Round the Table with Katie Jones

Welcome to our first, 'Round the Table', a journal series where we will be inviting a host of different people to come and sit at our table and share the view on & view from their favourite table.

 
First to take a seat is the talented portrait & nature artist, Katie Jones who we collaborated with to paint our floral egg cups.
Where is your table? 
My table is in our garden studio in the Chew Valley, just outside Bristol and not far from Bath.

What’s the view on and view from your table?
 On my table is a drawing board, lots of glass jars full of mostly tiny paint brushes and a wooden box full of oil paints. From my table I can look out the window to the raised veg beds on one side and the other side is a tree, which I have hung lots of bird feeders. I can turn around in my chair and see chaffinch, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, gold finches, a great spotted woodpecker and a pair of nuthatches!  All on the same tree…..plus sparrows, wrens, robins, blackbirds, wood pigeons, pheasants and collared doves that feed on the seeds on the ground that fell from the feeders when the feeding frenzy starts at dawn!

 What do you do at your table? 

 I paint and draw at my table. I paint portraits of people and self-portraits using oil paints, but I also do pencil portraits and drawings of stuff / bits and bobs that I’ve collected on dog walks or found in the garden. Sometimes I do a lino cut too. I really like the process.

 Does it have multiple roles? 

 Yes, I answer emails, do boring admin stuff very reluctantly, drink tea, eat snacks, stare into space, sing along to the radio (badly) and often laugh out loud to myself, usually when listening to Sean Keaveny on BBC 6 Music. 

 

 Are there any rituals or routines you always do when at your table?

 I nearly always have a cup of tea on my table, 6 music on the radio, and a secret stash of Tony’s Chocolate where the kids won’t find it. 

 Do you have anything you particularly like to eat or drink when at your table?

 See above!

Is there a specific time of day you like to be at your table? 

 By 10.30am / 11.30am latest.  I go for a big dog walk first thing every day after school drop off so don’t normally get home until 10.30am at the earliest. 
I often go back into the studio after dinner for a couple of hours and take a cup of tea or glass of wine with me, carry on painting and listen to Mark Riley on 6 Music until 9pm.

 

Can you share something with us from your table?

 I have a list pinned on the wall next to my desk which details the times and dates of all the zoom talks I’ve booked onto.  I’m a volunteer ranger for the AONB Mendip hills and they do lots of evening talks about its conservation.  The next talk is about Adder Conservation on the Mendips!  I also have a list that tells me all the deadlines for entering painting competitions. 

 Finally, the good old cliche - who would you invite to sit at your table if you could share it with anyone dead or alive?

 Definitely the artist Maggi Hambling and Chris Packham, his step-daughter Megan and obviously David Attenborough!

 

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