'I take a box of watercolours and a sketchpad with me everywhere': Tess Newall's consuming passions

Intricate, colourful and joyous. Tess Newall's work can brighten up any room. Just ask Alexa Chung, who I spied posing on Newall's Instagram, in front of the artist's recognisable printed wallpaper. Alongside the aforementioned, Newall creates bespoke murals, furniture and handpainted homewares with a botanical twist at her studio in the South Downs, East Sussex, alongside her furniture-maker husband, Alfred Newall, with whom she shares three children. But being part of a creative power couple is just one of her many talents.

Brought up in East Lothian in Scotland, the designer travelled to Sri Lanka after leaving school to help with tsunami relief. It was this that inspired her to study archeology and anthropology at Oxford University. She applied to the course from a Sri Lankan beach. After graduation, however, perhaps the influence of her mother, Sally Oyler, the artist, took hold, as she went on to train as painter for theatre and film sets. In 2018 she establishing her own brand, and studio. She designed her first wallpaper in 2022, and the rest is history.

But what else is the artist passionate about?

Your aesthetic hero

Probably the decorative artist Peggy Angus. She lived in a cottage under the South Downs called Furlongs, very close to ours. Her philosophy was that art was an integral part of life, and that people should decorate the spaces they inhabit. She was a talented designer and every surface in Furlongs was decorated, be it the wooden stairs or the fireplace tiles or her hand-printed wallpapers. Local friends say that anyone who visited would be roped into helping her with painting and printing and gardening. I wish I could have met her!

A book you've found inspiring

I loved The Notebook by Roland Allen, which charts the history of the notebook as a tool for thinking and jotting down ideas and sketches. He gave a brilliant talk at The Linnean Society, illustrating how such a simple object has shaped our world in the arts and the sciences, from thinkers like Frida Kahlo, to Isaac Newton and Henry James.

I have just started Tirzah Garwood’s autobiography which is incredibly inspiring. Until recently she has been overshadowed by her husband Eric Ravilious, but she was a gifted artist whose life was cut tragically short. The book expresses a real humanity as she chronicles struggling to lead an artistic life amidst the constraints of family life and ailing health. She still managed to create an extraordinary body of work which is finally being given the recognition it deserves.

An exhibition that has really impressed you

Tirzah Garwood at Dulwich Picture Gallery was beautifully curated and showed the breadth and diversity of her work, from paintings and wood engravings to marbled papers, embroideries, patchwork quilts, and miniature paper collages of entire villages in box frames. It also showcased Spanish Lady painted in 1950, the final year of her life (below). I’m excited to see the Bardfield Murals exhibition at the Fry Gallery this month, with works by Ravilious and Bawden showing preliminary designs and studies for their murals. Their use of colour and pattern was wonderful.

What music do you work to?

An eclectic mix depending on my mood. I love upbeat Scottish and Irish folk music, like The Corries and Thin Lizzie. I grew up with my parents listening to Van Morrison, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and always go back to those. In my teens I listened to a lot of Oasis and Blur, so those still hold a fond place in my heart too!

What is the best present you've ever received?

Alfred, my husband, made me a giant wooden flower press, large enough to press the tallest wild poppies and cornflowers which grow in the fields around us. I picked and pressed some with my son during our first summer in Sussex six years ago, which now hang in frames in our bathroom. It’s a lovely memory to keep.

Your favourite painting

I adore an early Duncan Grant still life of flowers, which hangs on the sponged black walls of the Charleston Farmhouse dining room. The colours are so uplifting together, I could look at it for hours. We live very close to Charleston so I do visit it often.

What would you take to a desert island?

My box of watercolours and a sketchpad. I take them with me on most trips, and even just a quickly painted sketch helps capture the essence of a place, to remember it by. It should keep me busy on a desert island.

A hotel you could go back and back to

The Colombe d'Or in Saint Paul de Vence. In 1920 a farmer called Paul Roux opened a simple restaurant using his fresh produce. Artists and writers found refuge in the informal atmosphere, and often stayed in the rooms above. Roux developed an eye for the art of his guests, and began to offer them free board in exchange for work. Hanging on the walls are works by Picasso, Matisse, Chagall — a Calder sculpture hangs over the swimming pool! The hand-painted menu also remains unchanged, simple and absolutely delicious. It’s unfussy, authentic and absolutely perfect.

A possession you would you never sell

The prototype of our Botanica Mirror, which I made in collaboration with my furniture-maker husband. The design is inspired by Arts & Crafts joinery, and the artworks include wildflowers native to our home in Sussex. I love the idea of one of our children having it hanging in their own house one day.

The last podcast you listened to

I’ve been listening to old episodes in the Desert Island Discs archive while I paint. Highlights have been Whoopi Goldberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Maya Angelou and Keith Richards — as eclectic as my music taste!

The last thing of note you bought yourself

I recently bought a beautiful antique fabric remnant. It is an 18th century Chinese embroidered silk with an intricate trailing pattern, similar to one I once saw in the V&A Museum. I am building up a small archive of antique fabrics which will likely inspire future wallpaper and fabric collections of my own, which is exciting.

Who would play you in a film about your life?

Perhaps Saorise Ronan? I painted a hanging cloth for the press day of Mary Queen of Scots a few years ago, and spent the day in her and Margot Robbie's interview room. She was wonderful, and people told us there was a likeness. I loved her in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women.

Do you collect anything?

I am amassing quite a collection of painted plates, which perch precariously on mantelpieces and shelves all over our house. I love hanging them on the walls too. My favourites are from Quimper in Brittany and Deruta in Umbria, which I often find in local antique markets like Ardingly, or when we are traveling around Europe. I adore rummaging through a brocante.

What gets you up in the morning?

Literally, three children clambering into my bed and prizing open my eyes demanding I make them breakfast. Emotionally, the idea of being outdoors as soon as I'm able, whether a climb up the hill behind our cottage, or cycling through the open fields to my studio. The path has cow parsley spilling over it at the moment, it's heaven. I’m also lucky to love what I do for work. I feel very fortunate that people want my work on their walls, and I work with brilliant, inspiring people who I bounce ideas off every day.

Your most memorable meal

I recently had dinner at The Museum of Antiquities in Cairo, created by Egyptian chef Leila Gohar. It was truly a feast for the eyes — fountains filled with pomegranate seeds, and sculptures made from bread. I loved a dish called koshary, which is a traditional Egyptian dish of rice, lentils and pasta. I would love to learn how to make it.