Behind the bottle: an interview with artist Chiara Perano.

We met Chiara Perano a long way from Tuscany, in her studio on the south coast of England. Her Italian roots, however, were present in the space around us. Books by Italian artists, clippings of Italian renaissance paintings on the walls, and an obvious connection to the romance of this country.

Chiara was our first choice for an artist to design our Tuscan Extra Rare olive oil, and the partnership seemed serendipitous: she tells us in the studio that she was musing on the possibility of designing artwork for an olive oil, and just days later, along came our request.

As spring light fills her studio on an early April morning, we sit down to talk about her process and inspirations, childhood summers spent just south of Naples, and of course what part olive oil plays in her life.

Your artwork is full of these wonderful deep reds and dusky pinks, which is one of the reasons we reached out to you for this partnership—the colours were already so reminiscent of Tuscany. Can you tell us a bit about your artistic background? What inspires you, and how did you start off?

I studied illustration at LCC, London. So I started with a very strong illustrative style, but with brushwork, not with pen and pencil. Then I gradually transitioned to painting. I’m self taught and I just loved the feeling of going bigger, with these huge colour washes, and being able to simplify things on the canvas, create an atmosphere. Illustration can be much busier. But my themes have always remained: nature, slow living, food, the skies and seasons.

Subliminally, I think that comes from the Italian side. I was born in England, but I went to school in Italy, on the Amalfi coast where we lived for my core childhood years before coming back to the UK. 

My family home is literally down the land, surrounded by vegetable fields and the people there eat so seasonally. It’s real earth  to plate, straight out of the ground. It’s a slow way of living, and that’s inspired my own way of living, parenting, and painting. 

It's harder to do this in England! But we do grow and preserve things from our own garden here. Last summer we set ourselves a goal as a family of not buying any salad related things. So we grew lettuce, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, spring onions...it worked!

I first came across you after those wonderful cocktail paintings. They were so effective. For me they really evoked the perfect bold simplicity of a cocktail. Did you have a breakthrough moment?

I created those cocktail paintings during that time. Just before lockdown I went to a Campari art exhibition at the Estorick Collection in Islington, which really inspired that ‘a casa’ collection, which was all about drinks, food and family. So those small paintings really helped get me started as a painter.

How would you describe your overall aesthetic, and how has it evolved over the years?

What aspects of the brand or the product did you find most exciting or challenging to translate visually?

With olive oil designs, it’s easy to go very obvious very quickly. So the challenge was not to do that, while showing the essence of Tuscany. Citizens of Soil have a really unique brand in the olive oil space, so I wanted to preserve that too. It was about setting the tone for the oil inside the bottle.

When I read up about the producers, and how passionate they are about the land, it was clear that needed to be reflected in the design. Representing the land itself was important, and the elements that create the environment for such great olive oil: the sun, the sea breeze.

I also hoped to convey the romance of Tuscany, and the theatrical element you spoke about, especially as it was being launched to a night of opera and olive oil! I think we achieved that really nicely, the design is almost like a stage setting. 

Being part Italian, was olive oil a big feature for you growing up? What kind of dishes do you remember eating? 

Everything is centred around food with my family! My family had Italian restaurants here in the UK. The olive oil, tomatoes, mozzarella…it was all exceptional, I was lucky to grow up with that as the norm. Italians are proud of their own produce and each region will tell you they do everything the best. But really it’s all wonderful, wherever you are in Italy.

When I started working on this project, I was looking at all your olive oils and learning more about the different profiles and growing conditions. I didn’t actually realise it was so diverse!

Are you a keen cook? What are you most looking forward to drizzling this bottle over?

I’m such a pasta person. I grew up on pasta most days, with seasonal vegetables, salads, fresh fish and meat. Everyone has this idea of an Italian nonna making fresh pasta, but mine never did! Maybe we were too many people, I have a big family! 

But no, we ate wonderfully. A favourite of mine is aglio, olio e peperoncino (garlic, olive oil and chilli) with anchovies melted in. So simple, but so good. Being near the coast here, we’ve got a fantastic fishmonger so I can get beautiful clams to make the classic Spaghetti alle vongole too.

Other than great olive oil, is there anything else you have to have on the table?

I work on quite a lot of tablescapes: whether it’s painting tablecloths, designing the menu, or helping to make the table really beautiful in some way. They can be quite elaborate but in my own home I actually like things quite simple.

I love a plain linen tablecloth and then a couple of fun pieces, like colourful napkins, always nice candles and some flowers and herbs snipped from the garden. This year my tulips have done so well, and I’m growing sweet peas and cosmos at the moment too. I’ve also grown this amazing shrub called Mock Orange Philadelphus. It’s got beautiful little white flowers and it’s so fragrant, I have it by the back doors of my house and it gives off the most amazing scent.

You’ve worked with some incredible brands. Are there other industries or product categories you'd love to collaborate with in the future or that you’ve particularly enjoyed in the past? 

So many! I’ve been really lucky to work with some fantastic people. Papier really stands out as I started working with them when they were really small, on a range of stationery and event invitations.

TBCo was also another great one. Inspired by an endless summer with a bit of a Matisse reference, I created the design for a t- shirt and scarf using a woodblock print.

I also recently painted a huge celestial mural in a new hotel called Crafted at Powdermills close to where I live. Quite freestyle. I had a reference on paper and I just went for it. I’ve done murals in the past but this is the first time I’ve ever done a full ceiling painting. The neck strain is real! I’m in awe of how those classical painters could do such intricate frescos. I’m not precise enough to have it all sketched out. I just have to go with the flow of the design, then step back and see where it needs more detail.

I love painting and designing murals, I did my first large scale one at The Berkeley Hotel in London. I was tasked with taking people on the journey through this long corridor as you walk through to their rooftop swimming pool, which looks over Hyde Park. I’ve also done some in people’s homes— sometimes commissioned by an interior designer—and in restaurants, which are always fun.

Last summer I did an exhibition at Tillingham. It’s a stunning English vineyard not far from here. I curated it, hung it all, and for the opening I collected herb bundles from my garden so everyone could take one home and retain a connection to that time of year, during the heat of midsummer. 

What’s next for you?

I’m taking a collection of paintings to Estelle Manor tomorrow! Then my next solo exhibition will be at my partner’s new framing shop here in St Leonards in late Spring. That’s what I’m working on now. It explores the human relationship to nature, flowers, the sky, and features paintings and ceramic pieces.

I’m obsessed with the moon, and astrology, especially with the latest expeditions going on. They’ve been a huge source of inspiration. I loved all the new photographs of colours on the moon and Jupiter’s moons. I’ve been wanting to do a whole series on celestial shapes. I go to watch the full moon rise on the beach every month, it’s so special and a beautiful ritual I have developed since moving here. Every time it wows me. 

As with all my work, it’s about living among nature and the seasons, which I feel we’ve moved quite far from as a society. Since I left London, and had children, I’ve found this easier. You see things through their eyes, you notice all the small things. And now that I have a garden, I’m more aware of those small natural shifts.

Find Chiara’s design on our limited edition Tuscan Extra Rare olive oil and explore more of her work at ciao-chiara.com.