Creative couple put on a show

The double dose of diverse artistic endeavour will include paintings and illustrations by Liz alongside Richard's sculptures and his glass reinforced concrete planters and furniture.

The couple are taking part in the free event, which will see 55 artists open their studios to the public.

"Ours is a husband and wife show," says Richard.

The venue is their stunning five storey Victorian house and the couple consider themselves very lucky indeed to have it.

It has plenty of space for them and sons George, 19, and Ned, 15 plus a studio for Liz and a guest room for friends.

They managed to buy it in 2004 through luck rather than good management and enormous pay packets.

The erratic income of two artists doesn't usually fund a lavish lifestyle but the property market was kind to them.

"We moved to Hackney when other people thought it was a ghetto and it was a tricky neighbourhood for a few years. There were quite a few artists who went there back then because it was cheap, but by the time we looked at moving it had become quite sought after and our house was worth a massive amount of money.

"When we bought it, the surveyor said, 'I strongly advise you not to buy this house' and when we sold, another property expert said, 'I strongly advise you not to sell this house'," says Richard.

"That's how we ended up with a big house here in York!"

They moved from London to find a better place to bring up their children.

"It was fantastic thing to do because we really like it here. It's exactly what we wanted," says Liz, who is originally from Pennsylvania. She met Richard while at the Royal College of Art and there was some Transatlantic to-ing and fro-ing, including a six-year stretch in New York, where Richard had the idea for his business. Urbis Design specialises in enormous glass reinforced concrete planters and furniture and is now based at Full Sutton airfield, near York.

"There was nothing else like them," says Richard, who worked for StudioEis in New York making sculptures and lifelike museum figures.

The gigantic, curvaceous pots are now everywhere from posh hotels (including the Four Seasons in Mauritius), roof gardens in Manhattan, palazzos in Italy and even in a movie – Bond's Quantum of Solace. The furniture is also a big hit. His latest design is the Urbis bath – a gorgeous egg-shaped vessel that is in the family bathroom. There are examples of Richard's work in almost every room. The bread bin is concrete, and wall hangings and mirrors are all sculpted by him.

The simple, austerity of the designs fit perfectly with Liz's colourful paintings, many of which will be familiar to Open Studios visitors.

She is a well-known illustrator working on everything from magazines, posters for English National Opera, Penguin Classics and Richard Dawkins books and charming Walker Books for children.

The backdrop for all their art is neutral.

"I think for art you need neutral walls to display art, so they are almost all painted with chalky white Farrow and Ball paint," says Richard.

Apart from the decorating with more neutral colours, Liz and Richard didn't need to do any work to the house, which had already been modernised.

Apart from changing the fireplace in the front room for one they found in a salvage yard, they have simply added their own furniture, which is an eclectic mix of heirlooms and pieces they have had for years.

The dining room is almost entirely made up of American antique furniture from Pennsylvania including a cherry wood table and a George IV captain's chair.

"We also have some stuff from New York. We are quite sentimental so we tend to hang onto things that have associations," says Liz.

"We're not big shoppers either so our furniture tends to be whatever we've had handed down and found."

The hand-worked American throw on their bed dates from 1850, while the gilt mirror in the room is by Richard and the painting below by Liz.

"We both started out as artists but very few people make a living selling their own work so you use your skills to make things you can sell, which is what Urbis and the illustration is about.

"I make a bathtub Monday to Friday and on the weekend I'll make my own sculptures in the same room. It works well," says Richard.

"Here in this country we think of art, design and crafts as completely separate, whereas in Germany they use one word: Kunst to describe all those things."

"I think that's a great word."

Urbis Design is at Full Sutton, York, tel: 01759 373839, www.urbisdesign.co.uk

OPEN STUDIOS

The York Open Studios is the perfect combination of discovering art with wandering around the historic streets of York as you follow the trail of artists' studios. This year's event runs from Friday, April 16 to Sunday, April 18.

More than 55 artists will welcome visitors into their studio spaces which are as varied as the works on show, ranging from hair salons to Victorian cottages.

Artists include woodcarver Iain Broadbent, who has worked onmany restoration projects on the streets of York. He is showing his work at Bedern Hall on St Andrewgate. This is the first time ceramicist Loretta Braganza has taken part in the event and she creates her immaculately constructed pots within her home-based studio in The Coach House, 198 Mount Vale.

There is also the chance to "have a go". Visitors to printmaker Emily Harvey, who creates prints using everyday materials, will be able to enjoy printing "without ink" over the weekend.

Entry to all of the studios is free, and a map and guide is available from the website www.yorkopenstudios.co.uk, by emailing [email protected] or from Ruth King, tel 01904 706123. Studios are open on Friday, April 16 (6-9pm), Saturday, April 17 (10am- 6pm)and Sunday, April 18 (11am - 5pm).

YP MAG 10/4/10