Melissa Scott-Miller: artist

Everybody has a story. Artist Melissa Scott-Miller paints her detailed canvases around the borough, so you may have spotted her at work in Islington. Or perhaps you recognise her Islington paintings when they star in the RA’s summer exhibitions? Interview with Nicola Baird

Melissa Scott-Miller paints Islington scenes – houses, back gardens, characters. She’s a member of I am also a member of the New English Art club, the Royal Society of British Artists andthe Royal Society of Portrait Artists, which sounds grand, but she is still excited to have one of her paintings owned by Thornhill Primary school. Right now, it’s April and the lockdown to protect the NHS has been extended for another three weeks. Islington Faces meets her via an Instagram introduction and then a phone call. On this Melissa shares how: “I like being on my own. But I do feel worried and sad for my children – I feel they are really missing their work and the things they like doing. So, it seems like a very sad time, and of course there are people getting ill and dying.” So many conversations are like that now – both personal and big picture, plus shared love for wonderful Islington.

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How did you end up in Islington?
I was born in Kensington and grew up there, but it wasn’t so posh then. It was similar to how Islington is now. When I went to art school, to the Slade, that’s when I first discovered Islington, as lots of my friends lived in squats here. I thought Islington was brilliant and I loved it. Later on, my father gave me some money and I bought a really small flat in Mildmay Grove, N1. Then I met the father of my children who had a stall in Camden Passage, N1. I moved with him into Lonsdale Square, N1 and they went to Thornhill School. We lived there for 20 years. We were in a council place and some of our neighbours were very rich and famous – at one point a neighbour was Sir Simon Rattle. But it was great – my children always played in the square and I did a lot of paintings there.

Painting outside
I always paint outside: I don’t have a studio. This flat I bought when I broke up with my partner – and I choose it because of the view over the back gardens over the Hillmarton Road houses. I’ve painted it so many times, and obviously even more now during the lock down!

The view I’ve done from my back window – was in the RA summer exhibition last year (2019). It was bought by someone who lived in Cornwall, she said ‘it would always remind her of London.’ I’ve had paintings in the Royal Academy summer show 23 times, three times of that particular view but the others were all of Islington views. Two years ago, I did a painting from a black of flats in Middleton Grove, N7 and it looked out right across Islington. It’s quite a big painting with the Arsenal Stadium (Emirates) – Grayson Perry hung it in his summer exhibition show and the person who bought it lived round the back of there, more Drayton Park.

I really like being out. When I’m there, things happen. Because I don’t drive, I take my big canvases, about 4ft square, in taxis. I did one in Rosebery Avenue like that and it took me about 15 journeys to finish the big houses and blocks of flats. One day I went in to buy a drink from the nearby shop and the guy said ‘next time everything is free’. At first I thought ‘does he think I’m homeless’, but then I realised it was because I was an artist. It was so nice. You get to know people and I’m sure that all gets into the painting. I put the local characters who are always sitting outside, or the cat strolling around. So, people look at it and see number 5’s cat.

I did a painting near King’s Cross at Frederick Street – that was really nice seeing the people who looked after the little garden, who asked if I wanted to use their tool shed and a homeless guy gave me a sandwich. He was worried that I was cold.

I like street life. I’d never go and paint Trafalgar Square. I’m just interested in domestic London life. I like Victorian schools as well. And when my children were at school, I did a lot of paintings of the view from the school – Thornhill School has actually got one of my paintings, people from Lonsdale Square all clubbed together and bought it. Now I don’t paint schools any more, but I walk the dog so I’m always doing parks and things that I do with the dog, like night time street paintings. The streets that I walk along with the dog are so beautiful. I had started one view of Hillmarton Street that I’ve always wanted to do and then they announced the lockdown (on 23 March), so I will have to leave it until next year because the leaves weren’t on the trees then.

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Places Melissa Scott-Miller likes in Islington
I’ve lived in Islington for 30 years and brought up my two children here. I’ve taken them to lots of places where they played, but mainly I thought of all those places I like to paint…

• My favourite place is by the canal round the back of Noel Road, N1 where the tunnel comes out. I love those houses. Walter Sickert lived in one of them – I’ve done one or two paintings every year for the last 20 years by that stretch of the canal in all different weathers. I really love the gardens and the contrast of the light and life in the big houses and the house boats
• I really like where I live which is Hartham Road off Hillmarton Road, N7 in the Hillmarton Conservation Area. It’s a really lovely place where I live, with these great big houses, mainly converted into flats, which have really nice front gardens with brick gate posts and gates. There is a mix of different types of people: a really good area full of character and life.
• I also really like to paint in Canonbury Square, N1. I love the houses and the Estorick Collection at 39a and the gardens in the middle. I’ve painted there lots of times.
• Highbury Fields, N5 is a lovely park and I like the tall houses there. I used to go there a lot with my children. My daughter is now 29 and my son is 20.
• There are so many places I like in Islington: Liverpool Road, N1 by the high pavements has tall houses. It’s very pretty. And Rosebery Avenue, EC1 is a favourite. Finsbury Town Hall is a lovely place: it’s also where I registered my daughter’s birth.
• I used to read the Islington Tribune a lot – and one journalist Peter Gruner, who has retired now, always used to write about me, and I got a lot of commissions from that. It’s a really nice newspaper and often stories with ordinary people from Islington.

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What’s coming up?
“Have you tried the foot challenge? Members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters were due to have their next exhibition in May but it’s sadly been cancelled. Then one of our members had this idea of drawing her feet. She posted a lesson on Instagram (about how to draw your feet, see @robinleehallartist). Then she and another guy said let’s have the #rpfootsie so everyone can draw their feet. There are only about 48 members – but now we want anybody to do it! There’s no deadline – it’s just to get people drawing and have something to do.”

“I’ve got some paintings in an exhibition, Being with Trees in Bermondsey Project space which was meant to go up a couple of weeks ago and it’s been postponed because of coronavirus. A young woman has made a nice short film of all the paintings and drawings using Weebly. I did a painting that’s in it of Highbury New Park with that fantastic avenue of trees in the early autumn. My other one is of some flats in Caledonian Road – the old redbrick of the mansion block looks lovely when the pink cherry blossom is out.”

Lots of people have been making time for more creative activities during lockdown Britain, but for professional artists like Melissa time spent painting hasn’t changed. Instead it’s been about adapting her practice to work from her flat rather than setting up in the streets. For any fan of Islington, Melissa Scott-Miller’s street views and gardenscapes, with their fabulous attention to the detail of our local buildings, are a joy to savour. Have a look on her website, and follow her on Instagram, to enjoy them to the max.

• See Melissa Scott-Miller’s website scottmillerart.com
• Follow Melissa on Instagram @melissa.scottmiller (she has nearly 5,000 followers)
• Look at the Being with Trees show here https://beingwithtrees.weebly.com/#
• Join the Royal Society of Portrait painters foot challenge #rpfootsie by drawing or painting your own feet and then putting on insta or twitter with the #rpfootsie hashtag.

Over to you
If you’d like to nominate someone to be interviewed who grew up, lives or works in Islington, or suggest yourself, please let me know, via nicolabaird dot green at gmail dot com. If you enjoyed this post you might like to look at the A-Z  index, or search by interviewee’s roles or Meet Islingtonians to find friends, neighbours and inspiration. Thanks for stopping by. Nicola

FEEDBACK
Peter Gruner: “it was nice to get a mention from Melissa Scott-Miller who I have always regarded as a great artist and has her heart planted firmly in the borough. Carry on the good work Nicola. Your posts provide an important place to read about some of the amazing people from the borough. And it’s particularly important today with a certain virus doing the rounds.”

Dorothy: “Thank you – this is lovely!”

Pauline: “Such a long time since we spoke/met but I do enjoy your briefings despite not living in Islington any more. I really regretted not ever meeting Melissa on a street somewhere. I’d have loved a painting of my old street!”