culture, Elizabeth’s characteristic style and palette, expressive and bold brushwork offer a fresh, approach to art as a functional object.

The new Stripes & Waves Collection borrows elements of the same brushwork and palette as Elizabeth’s Landscape Lampshades. The hand-painted Landscape Lampshades, expand upon her preoccupation with recording and responding to the landscape. Each lampshade reveals a seamless panoramic field, composed of swift and spontaneous abstract marks. The viewer is encouraged to look at each unique work in the round as one would similarly contemplate the landscape.

Absorbing her studio space, filled with colourful references of artworks, musings, work and palettes, gifted me a glimpse into the inspiration behind Libby’s ideas. Paintings and drawings adorned the walls along with open pages of books, clippings, experimental colour schemes and visual information to immerse in. Brushes of every size, hand-drawn palette shapes, brushstrokes and art materials decorated her work table where the process was mid-flow.

We spoke about what was important in a palette and how to balance colours, and what did it mean to balance the colours? Identifying a rhythm to one palette might help determine a rhythm for the next, I wondered. The colours in Libby’s lampshades represent a story of landscape, emotion and place so it was important to ensure the balance also reflected these elements. Cuttings of colour were moved about, each time evaluating the entire scheme and relationship between the hues, with Libby mixing and creating colours as we spoke. As we explored combinations and exchanged thoughts, I noticed a pattern began to emerge: two dark, two deep, two mid-shade with more pigment, one brighter and one accent pop of high chroma.

Shuffling the combinations around, Libby settled on the two palette formulas that enabled her brush strokes to sing their purpose in creating her Landscape Lampshades. Since our time spent together, Libby has further edited the paint colours to seven per palette, in addition to offering carefully selected accents of colour in material trims.