Designers

Welcome to Louise O’Hara’s Workroom

March 5, 2018 by melisa No Comments

Lived-in and loved, Louise O’Hara’s workroom is used every day and packed with personal and professional collections, art supplies and an ever-changing gallery of artworks. By Janai Velez

When mixed-media artist Louise O’Hara shared a workroom with her husband (who also works from home), he had to climb over her paintings while trying to get in and out of the room, which was all the incentive Louise needed to relocate to (and fill) another space in the house just for her. You could call her room part art studio/part vintage-collections display/part art gallery, as Louise has utilised every square centimetre of space.

welcome to louise o'hara's workroom

“I would defiantly say I work in organised chaos. My shelves and desk space look like a chaotic mass of ephemera and work materials, but I know exactly where everything is, from an old piece of lace to scissors and spare threads … just ask, and I will find it! I would even go so far as to say if you blindfolded me, I could still put my hand on everything,” she says. “My house is clean – don’t get me wrong – but it’s brimming with my little collections.”

Create a simple but fun rainbow crochet blanket!

Home for Louise is an old farm-workers cottage dating back to 1881, in a small village called Davenham, in the heart of Cheshire, England. She called it Cobweb Cottage not only because of her crowd of belongings but because there was also a spider that made an appearance at almost exactly the same time every night in one of the rooms when they first moved in. “I tell people when they ask that I don’t clean and it’s full of cobwebs … a slight exaggeration!”

welcome to louise o'hara's workroom

The cottage is located on a very social street. During summer, Louise’s work spreads to the front courtyard. “These are the months when little work happens as every passer-by stops for a chat! But I am not complaining,” she says. And then there’s the overload that finds its way to the dining room. “When we have guests round for meals, we do have to juggle to make the room available! But my friends and family all know what I am like.”

Protect your clothing with Janelle Wind’s pattern for a reversible pleated apron!

You can find Louise in her studio straight after dropping her two daughters off at school right until picking them up in the afternoon, and she’s regularly in and out of the room during the evenings and on weekends. All that’s left from the room’s original purpose as a living room is the charcoal and silver wallpaper and crystal and wrought-iron chandelier, which is oversized, but there to stay, since it is one of Louise’s favourite features.

She never gets bored of the space, as it evolves on a weekly basis. Her artwork display along the shelves changes as pieces go out to galleries and customers and return from shows.

welcome to louise o'hara's workroom

Louise’s mixed-media textile landscapes feature classic, whitewashed English cottages amongst flower-scattered gardens, rolling hills and coastlines. These charming scenes are based on photographs and memories of places she’s visited (especially during childhood holidays in the Lake District and Yorkshire). The artworks are created with layers of paint, dyed, vintage fabrics and embellishments (such as text from old books, newsprint, buttons, lace and copper-wire-stemmed flowers with French knot flower heads). These are stitched down by hand and machine.

Art and crafting materials are stowed in plastic stackable boxes piled under her desk and little Ikea wooden storage drawers. And her husband got busy and made her work surface and shelving from solid oak, all of which now have traces of paint, ink and the odd scribble from her daughters. Her laptop sits under her window and, at the opposite end of the room, is her sewing machine with an inspiration board above.

welcome to louise o'hara's workroom

Check out Julie Wallace’s Angelique hexagon quilt pattern!

“I have not gone for a theme, as such,” says Louise. “The style of my workspace has just developed. It is an extension of my personality.” The busyness of the room shows that it’s used and adored, although Louise admits, “I probably should tidy a little more often … or so some would say! My idea of minimal seems to be the opposite to most people’s.”

However, the ‘clutter’ is vintage finds and overlooked everyday items that she upcycles into art. “I do de-clutter my workroom probably about every six months but I only ever throw away old paper, cardboard, broken paintbrushes, empty ink bottles and dried up paint tubes. I never throw way anything I can breathe new life into!”