Painter Lottie Cole on Interiors, Forgotten Women Artists & Elizabeth Bowen

Oh, well, thank you very much for having me.

I'm very delighted to chat about it.

When, when you're prepping for a show like this, is it...

Like, I imagine it is l- literally y- you're painting sort of round the clock and, and stopping is, is kind of an interruption or am I just, um, romanticizing the artist life? Is it like that?

Um, [chuckles] well, I think that probably...

I mean, because they only come around every two years, and actually I'm feeling a bit bereft because ev- most things have gone to the framers now.

Um, and [sighs] I mean, typically I feel like I could have done a number of extra work, which I haven't got round to doing.

Um, but I also really, I need a deadline to get going.

But also I like them, though the shows only come around every two years, um, I really like how long it takes.

Like, even though if you timed how long I was actually painting a painting for, it wouldn't be that long.

I like living with it for a number of months and then sort of turning it to the wall, having thought that it was finished and then thinking, "Oh my God, what was I thinking?" And then revisiting it and doing more to it.

So, um, but it's good to kind of have to say at a certain point, "Okay, you've done enough.

You could carry on working on it, but you've actually got to just give it over now."

I, I, I would imagine that like letting them go is a, yeah, is your stop.

But then when you see them again, like when they're in the gallery, do you think, "Oh, I could have done more"?

I mean, sometimes.

I often think, "Oh God, I don't even remember..." I always remember what I was listening to, 'cause I like listening to podcasts, stories.

Um, and so I actually says to... "God, I don't even remember painting that at all." But I could tell you exactly what kind of gruesome thriller or [chuckles] something that I was listening to that, that I can hear that.

But, um, and then sometimes I think, "Gosh, they're a bit...

Yeah, I could have put some more in that." But, um, generally, no.

It's almost like once, once they're fr- they want...

As soon as they get to the gallery and they're framed, it's almost like they're not yours anymore.

And, and actually, y- you know, you took that decision to stop doing anything to them, and you just gotta stick with it really.