Two Charlie's

Actually two Charlie's and one Desmond. With Fathers Day coming up we decided to give the boys a chance to show off their wall art. Des Morgan and Charlie Stead are creative guys with a passion for art and interiors. 

Charlie Stead, Copywriter - Kennington

First we popped over to Kennington to meet copywriter, Charlie Stead. Charlie happens to live in Charlie Chaplin’s old house. When Chaplin lived there it was most likely a slum, now Kennington is home to MPs and media types. His house is a calm oasis of individuality with the added prestige of a blue plaque.

Charlie knows how to write elegant copy but today we’re interested in his handsome gallery wall. His French Grey walls are the perfect backdrop for a charming, eclectic collection of oil paintings, water colours and illustrations. Charlie has hand picked pieces from far and wide. He loves to pop to Sunbury on a Tuesday morning at 6am (impressive alarm clock skills).

Charlie also visited Tongeren recently, as it is home to one of the biggest flea markets in Belgium. Our two favourite pieces on his gallery wall are bottom centre, Little Bird, by Tracey Emin and far right a small impressionist painting of a church, which Charlie picked up in Tongeren. It’s a perfect day to stand back and admire the view. 

We’d love to stay longer at Charlie’s but he has a flight to catch, with friends in LA and a house in Puliga he has a passion for travel. Let’s hope he picks up a few more pieces when he’s exploring the world, then we can pop back for another peak.

Charlie's three favourite pieces of art are Las Meninas by Velázquez, Cy Twombly’s Bacchus paintings and David Hockney’s Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy.

Des Morgan, Art Director, DJ and Musician - Berkhamstead

When we entered Des secret hideaway in Berkhamstead we couldn’t have been more excited. Growing up Des listened to his fathers steel band perform and sat for hours with his older brother playing soul, funk and reggae vinyl. So it’s no surprise he has a wall to wall record collection. 

He also has parquet flooring and a classic Eames lounge chair. (He could do with a Le Labo candle and a poodle but that might just be me) A talented art director by day and musician by night, the combination makes for a stunning gallery wall.

Des spends a lot of time in second hand stores, car boot sales and charity shops looking for obscure and interesting records. Whilst on his travels he picks up illustrations, music posters and art pieces. We spent a Sunday listening to music and eating Caribbean fish soup. I spotted red was the colour running through most of the pieces in his house. So we used that a the base colour for all his pieces on his gallery wall. 

He used an original vintage poster that he bought in Cuba as large centre piece and we worked around that. From our collection Des chose “Oh little Town” a divine heavy weight tapestry sourced from a flea market in Berlin. The painting of the couple dancing is one of his very favourites on the wall. Des found this at a market stall in Split, Croatia whilst he was there performing at a festival.

The walls are painted polished pebble grey and the handmade Timba congas have an authentic Cuban sound, perfect for a Sunday Rumba session.

While we’ve got Des attention we’d thought you’d like to know three of his favourite records: John Coltrane - My Favourite Things, Leon Ware - Rocking You Eternally, Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information. Three of his favourite works of art Jean Michel Basquiat - Beat Bop, Gustav Klimt - The Kiss. Grayson Perry - Walthamstow Tapestry.

So “Let’s hear it for the boys” Deniece Williams 1984. I think Des is might be ‘way cool’ for this tune but seriously these guys have style. 

Our Fathers Day pieces are now in the collection.