Harrod Horticultural Pop-Up Shop - Zosia Olenska Anderson Q&A

We are thrilled to collaborate with the incredibly talented artist, Zosia Olenska Anderson, as part of our King’s Road pop-up shop. Known for her evocative and dynamic artwork, Zosia’s pieces beautifully capture the joy, movement, and energy of life, often inspired by the natural world.

For this special event, Zosia is creating 20 brand-new, exclusive pieces of artwork that will be showcased and available to purchase alongside Harrod Horticultural’s Southwold Collection. This unique collaboration brings together Zosia’s artistic vision and our passion for timeless design, celebrating the beauty of outdoor living and craftsmanship.

In this Q&A, we explore Zosia’s creative journey, the inspiration she finds in nature, and how her work resonates with the ethos of Harrod Horticultural. Read on to discover the stories behind her art and the exciting pieces she’s creating for this collaboration…

Inspiration and Process

Q. The natural world often features subtly in your work. How does being outdoors or engaging with gardens influence your creativity?

A. I wish I could say that I was one of these amazing painters that work out in the open air or wading out into the sea and painting knee-deep in the ocean, but the painting part is definitely an indoor-job for me: cups of tea and piles of tubes of paint! Being out in nature that is the refuelling, a topping-up of existence, noticing. (I take endless photos of twigs!) Gardens are just a sensory joy- whether it’s piles of musty winter leaves or flowers that look indecently vivid in summer light. A lot of the time it’s the feeling of a space or of being stood, looking, that I’m holding in my head while I work.

Q. Do you have a favourite outdoor space or memory that has particularly inspired your art?

A. I grew up in London, but my parents were hardcore RHS Garden, stately-home day-trippers. Every weekend without fail. It gave me a real appreciation of the formal garden. And because it was every weekend, a lot of that appreciation was of the bare architecture and materials of the framework of the garden out-of-season. Sandstone ornamental buildings, weathered brick walls, noticing things like where old wooden benches are rough, and where they have been smoothed out by the bottoms of decades of other twig-admirers. It’s in there: one big layered memory. We are now in a remote little village in North Yorkshire so it is Castle Howard and Newby Hall that we visit the most, but I also largely plan my events for the year around garden venues. Sheffield Art in the Gardens and Leamington Spa’s Art in the Park are two I could happily do every year until I die! Gorgeous botanical-garden settings.

Challenges and Ambitions

Q. Your artistic ambitions are inspiring. What does success as an artist look like to you, both creatively and professionally?

A. Honestly, this isn’t very glamorous, but on a basic level being able to pay bills with paintings feels like we are already in pure make believe territory! That water bill? Paid for by a golden picture of… twigs (of course)?! Pinch me! Day to day, I think every creative person knows that you can go from feeling like a success one minute, to a complete failure the next, depending on how what you are working on is turning out at any given moment. And then again, it is incredibly gratifying when someone sees something I’ve been scratching away at, and decides they would very much like to look at it every day in their home- for it to become part of the background of their life. That is probably as much success as I can imagine/handle!

Future Projects

Q. You’re currently working on projects that incorporate elements like gold leaf and experimental colour techniques. Could you share more about these upcoming pieces?

A. Ha! No! Absolutely not. It’s all a big intangible mess until it’s finished… if you were in the studio we could prod around in all the pots of things and really get into it, but speaking about something before it is done will jinx it into ugliness. There is, however, a little queue of paintings in my head that need to come out.

Q. Switching between different works has become part of your process. How has this helped you maintain momentum and creativity?

A. The most productive way of procrastinating is to procrastinate by painting something that isn’t the thing you’re stuck on. Realising that was such a relief, instead of overthinking and overworking one picture- don’t dwell on it- work on something else! You generally find you’re solving the problems in the back of your mind without realising.

Collaboration and Exhibition

Q. What excites you most about collaborating with Harrod Horticultural for the King’s Road pop-up?

A. More and more I think of paintings as almost this theatrical prop that make a feeling - It’s an amazing opportunity to help create a ‘backdrop’ - bring in the atmosphere, thought, of a garden- to truly beautiful handmade objects. Harrod’s garden furniture has such a gorgeous patina. It looks like it came into being with the garden around it! We do the same thing in some ways: thoughtfully make objects that give people pleasure and respite from the more difficult parts of life. Things for pure enjoyment. It’s a real privilege.

Q. Where do you hope to exhibit your work in the future, and how can people stay updated on your artistic journey?

A. The plan is to have a revamped website and newsletter very soon to do this very thing! There is one already but it will be “more betterer” soon (technical term). Instagram is the main one, and I will be sitting awkwardly in front of my work on my route of events this year (please come say hello!) It will be Leamington Spa, Sheffield, Staithes in August and September for sure, followed hopefully by Teddington in October, and in between I am also a paintbrush for hire. Thank you so much for reading through this much waffle, and for having me on board. I really do still pinch myself.

We are thrilled to be working with Zosia on our exciting new adventure and can't wait to see the finished paintings proudly displayed throughout the Pop-Up Shop at 324-326 King's Road, Chelsea from April 24th to May 15th 2025. 

To find out more about Zosia and to keep updated on her paintings visit her website - https://www.zosiaolenska.com/ and be sure to follow her on socials: 

https://www.facebook.com/zosiaoart

https://www.instagram.com/zosiao/