I’ve always had mixed feelings about the Bloomsbury Group. They seemed too good to be true. All that artistic talent! All that writing talent!
But they are so good.
And I can’t help being drawn to them because I too write and make art.
I made this picture on a recent visit to Charleston, the house in Sussex that used to belong to the artist Vanessa Bell.
As you may know already, Bell was also Virginia Woolf’s sister.
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You can see Bell’s paintings in a superb show at Charleston offshoot in nearby Lewes.
I love her willingness to experiment, her bright colours, and her subject matter: interiors and exteriors, still life, portraits of family members and other people gazing right at you or reading books.
With so many VB originals on show in Lewes, there are not so many to be seen at Charleston right now. But there are lots of Duncan Grants.
Plus, VB famously decorated much of the interior of the house – the walls and fireplaces and cupboards.
In this picture of mine, here, you can see her work on the bed.
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What most compelled me to make this picture was not the house or the artefacts but the dahlias, standing in light by the window.
If you look at the reflection on the back wall, you can just about see my specs and my hands holding a phone as I took a photo of the vibrant blooms.
Thanks for looking.