I found this beautiful vintage colour card in May 2022 and I spent three months transforming it into something completely different!

The chart is for ‘Matumasco’ paint, made by Tudors, Mash and Co. My research told me almost nothing about its history - the paint company no longer exists - but from the font, the colours and the condition I guessed it to be from around the 1950s, possibly earlier. This was the first time I’d painted a vintage chart and I hesitated before I started, as the line between creating something new and damaging something old was jumping around before my eyes! But the paint chips were so tempting to paint on - smooth and matt and the colours were beautiful (despite their age they hadn’t faded) so I took the plunge.

I soon became totally lost in the work. The first colour I painted was Eau de Nil, which straight away conjured the image of Tippi Hedren’s ice cool suit in Hitchcock’s The Birds. Once I had painted her, a tone was set. The colours on the chart are very distinctly mid-century - peach, soft green, lemon, sky blue - and I cast my mind to the walls they were being chosen for, and the lives lived inside those walls.

I found myself playing Philip Glass piano music while I was painting, and one day I suddenly remembered the brilliant film The Hours (which Philip Glass wrote the soundtrack for) and in particular Julianne Moore’s masterful portrayal of a 1950s housewife silently screaming behind an image of domestic perfection. I realised that I was channelling this feeling in the work; the uneasy sense that something isn’t quite right lurking beneath the bright, clear colours of mid-twentieth century domestic interiors.  The rose is lovely, the hedge is neat, the peach is perfect but between the paintings there’s sadness, isolation and a sense of foreboding. I introduced another woman, just to see what would happen, and a bakelite phone receiver (an unfinished conversation), an empty beach, a letter, a broken plate and finally a very small, pink, gift-wrapped box which hasn’t been opened yet but I’m pretty sure there’s a ring inside it.

When I’d finished this piece I had the feeling that I was waking up from a dream. It was so enjoyable to inhabit a different time through the colours of the era and through such close contact with this lovely fragile object. Colour has limitless capacity to suggest mood, character and atmosphere and I love building on this with the work, and exploring the suggestion of open-ended possibility that comes with any paint chart. I’m now on the lookout for more vintage paint charts - if you have any gathering dust in a box let me know and I will put them to good use!

When I made the print I spent a long time making sure it was totally true to the original. The colours and quality of this print are absolutely glorious and it really does feel as if you could pick the chart up from the page. The overall size of the print is 30cm x 40cm (so it fits in a standard size frame). The paint chart itself is printed exactly the same size as the original, which is 22cm x 18cm, and it has a white border with the signature and embossing seal in the corner. It’s printed onto beautiful 100% cotton, 305gsm acid-free paper.

DELIVERY INFORMATION

UK delivery: £5.50 Royal Mail First Class Signed For

Rest of world: £15 Royal Mail International Tracked

Please note: depending on your country of residence, you may be liable for import duties.

Returns: You can return your print within 14 days of your order being placed. Please return it in perfect condition, and your refund will be processed using the payment method you used to buy the print.

Your print will arrive in a sturdy tube, wrapped in tissue and sealed with a gold, embossed Studio Spelling label - so it’s very gift-ready if you’re giving it as a present. Also included: a signed certificate of authenticity and a text about the project. I process, wrap and post all orders myself from my studio in South East London - I’m definitely not an app! - so please feel free to get in touch anytime and I’ll do my best to answer any questions you might have. All parcels have a tracking number.