The Royal Academician Opens Up About Her Creative Life and Her Studio, Which Is Opposite Her Husband Bernard Dunstan’s, in Their Kew Home.
Both you and your husband are painters – do you share one studio?
No. One day, in 1958, when I returned from taking our youngest son Bob to nursery school, I found a table arranged for me in Bernard’s studio room. Alas, there appeared only luck for one of us at a time. So Bernard erected a hut in the garden, just outside his room, but in touch through the window for signalling coffee breaks. Later, when all three boys had grown up, I took over their playroom, south facing, which suits me, even if the sunlight sometimes strikes the easel.
Your husband was elected to the RA in 1959 and you became a Royal Academician in 1989. Was there any competition?
No, I think it has worked because we made some separations early on, so our work would not overlap. Bernard rather handed over the landscapes and still lifes to me. I perhaps would have loved to do music pictures, but Bernard was much more experienced and freer to go to rehearsals.
Do you sometimes criticise each others’ work?
This story is from the April 2017 edition of Artists & Illustrators.
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This story is from the April 2017 edition of Artists & Illustrators.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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