Home is Where The Art is With Ben Heslop
Owning an art gallery, Ben Heslop and his wife Hannah admire beautiful art on a daily basis. But how do they adorn the walls of their Carlisle home?
Moving into the town house on Currock Road in December last year, the final carpet has just been put down. As to be expected, the home of two people who sell art for a living is beautifully decorated and curated down to the finest detail. But it is still, first and foremost a family home. The couple have a baby on the way, a 16 year old daughter Sophie and a son, Elijah, who at two and a half, helps them to maintain that ‘lived-in’ look.
Keeping the traditional features of their home, Ben and Hannah have added modern furnishings to put a contemporary twist on a period house. Every room has its own personality, from the bold frames in the chic living room, to the rustic wood and traditional Lakeland animals in the dining room.
Ben said: “I don’t mind minimalist design, but you need features that will draw the eye in. While we keep featured wallpaper to a minimum – I like plain, cool or dark and rich coloured walls – I like something to be on there that will really jump out as a focal point.”
Their personal art collection has built up over time, with each piece chosen carefully for its own individual reasons. When it comes to their home, they both decide on everything, although Ben admits to occasionally experiencing the knee-jerk reaction of seeing a piece and wanting it instantly.
He said: “One of the curses of being surrounded by really nice pieces of art is that you can end up wanting to take it all home. Obviously not everything in the gallery is my specific taste or would fit our house, but there are pieces that you just think ‘wow, I’ve got to have that.’”
Ben’s favourite, ‘Love’ by Simon Bull was given to the couple as a wedding gift from the artist’s son and the Heaton Cooper’s in the dining room depict views that have special significance to them. Meanwhile, they chose the John Russell in the bedroom as the centrepiece to the room and then decorated in keeping with the colour schemes of the painting.
Ben said: “Sometimes the piece is picked for the place and other times the piece picks the place.”
Even Elijah’s room hasn’t escaped the artistic brush, with framed Dr Seuss pictures, printed onto dictionary pages and a mural painted by Hannah herself. The piece of the two bears is by a Finnish artist, and was chosen as Elijah’s middle name is Bear.
Throughout the house, Ben has made unique features from unconventional pieces, such as the deeds to the house and the large vintage map of the Lake District, lending a really personal touch to the home.
He said: “It’s nice to be able to get things framed well at the gallery, to not to have to worry about that. If we find a piece that means something to us, such as the original deeds to the house, we can really make a feature of it.”
For Ben, it’s important that the art in his home is a talking point of the room, that it captivates the audience in some way and starts a discussion. And of course, there’s nothing like knowing that the artist has had a personal connection with the piece hanging in your living room.
Ben said: “I’m very lucky to be surrounded by really nice originals.
“I really like the work of local artist, Alan Stones because his pieces often leave me wondering what they’re about and what has inspired them. My favourite is At Low Tide, I find that really interesting.”
And with a nod to Simon Wright’s cow on the living room wall, he added: “But other things just make you smile. Every time I look at that cow it makes me feel happy and sometimes that’s as simple as it needs to be.
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