latehusbandwas a sailor [round-the-world yachtsman
SirPeterBlake] and my children grew up with the sea.Whendidyoufirst become interested in painting?
Atschool,I had a wonderful art teacher, Robin Child.
Inhisclasses,we did a lot of observational and life
drawing.Then, when I was 17, I went to a summer painting
schoolintheDordogne. That was my transformative
moment:I knew that I was going to be an artist.Didyourfamily also influence your decision?
Yes.Mymother and my grandmother were potters, and
mygreatauntwas a silversmith. When I was 10, that great
auntgavemea book about Expressionist painters. I’ve still
gotit here.That book was really important, it helped to
nurturemyinterest in painting.Didyougofrom school directly to art college?
Yes,andit was a complete change of life. I arrived at
CamberwellArt School in 1972, coming straight from an
all-girls’boarding school. It was momentous. I’d come out
oftraditionallandscape painting and within a very short
timeI becamean abstract painter.Thereis analmost 30-year gap between you graduating
fromCamberwell in 1976 and gaining a postgraduate
diplomaatWest Dean College in 2005. What happened?Thetravel-inspiredpainter opens
herChichester studio.Wordsand
photos:ANNE-KATRINPURKISS
IN THE STUDIOYour recent work is connected with travel and most of your
life has been on the move. How important is your studio?
The studio is the place where most of my work is done,
despite all the extreme travelling. Everything connected
with my life is in this studio. The drawings that I did as a
child are here and my library, my sketchbooks and the
items that I have collected on my travels: a horse skull,
a cow skull, lots of bits and pieces.
The studio is just behind your house. Is it purpose built?
Yes, it was built about 20 years ago in the garden. When I
needed more space, I extended the studio and took over
half of the garage. That became my office, where I keep
books and where I’ll do small drawings and studies. Above
the bookshelf, I can reach another floor – that is for extra
storage, canvas, stretchers and paintings.
You live and work close to the sea. Was that by choice?
I’ve had that view of Chichester harbour all my life. I was
born in Portsmouth and when I was six months old, my
family moved here. I don’t paint the view from my house.
But growing up here, the sea – and messing about with
boats – has always been part of my life, and of course, my
Pippa Blake
STUDIO TIME
Pippa will
usually spend
five or six hours
painting “on a
good day”