SAM WOOD
Originally from Tewkesbury in the Cotswolds, Sam Wood is an artist and illustrator now based in north London. Working in everything from full- size murals to book covers, his work has appeared in galleries, on luxurious homeware and in some of the world’s finest hotels.
What was your background in London?
After university I didn’t want to make any work ever again. So I went and worked in hotels, restaurants and private members’ clubs. The Club at The Ivy, Bob Bob Ricard, Chiltern Firehouse… I think Chiltern was the last one before I was like ‘Ok, I need to get my act together and go and do something.’ Chiltern was the most fun as it was six months after they opened, everything was still mad. The most nuts place I’ve ever worked.
How did that side of London inspire you?
Looking at the interiors and making inroads into going and working for a studio like that was the first thing that stepped me back into drawing again. David Collins Studio did the Wolseley and Bob Bob Ricard - I was constantly sketching and redrawing the interiors there. I was their receptionist/building manager/dogsbody, but whenever there was a spare minute I was sketching.
How do you describe the work that you do now?
Colourful, mannerist, post-impressionist influenced…. I think everything I make is based between where I was born and brought up in the countryside, and what happens now here. It’s essentially an oscillation between the two places all the time. I want to go and get muddy in a field, but I also want to go and have a cocktail at Claridges
And what do you do to get inspired?
I went to Shetland in May, and went right back down to Cornwall, to try and look at places which are not just me shuttling between where I was from and this city. I want to look more holistically at what the rest of this country looks like, what nature in different areas of the country looks like, and broaden things out.
Where did you see that most surprised you?
Shetland was particularly magical. The journey to get there was nuts - I got the ferry, which is 12 hours and kind of bumpy. I thought it was great! There was a guy with a banjo, and everyone was absolutely blind drunk from 11am, just rolling around on the sea. I didn’t get seasick so I had quite a good time.
And where inspires you in London?
I spend most time in the National Gallery, and the Courtauld Gallery. Any garden, but especially Chelsea Physic Garden, and I’ll always go to Kew. There’s a long stretch of landscaped gardens on the Strand, and I’ll
go there to just sit and watch how people behave and how nature is changing how people interact with the city. I can sit and sketch and have a little muse if I’ve got 20 minutes.
