'I am the marquis of Marmite'

Better known for redecorating country houses, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has now turned his hand to capturing them on canvas—and he’s doing it in his own inimitable style, says James Fisher

- James Fisher

IN a quiet corner of Cirencester, which is in a quiet corner of the Cotswolds, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen sits ina loud room full of clutter, paint and paper. It is here that he does his most important work or, rather, works. Mr Llewelyn-Bowen is a painter now and he wants to paint your house. More precisely, he wants to paint your house with some swagger.

Swagger comes naturally to him. When we meet, he is, of course, dressed impeccably. Lashings of blue, that swept hair, collar bursting. He is cheeky, his cadence voluptuous and he wants to gossip. He is everyone's naughty uncle, the one who sneaks you a glass of wine at dinner and smiles with atwinkle. He is surrounded by easels, halfformed houses with swans and peacoc and architectural flights of fancy. In one, a woman in white is dappled by crisp moonlight. There is a unicon.

He's always had it in him. ‘Iwas actually very good at drawing. I was winning a lot of competitions. I did my art A Level, as well as Art History, but, alongside the Latin, I suddenly had a massive moment where I didn't want to cai fr Llewelyn-Bowen sighs dramatically. He quit his A Levels and went to Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (Alleyn's were absolutely appalled,' he says of his former educator in London's Dulwich).

Life, however, works in funny ways and dreams of painting professionally were exchanged for interior design and television. Then, work got very quiet for a year: 'I love a quiet telly year, you know? It means I can get on and do other stuff, so I started painting again.' Painting with swagger.