For this very first Artist Spotlight series, I am delighted to introduce Daisy Harcourt, who lives and works on the south coast of England. She studied Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Art, at the University of Oxford, and is inspired to make things through her enjoyment of art, music, film and literature from different cultures. Her work is also informed by mid-century artists, illustrators, textile artists and printmakers. She spoke to Manderley Press about Sea II, and the ways in which place and location have influenced her work in recent times. Check out her work at daisyharcourt.com.

Is the house in Sea II inspired by an actual building or place?
I have very happy childhood memories of family holidays on the Devon and Cornwall coast; although not an actual building or place, the scene perhaps represents those places. 

I can almost imagine myself sitting in this cottage, looking out onto the seascape and feeling safe and warm. Was that your intention with this piece?
I like that – that feels dreamlike! My intention was to create a place that I might like to go to. 

How does the notion of place, or of specific buildings or landscapes, inform how you work and what you focus on in your painting?
Recently I sat for some hours (during a thunderstorm), drawing in the grounds at Uppark. My sense of that place – its history, the meteorological and human activity going on around me and my enjoyment of drawing there – were all factors that had a significant influence on the final drawing. For me the notion of place in my work is informed by physically being in and part of it … certainly in the first instance; later if I have a sketchbook or series of drawings from that time and place, it helps to transport me back there again. 

What are the other major themes in your work? And how did they develop?
Portrait and pattern are significant themes in my work. The ways they have developed over the years has been largely due to continuing practice, and my vision and exploration of ways of working alongside the tastes, desires and expectations of the people who commission me. For me, this dovetailing of artist/designer and client vision is dynamic and very exciting. 

Could you tell us about a few of your favourite artists, and authors too?
As ever with this question it’s almost impossible to narrow my answer down to a few. I admire the work of contemporary artists Paula Rego, Denise de Cordova, Louise Bristow and Cathie Pilkington, as well as Gertrude Hermes, Eric Ravilious, Barnett Freedman and Pablo Picasso. 

I used to work with Louise Bristow at Pallant House Gallery
in the education programme. Her work is so beautifully executed, considered and yet playful, I could look at her paintings for hours. I see playfulness as a quality I am drawn to in all of these artists’ work, through their different styles and ways of working I see great skill, perhaps a wry smile and an enjoyment of creating something that doesn’t already exist. 

Iris Murdoch, Dorothy L. Sayers and F. Scott Fitzgerald are some of my favourite writers: these writers create characters I can’t help liking, and who feel so familiar to me, and, like real people, fascinating, flawed, awkward and surprising.

Do you have a favourite book that reminds you of a place or building of note. 
John Buchan ’s novel The Thirty-Nine Steps – it always makes me think of Portland Place and Marylebone. My great grandmother (the first Daisy Harcourt) lived next door to Octavia Hill in Marylebone when she was a little girl; mostly due to Octavia’s social interventions at this time (1890s), this place was buzzing with daily theatrical extravaganzas, art and music. I wish I could have seen it! 

Where is your favourite place to work and why? 
I actually really like working at the kitchen table, I can see the garden when I look up and the kettle isn’t far away! 

What do you see when you look out of your studio window?
A large silver birch tree with a seat around its base. 

If you could nip out for a coffee and cake right now, where would you head to?
My mum’s house! 

What are you reading right now?
Eileen Agar by Laura Smith (published by Eiderdown Books); Strangely Warmed by Andrew Rumsey (published by Mowbray); and Picasso Portraits by Elizabeth Cowling (published by NPG Publications). 

William Morris famously said: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." Could you tell us about one of your most especially beautiful objects or possessions?
When I was 5 years old, I found on the path near my grandparent’s house, a small, green, ceramic spotted frog, very 1930s in style and colour. I think it’s beautiful, but for me the most beautiful thing about it is that in all this time since I found it I have kept it safe, I have never lost it. Having children of my own, I now think this quite strange and miraculous! 

Finally, have you got any future projects or news you can share with us?
Recently I was very excited to be asked to create a fabric design as part of a collaboration with a textile designer, she is planning to launch a range featuring my design this year. I also plan to have an exhibition of my work sometime later in the year, hopefully in a physical space! And I am continuing to really enjoy creating portraits for people who commission me; potentially working on a series of portraits of women artists for a client. 

Please visit Daisy’s website for more information about her work, and of course, for her contact details.

Instagram snippets | @manderleypress