The Designer’s Toolbox: Magda Gordon

I use these oil paints in my work, and I find them really reliable. They are British-made, using traditional methods – which resonates with my work – and they are very good quality. They are soon to release a set of pigments inspired by some artworks in The National Gallery, and there will be an event where they will explain how artworks are painted using these traditional techniques. It’s a great way to learn about painting – not just through art history, but by analysing how things were painted.

I love to wear handmade vintage smocks while I’m painting, and one of my favourite places to buy them is Green & Stone art shop in Chelsea. I also bought some lovely vintage French smocks from one of Compton Marbling’s fairs, which they run a couple of times a year.

The stationery shop Choosing Keeping is my go-to for notebooks. I really like the quality of paper, and its off-white colour. I always go to the shop to choose my own cover, because each one is different. They use vintage handmade wallpaper, and they’re very pretty inside and out. I also use their wall calendars, which are equally beautiful.

My work is very manual labour-heavy, and there’s a lot of repetitive work, from sketching out designs to applying a base coat and working in stages. Sometimes it can get a little tedious, and I find it really valuable to have intellectual stimulation coming from somewhere else, especially since I’m usually working on my own. I listen to classical music, audiobooks and podcasts; one of my favourites is Farrow & Ball’s The Chromologist with Paddy O’Donnell, which is all about colour. I could listen to him forever, and it’s really eye-opening to learn from people who can pinpoint so much about colour.

The American artist Beth Scanlon creates beautiful practical objects for the home. I have a few of her organisers, which you can hang on the wall, and I use them as receptacles for my brushes, pencils and paper. She makes them from handmade Italian paper. They’re beautiful to look at and incredibly useful, too.

David is a wonderful sign painter who I met a few years ago; his work is absolutely amazing. He sells brushes of an extremely high quality, and although they’re designed for Roman lettering and old English copperplate lettering, I find them very useful in my daily work.

Antoinette Poisson is an exquisite French homewares brand that makes everything by hand. I love their wallpaper, textiles and lampshades, and I recommend them to my clients. They use traditional techniques, including lots of papier mâché elements, which I think is such a lovely material to work with. It’s very important to me to have these injections of colour and pattern in your home, as well as handmade elements that are uplifting to look at.

I really love pelargoniums; they’re such a beautiful and versatile flower. I was thrilled to discover the pelargonium house at Stourhead; it’s home to over 100 historical varieties of pelargoniums. It’s designed to take you on a journey of how the plants were first introduced to Europe from Africa, and there are some varieties dating back to the 17th century. It’s amazing to see how the form of the flowers has evolved and how much variety there is among this very particular species. As a decorative artist, it’s important to be regularly exposed to – and draw inspiration from – the world of plants, because it’s so rich. We can learn so much from looking at nature’s colours and shapes.

Magda Gordon is a classically trained decorative artist, and an alumni of the Van der Kelen Institute of Decorative Painting in Brussels. She specialises in imitations of wood graining, marbling, and ornamental painting and works with interior designers and private clients to create spectacular trompe l’oeil murals, including this marvellous grisaille scene at Camden Terrace (pictured left), which was recently sold by Inigo. Recent projects include a series of murals in the home of designer Rachel Chudley, a Mongiardino-inspired ceiling in Lyon, and Art Deco designs for a hotel in Munich with Tatjana von Stein.

Follow Magda on Instagram @magdagordon

Photography credits: Wallace Seymour, photography © Choosing Keeping/Vintage smock, photography © Magda Gordon/Choosing Keeping, photography © Maria Bell/Pelargoniums, photography © Jasper Fry/Camden Terrace, photography © Neil Perry/Wallace Seymour paints sold exclusively by Choosing Keeping © Rebecca Wallace