“we need to create artworks and installations that let us dream a little more .. its all about the reverie ‘

….in 2012 I began working on a new room at sketch , a groundbreaking 3* Michelin venue in London , where I,d already recreated the Parlour space with cherry blossom trees in 2003, the west bar in a painted velvet and was the first artist to colour in the Gallery restaurant from its initial all over futuristic white ….

stemming from an antique piece of ephemera found in an inherited box of Didier, s grandmother in Belgium , that was enlarged, rescanned, overpainted, cut out and painstakingly applied in layers onto painted walls with over 35,000 pieces of paper , taking over 2 months of day and night applications to slowly build up a dream like space , we never left the space , we painted and glued and pinned and sealed the walls … everything was built up by eye .. by a vision, and by huge , exhausting practical effort.

Each piece of furniture, ceramics from Biot in the south of France , all the velvet , silks and cotton textiles I hand-painted, screened, printed and collaged . hand carved Belgian oak shelves were specified from Belgium designer CoMa , holding the bar bottles like branches, the antique flocked tables with dark tinted mirror-like pools in a forest; the intention, feeling and mood that guests are actors in a film, in an ever-changing camouflage, a space reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, a secret forest garden in Mayfair, a modern day fairytale… in the early years I,d gathered up vintage rattan from the cote d,azur and this made it even more of a garden room , a few years ago we wanted more of an luxury sink in dining space so Louis furniture was sourced and hand painted , upholstered in unique prints and collage

“I do rooms, but I’m not a decorator,” says Quartermaine, I approach spaces from the perspective of a painter. The Glade, is a woodland wonderland–like brunch spot and bar located within the restaurant and gallery Sketch, in London’s Mayfair district. To create the fairyland feeling, I worked with fellow artist Didier Mahieu , we have a close realationship since over 20 years , and a team of 12 artisans to decoupage the walls with roughly 30,000 pieces of paper picturing leaves and branches. I custom-printed butterflies and flowers from my photographic collection to scatter across the backs of Louis XV–style chairs and used mirrors to give the illusion of sunlight beaming through trees into forest pools … . “Without fail, guests of all ages—men, women, children—everyone is transported,” “It’s not an obvious forest. To me, it’s a modern art piece that tricks the eye.”