David Inshaw

The Wiltshire-based painter and Brotherhood of Ruralists member reveals his techniques.

- Anne-Katrin Purkiss

Can you tell us about the unusual building your studio is in?

The studio was originally an old Quaker Meeting House, built in 1700. It was derelict for a long time and, when the area was redeveloped, they didn’t know what do with it, so they offered it to a local artist. I bought it from him about 15 years ago and, with the help of friends and the architect MJ Long, transformed it into a studio and living space.

Was having a combined living and working space dictated by the nature of the building?

I’ve always lived and worked in the same space. When I got my first teaching position at the art school in Bristol in 1966, I lived and painted and slept in one room. It was the same in other places later. It suits me to live and work like that: you never switch off, you’re always on the lookout for something. Everything is integrated in this one space.

Does that arrangement affect your working routine?

Yes, it does. My usual routine is that I get up at 7am, and I’m ready to paint by 9am. I find it hard to make a start later, one gets too easily distracted doing other things.

You are primarily a landscape painter. How much time do you actually spend in the studio?