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Cassandra Ellis launched her paint company, Atelier Ellis, in 2018, and has since made a name for herself as a producer of high quality, natural paints. An expert in colour and art, she is often called upon to provide her knowledge (as well as her own paints) to create a backdrop against which art can hang: most recently this was for Whitechapel Gallery’s ‘Action, Gesture, Paint’ exhibition.
Today, she opens her first retail space within a townhouse on Walton Street in Bath. As well as being a place to showcase her paint colours, it will be a hub for British craft and culture, with quarterly, seasonally themed exhibitions shining a light on makers and craftspeople. This opening comes following Cassandra’s relocation from London, driven not only by the ‘lovely people and independent businesses in Bath,’ but as she explains, the fact that her mellow colour palette suits the Georgian Bath stone buildings that characterise the city.
'I had always been very interested in the relationship between home and humans - and the opportunity to tell your own story through the things that you choose,' says Cassandra. She describes her calming colours as: 'not too clean, or too much a ‘colour’ in their own right'.
The pared-back space consists of seven rooms over four floors, complete with a picturesque walled garden. The idea is to give people the opportunity to see the paints in a real home, with its changing light.
To mark the opening, a selling exhibition called ‘Beginnings’ will present new work from photographer Jessica Maccormick. Also on display are 50 drinking cups designed and made by Sheffield-based ceramics studio Pottery West, in bespoke colourways created in collaboration with Cassandra.
The exhibitions will take place against the backdrop of a new range of nine paint colours with the same name. These colours, Cassandra explains, ‘speak of freedom and of Bath: I turned to the colours of beautiful, glorious birds for inspiration - because they have always felt like freedom to me.’
The space and the exhibitions will open on 25th April. Appointments are available on request.
Atelier Ellis, 98 Walcot Street, Bath. BA1 5BG, Tuesday - Saturday, 10am-5pm.
