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Keep London Creative and a peek into Morag Myerscough’s work studio

Keep London Creative and a peek into Morag Myerscough’s work studio.

I love London as it is such a vibrant city, rich in culture and creativity. There is always a fresh buzz of activity in the art, design and fashion scene.

London brings boundless inspiration and opportunities for creatives, and in return, this network of talents help the city grow its economy, and position itself as one of the world’s top cultural destinations.

The scarcity of studio spaces for work, and soaring costs of rent is putting threat to this working relationship.

Greenwich Peninsula in conjunction with Wallpaper magazine have recognised this issue of a lack of creative space in the capital, and have come together to promote a Keep London Creative #KeepLondonCreative campaign.

As part of the Keep London Creative campaign, Greenwich Peninsula has asked me to interview a renowned London creative in his/her work studio.Keep London CreativeIntroducing you to Morag Myerscough, one of London’s most colourful and prolific designers.

Morag has worked on a wide range of projects both locally and internationally.

You can find her commissioned work at cafés, hospitals and landmark locations such as the Design museum and Tate Modern.

I first came across Morag’s work at the Love festival in the Southbank.

Morag was definitely a busy artist in demand.

She had perfected the skill of multi-tasking and I saw that in action on the day of the interview.

I was impressed by how she coordinated a shipment to Las Vegas, where she would be painting for the Life is Beautiful Festival, whilst designing a ping pong table (image above), and having her interview with me.Here is an aerial view of Morag working in her brightly lit studio.

Morag lives above her studio and loves having this convenient accessibility. Her studio has good natural lighting and a large enough space to work in.

I have summarised my interview with Morag in the post below.I asked Morag if it was important who her neighbours were when she was at work.

Morag said that she tended to work in solitude, as that was when she was at her most creative.

She also liked quietness, but acknowledged that noise was not easy to escape from in London.

She valued the influence of her local community, with its rich mix of cultures and creative vibe.Next, I asked Morag what she thought the benefits of living in London as an artist were.

She felt that there was a lot to be gained, because London was already an established industry hub, so providing the necessary springboard and platform for creative work opportunities.

With benefits, came challenges for creatives in London too. I asked Morag what was most difficult about life in the city.

She told me she used to live and work in Clerkenwell, and although she liked it, she soon noticed the neighbourhood becoming more ‘money’.

The gentrification of Clerkenwell inflated rental charges and limited the access of affordable studio spaces for creatives.

She did balance her view, by saying that creatives do sell out too, a normal human response to a property boom.

When I asked Morag how she thought the government could ensure that London becomes sustainable for creatives, she mentioned the Eindhoven project.

I’ve since read up about the project, and think it’s a fabulous way of keeping London creative.

The Eindhoven project was a redevelopment of an area of that city previously owned by Phillips, into a creative neighbourhood.

Many of the disused factory buildings were converted into light filled studio spaces.Morag mentioned a few other land regeneration schemes that offered studio spaces to creatives.

It seems to me that this should be the way forward for London too.

Here’s one of Morag’s recent project, a bright and colourful bench.The painting is so precise and I love her colour palette.Hope you have enjoyed the colourful tour and the discussion of a problem facing creatives in London.

Please join us in the #KeepLondonCreative campaign on Instagram, by posting a photograph focusing on your workspace or you in your workspace.

Explain why it’s important for you to work and have your studio in London.

Do include the hashtag #KeepLondonCreative and tag @ThePeninsulist and @wallpapermag before 25th September 2017 for a chance to be featured on wallpaper* online.

(All photography are by and Copyright of Geraldine Tan, editor of Little Big Bell. This is a sponsored collaboration with Greenwich Peninsula ( Keep London Creative). All views and opinions if stated, are my own).

4 Comments

  1. What a vibrant space to work. I think regeneration will always be the way forward. Bringing life back to all disused areas of our cities and even countryside spaces. Easier to do in most than in London, I would imagine. Great interview Geraldine x

  2. Wow, her work is so gorgeously colourful – I love that bench. Lovely interview.

  3. What a cool studio and I love how colourful all her work is! x

  4. Wow, what a studio! Such a feast of colour and inspiration. ‘Keep London Creative’ sounds like a great campaign Geraldine, thanks for sharing x

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