Lucy Muss: At the Table, Among Flowers
There’s a certain intimacy in Lucy Muss’s paintings – a sense of warmth, play and fleeting beauty. Her work often centres around tablescapes and flowers: the places where meals are shared, stories unfold and stems bloom for just a moment before fading. For Lucy, these are more than subjects: they’re rituals of daily life that bring us together – to be grabbed, then and there.
It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that Lucy’s path to becoming an artist has been anything but linear. From ballet and acting to journalism and interior design, her career has revolved around self-expression, colour and storytelling.
Today, painting is her chosen outlet and grounding force. Learn more, as we discuss the calm that painting brings, and why flowers and shared meals remain at the heart of her work.
Freddie’s Flowers: You started out as a dancer, then studied languages at Cambridge before becoming a Guardian journalist – and, now, here we are! What was the turning point when you decided to become an artist?
Lucy Muss: I loved gymnastics and ballet, but started too late in life to take it seriously, so I studied French and Spanish at Cambridge and spent half my time acting. I left Cambridge clueless about careers, but well-versed in foreign film and literature. I had zero skills, but somehow blagged my way into the Radio Times, which led to a career in journalism – but the office life wasn’t for me. I used it as a money job while I made films with a friend called Lex and set up LucenLex films. Then, after my third child, Coco, was born, I fell into interior design after a friend asked me for advice on her home. I loved designing the space, choosing fabulous patterns, painting and sourcing vintage furniture. It was a very fertile time of learning about colour and space, and I think it was the training ground for my art.
“The act of painting is meditation. Self-expression is fundamental.”
FF: Looking at your previous career paths, I feel like self-expression must be incredibly important to you. Can you speak about the importance of creative communication as an outlet?
LM: Self-expression is fundamental. I am someone who needs to communicate to process my thoughts – but, when I paint, that need goes away and I have an incredibly powerful sense of purpose, calm and hypnotic energy. I think it has made me a less anxious and more grounded person. The act of painting itself is a type of meditation, and I like that it speaks its own language.
FF: Flowers and tablescapes feature a lot in your paintings, could you tell us more about their prominence in your work?
LM: I paint what I see and what I love, and I try to keep it light. I am a mum of three, and mealtimes are a creative process – cooking is an act of love and the food gets gobbled up so quickly – but, in those moments, the stories, tears and laughter that we share are intense. Flowers have the same energy and short-lived beauty. It takes almost a year for some flowers to come to being, and then they last possibly only a few weeks. I never ever tire of them – I think a home needs fresh flowers, plants, lovely smells and music to feel happy. The simple things.
“I think a home needs fresh flowers, plants, lovely smells and music to feel happy. The simple things.”
FF: What’s usually your starting point when painting interiors: do you start with a colour palette, a real-life setting, an object, perhaps, or do you dream it all up from scratch?
LM: A mix of memories, things I’ve seen, photos I’ve saved for years and loved. The initial spark can be very fast and instinctive, and then I build on its elements. I have a lot of saved albums on my phone and Pinterest, but the tiniest things influence me. It could be a stripe on a curtain inside a butcher’s, a tea towel in someone’s kitchen, a peep through someone’s door, the shape of a window, a scene in a film or an interior space.
FF: Which flowers stand out to you more than others?
LM: My ideal is a vase of overflowing peonies, dripping in various shades of the same colour – and the same goes for green leaves, like eucalyptus. I also like to honour just one stem in a small vase that is a household jar or cup. I’m officially obsessed with peonies, ranunculus, hydrangeas and tulips. And I love flowers that die well, as I’ll keep them back to dry afterwards.
“My ideal is a vase of overflowing peonies, dripping in various shades of the same colour.”
FF: As Autumn looms, we’re celebrating hunkering down and making the most of big days (and nights) in. How do you like to spend your mornings, days and evenings on your days off during these cooler, transitional months?
LM: I adore autumn! I’m usually over the heat of summer the minute September kicks in and so I can’t wait to pull on a cosy jumper over a tanned body when there’s a little nip in the air. I turn from salad-obsessed to stew-and-soup-obsessed, and I light the fire as often as is allowed. In the colder months, I light it before the kids awake so they have breakfast by the fire before school. For days off, it’s usually more cooking, having lazy lunches with friends, dog walks on the Heath, and I always go to Columbia Road Flower Market. Nipping to a gallery alone is also a massive treat.
FF: What’s been your proudest moment to date, artistically?
LM: Honestly, every time I sell a piece to a happy customer or I am commissioned to make something for a birthday gift or friend, it’s a huge honour. It was quite something to be flown to New York to paint a mural in the store of Big Night Shop – that felt epic.
FF: We’re excited to see what the future holds for you. What else have you got coming up?
LM: I’m working on a new series of wild flowers inspired by my trip to Brittany this summer. I also have a few small exhibitions I am showing at, and I’m considering a residency abroad. My cards via EastEnd prints will now be in John Lewis and Anthropology – and I have lots of other ideas up my sleeve, so watch this space.
Follow Lucy Muss on Instagram and see your October flowers inspired by her paintings: Rain & Shine, Easy Like Sunday, Midnight Hour and Crimson Leaves.
