As soon as you enter the eye is drawn to a magnificent collection of vintage hats, coats and handbags on one side and beautiful Moorish pottery plates hanging on the walls on the other side. Sassy lived in Spain when she was younger and fell in love with both the Moorish architecture and ceramics. But it also reveals the wonderfully informal and fun way Sassy entertains at home.
“I don’t have a dinner service. If I have people over I just take these down off the wall and use them. That’s what the Spanish do.”
The sea, whether here or in Spain, has always been an inspiration for Sassy who grew up in Cornwall in a house with no television. To entertain her, she was read endless stories by her father. She cites this bohemian childhood as the starting point when her imagination leapt into gear. And gosh what an imagination she has.
The stunning azure sea views from the ornate wrought iron balcony adjoining her sitting room are overshadowed by the sheer fabulousness and individuality of the furnishings. And the fact that it’s simply overflowing with the type of interesting ‘stuff’ only a true interiors magpie could discover.
Dominating the area by the window is a large sofa/day bed covered with pastel throws and richly ornate deep red and gold velvet cushions. Next to it is an ‘altar’ table covered in flowers and surrounded by a collection of fun LED rabbit lights. It’s bonkers but it works.
On the wall hangs a large French mirror. Surrounding that are some of Sassy’s artistic creations – boxed religious icons decorated with all manner of delicate flowers, shells, crystals and pretty lights.
She explains, “I’m not particularly religious but I’ve always been transfixed by religious iconography. I wanted to put a modern and thought provoking twist on the images.”
Sassy is also at pains to point out she doesn’t think her icons are in any way disrespectful. “It’s not my intention to demean the original. I wouldn’t do that. My aim is only to enhance or put a twist on them. But I do like to shake up the conscience.”
A piece on the opposite wall, called Censored, containing an image of Christ emblazoned with the word ‘censored’ in an old clock case sums up her approach further.
“Sometimes I see items that are crying out to be altered or have a different function. As in Censored. The case is from a reproduction clock I found in a junk shop. I liked the classical look of the case, but it was only when I placed the Jesus figurine inside that I noticed an ugly dividing partition, in the middle.
“I thought for a moment and then I realised that where that barrier fell was the perfect place to put the wording. So instead of trying to change the structure I worked with it. That’s my approach to everything. I also love the way the flowers light up inside it. It is so pretty at night.”
Underneath that piece is another of Sassy’s icons, a beautiful Virgin Mary decorated with delicate shells. To the side sits a lovely antique solid chest of drawers, which belonged to her grandmother. The surface is crammed with family photographs in different styles of vintage frames, and a 1930s rabbit ornament Sassy found in a charity shop.
“I love him but he has an evil stare,” laughs Sassy. There are also some stunning antique blue majolica pieces, including a large cheese truckle, also heirlooms. But even on these antique pieces, Sassy can’t resist a little individual twist and has decorated the blue lamp-base with glittery gold butterflies.
Next to the chest sits a heavy French wrought iron day bed bought from long-time St Leonards dealer Eamon (who sets up stall at the top of Norman Road). “It’s broken now but for me it’s more important something is beautiful than comfortable. I suspect I think differently to a lot of other people,” laughs Sassy.
On top of the bed sit embroidered bolsters that look like art deco era Chinese silk but are in fact handmade by Sassy from fabric remnants stuffed with bits of old duvet and the ends tied with vintage ribbons.
The ‘embroidery’ that tricked my eye into thinking it was 1920s are bits of old sequin belts stuck on with glue. “I’m both a poor artist and a single mum. But being poor helps,” asserts Sassy. “I have to think outside the box in everything I do.”
On the wall are some of Sassy’s collage paintings, featuring illustrated figures cut from some of her own design greetings cards. “I never let anything go to waste.” There’s some more of her icon works, this time embellished crucifixes in soft pink and blues with sparkly silver and gold detail – Sassy’s favourite palette. Sassy has the crosses made by a local carpenter and then paints and embellishes them to make each one a unique piece of art.
A turquoise Casa Pupo lamp sits on a little table, again upcycled, this one with glittery long-tailed birds.
Even the door handle is made decorative with vintage handbags slung over it. “That’s because there’s no storage in this place,” laughs Sassy. “I have to use every available space to store things. I hang jewellery on walls and bags off door handles. But I like that because if I love wearing a piece of jewellery why wouldn’t I enjoy seeing it on display too?”
On another family heirloom, a Georgian writing desk, is an array of antique silver dishes, mostly picked up from charity or junk shops, displaying more piles of rings and necklaces. “I enjoy seeing them all the time, and they catch the light beautifully,” says Sassy.
Sitting next to the bowls is a fantastic art nouveau silver hand mirror decorated with angels and flowers. Amazingly, Sassy picked this up for a song at a charity shop. “It’s a bit battered, but for me that makes it even more lovely,” she says.
What looks to be a punky style spiky vase is an old perfume bottle wearing one of Sassy’s bracelets. On the wall above are more framed family photos, including one of Sassy’s very handsome son Ossian, a professional model signed to MOT models.
There’s so much going on in this room it’s hard for the eye to take it all in, but where the jumble of sparkle, wit, invention and charity finds really comes into its own are the displays on the mantlepiece and atop a lovely old French pine dining table.
Aphrodite is the theme of the mantlepiece with a collection of armless statues in lots of different sizes. “I’ve collected them for years”, explains Sassy. “And I keep adding.” The bust wearing the fancy headdress? In fact, a piece of old lampshade and a pineapple ornament.
What about the display of expensive looking glass cloches displaying a skull, a pufferfish and some blue veined fake bird’s eggs? In a genius tip Sassy reveals the ‘cloches’ are made by using upturned inexpensive glass vases bought from TK Maxx.
“Necessity is the mother of invention. But I wouldn’t have it any other way because I love the thrill of finding things or reinventing them.”
One of the reasons such an eclectic collection hangs together so well is the base palette of blues, pinks and soft whites painted throughout the flat. “These are my colours,” says Sassy. “These are the same colours I tend to wear on my clothes too. And in here I stick to the same colours with every new or found item that comes. I think if someone bought me some orange flowers I’d have to throw them away because they wouldn’t fit in.”
As an example, she points to a collection of blue feathers in place of flowers. “They have some yellow bits on them,” explains Sassy, “but I had to turn them the other way to hide the yellow. I really am that specific about sticking to my colours.”
The little galley kitchen off the sitting room sings with more Moorish Spanish pottery. Vintage copper pots hang from a wooden shelf bracket. And even in here, Sassy’s love of the whimsical and pretty in those favourite blues and pinks is apparent with ceramic roses hanging from wall hooks, carved alabaster eggs and a vintage bird cage.
In the hallway is a striking piece of art by artist Jameson Keane, in the form of a bright abstract painted cello case. Opposite that is a mirror framed by more of Sassy’s jewellery and a very intriguing painting of hers named Homunculus featuring circus characters inside glass bottles, inspired by the book Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. Next to that sits a portrait of the artist herself.
The main bedroom was shared by two daughters but with them both off to university, Sassy has moved her work desk in there. On top of a vintage bed sit some of Sassy’s own design humorous cushions (which she sells at Brighton market and other craft fairs around East Sussex).
Her work desk is a haven of order. She’s currently working on a series of miniature icons made from old sardine tins. The humble tins have become little things of beauty in her expert hands studded with pearls, shells and/or punky spikes. “It’s called the icon tin collection,” says Sassy before roaring with laughter and renaming it ‘the starving artist collection’.
“I feed my kids then I make art with the leftovers!”
Sassy’s own bedroom is smaller. As elsewhere the lack of storage means she’s had to make a virtue of displays and her collections of vintage dresses, shoes and belts line the walls.
It’s hard to imagine that this flat full of intrigue, wonder and joy was painted dark brown and green when she moved in. “I start with my pastel coloured base of soft blues, pale whites and pinks because those are the colours that make me happiest. Then I love letting my imagination run riot. It’s the same with my artwork. It’s a starting point for the viewer to expand and dream with.”
This unique space, with treasures galore, certainly is dreamlike in the way it makes the ordinary feel quite extraordinary indeed.
