The Sunday Paper: The Artist’s Studio Issue

Editing, Production, Commissioning, Writing, Interviewing, Printing and Delivery.

The Sunday Paper is a quarterly broadsheet published by Desmond & Dempsey. It celebrates indulgence, slowness, adventure and freedom, and for our fourth issue we found our inspiration in the Artist’s Studio. Read on for my Editor’s Letter and a few of my favourite snaps from the issue.

 “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” - Pablo Picasso

The Artist’s Studio Issue was inspired by the likes of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso pottering around their studios creating the great works of our time. Running alongside Desmond & Dempsey’s Spring Summer ‘19 collection, it’s an issue that looks at the rituals of artists in their creative sanctuaries, their passions outside of the art world, and the beauty of a work in progress. The half finished canvases, the well-loved tools and crusty old paint tubes, the sketches and studies covering the walls. By stepping into the homes and studios of artists, curators and collectors, we glimpse into how the artists themselves are inspired, how the artworks come to be, and how we ourselves can get our hands on them. 

The first real joy in bringing this issue together lay in going from admiring an artist from afar to developing a strong sense of collaboration and even friendship, as we brought their feature stories to life in a way that allowed them to talk about their art and interests, as well as their all-important Sunday routines.

During our conversation with gallerist Lucinda Bellm and curator Roya Sachs, we delve into how collaboration between friends can help a young career to blossom whilst fostering a strong sense of personal fulfillment. With New York-based painter Marcus Leslie we explore how work and passion can intertwine in such a way that eventually the lines are blurred and you are left simply living a life of curiosity, conversation and connection.

From his LA studio, Ammon Rost explains his creative process and tells us of his excitement for the changing conversation in the art world, allowing for the once muffled voices of minorities to be heard. We revisit Marrakech, our favourite city from issue two, to meet Laurence Leenaert and Ayoub Boualam of lifestyle brand LRNCE as they tell us of the joys of life in Morocco, and what they both learnt and loved from leaving their respective home countries to live abroad. 

Each of our tastemakers, so firmly positioned in the art world yet so varying in personality, style and approach go to show the expanse of the theme of The Artist’s Studio. How it inspires, what it signifies to the individual, and what role one can play in the art world at large.

Despite occasional frustrations with international pyjama delivery and UPS lockers that won’t open, The Sunday Paper’s fourth issue has been a labour of love, and one of connection, friendship, intimacy, conversation and inspiration. With that in mind, I wish for you to enjoy your Sunday Paper from cover to cover as you sip your Sunday morning coffee and spread its pages across the kitchen table.