CAREER SHIFT
Illustrator and house portraitist, Imogen Partridge
There is not alot of time to catch breath in Imogen Partridge’s day. The helter-skelter begins from five in the morning, when one-year-old Harriet wakes up, closely followed by three-year-old Ted.
For three days aweek, while the children are at nursery or their grandparents’, Imogen is on the train for London by seven, where she works for an interior design and architecture practice. Once aboard, the sketchbook comes out for her other role, as aself-employed illustrator.
‘Sketching and pen work are fine as we rattle along. The detail I fill in later,’ she says. Other days of the week are no less hectic, with snatched moments to paint. ‘When little hands start reaching out to prod my watercolours, or grab brushes, things are set aside again!’
But come the evening, with dinner done and children bundled into bed, acosy bay window seat becomes alittle oasis. It’s in the corner of the kitchen, in the home in Tonbridge, Kent, that Imogen shares with her husband, Rob. ‘It’s the calm after the chaos of the day. Often I’ll say to Rob, “I’ll just do an hour.” Three hours later, podcasts or music humming in the background, I’m still absorbed.’ Delicate watercolour house portraits –agabled manor house, for example, or the yellow façade of ashop –are the fruit of her focus, all featuring the characteristic beauty that comes from the slight wobble of ahand-drawn line.
It was acalligraphy course seven years ago that started her down the path of lettering and illustration. She went from creating invites, illustrated menus and place cards for family weddings, to commissions via word of mouth and Instagram. She now counts boutique designers, shops and cafes among her clients. ‘I needed asalaried role to secure the mortgage, and it would have been so easy to drop the illustration. But painting is where I feel at home. ’
Imogen studied interior architecture at university, where she met Rob, and there have been many highlights to a 12-year career in interior design. Notable projects included trips to Jumby Bay, Antigua, to renovate an estate house on aprivate island resor
