What Caught Their Eye: Robert Clear, Artist
Over the last few months on this newsletter, you have seen me share a variety of things I love, what I’m buying, and more. Well, I’m happy to be handing the reins over to someone else from time to time!
This is “What Caught Their Eye”, a guest edit section of my Substack to introduce my readers to executives, artists, creatives, and everyone in between.
Keep reading to find out more about my next guest, Robert Clear.
Introducing Robert Clear, Artist
Robert is an artist based in London. He works mainly in oils and coloured pencil, and his two principal sources of inspiration are the city itself and the poetry and art of classical civilisation, which he studied at university.
Follow Robert: Here
Visit Robert’s Website: Here
What Caught Roberts’ Eye
Hand Painted English Garden Candle by Orna
If you were to create a Venn diagram using the themes ‘botanical,’ ‘Victorian storybook’ and ‘vaguely Druid’ there would be a little collection of Orna candles burning in its centre. And this, the English Garden design, is my favourite, featuring a panoply of flowers, including foxglove, hollyhock and snake’s head fritillary. The Essex-based company is a recent discovery, but one whose collection of hand-painted designs is so comprehensively lovely that I’d select the ‘lucky dip’ option in their online store without hesitation.
Buy: Here
Deluxe London pigment Set By London Pigments
These pigments are an ode to the city of which they’re made. Each is ground from the bricks, mortar, soil and indeed the very body of London itself. Take ‘Hampstead Orange,’ which comprises material sourced from the banks of the Fleet, one of London’s subterranean rivers that was driven underground in the nineteenth century. Or ‘Rotherhithe Orange,’ whose metallic warmth comes from the chalk beds of Rotherhithe docks, whose infill has been tinted by the decay of Victorian pipes. Presented in handmade bottles, this set combines a sense of alchemy and archaeology with the promise of artistic possibility.
Buy: Here
Extra-Thick "Composition Ledger" Marbled Notebook By Choosing Keeping
Recently, as I found myself helplessly flailing in the honey-trap that is Choosing Keeping’s window display, I spotted these marbled notebooks and couldn’t help purchasing two. I didn’t immediately pluck up the courage to sully them with my scribblings, as the marbling exudes a Victorian clerk vibe that implicitly sets the handwriting bar at copperplate levels. But I’ve now taken the plunge, and can report that the paper is thick, slightly textured and is very amenable to fountain pen. For some (hopefully including me) the ‘literary’ appearance of the notebooks in this collection will spur creative outpourings. But even if their pages were left empty they’d seamlessly blend in on the bookshelf.
Buy: Here
Coral Compliment Box
This beautiful box was crafted by the outstanding ceramicist Pollyanna Johnson, who is based in Sussex. I discovered her work back in 2020 after I knocked over my pencil pot for what I decided would be the very last time. Upright pencils just weren’t working for me; from now on I would lay them flat in some kind of beautiful dish. The vessel I imagined as part of my new deskscape was to be well-crafted, one-of-a-kind, an artwork in its own right and (I feared) was almost certainly non-existent. Little did I know then about Pollyanna Johnson’s practical and otherworldly pieces, which feature women from Old Master paintings. The one I eventually purchased, a small platter with a cobalt blue figure with mother-of-pearl inlay, is now my everyday companion as I create my own artwork.
Buy: Here
Urban Swim Shorts by Ron Dorf (in Pistachio Green)
Anyone for an ‘urban swim’? If that simply means ‘swim,’ i.e. bringing these shorts into contact with water, then no thanks. If it’s slang for a gentle promenade around the streets to exhibit these vibrant delights, then that’ll be an enthusiastic yes. It’s the striped waistband that does it for me. And as for the green, it’s firmly at the right end of the matchability scale when it comes to pairing with summery t-shirts.
Buy: Here