MY LIFE, MY STYLE
The artist Quentin Jones’ north-London home epitomises her playful aesthetic
At home in London with Quentin Jones
Ominous dark clouds are gathering in the sky when I arrive at Quentin Jones’ house, tucked down a quiet street in Kentish Town, but as soon as she welcomes me through the door, the mood brightens. Inside the early-Victorian terrace, white-washed walls are the perfect canvas for a rich and characterful collection of artworks. Most are her own surrealist collages, which combine photography and painting, while some, including an inky life drawing by her friend, the painter Vanessa Garwood, were acquired as wedding presents.
Above Quentin’s bed is a striking portrait of her three-year-old son Grey, which she gave her husband George Northcott, a tech entrepreneur, for his 30th birthday. The couple have a second child, Cassius, who is the latest addition to a close-knit family; Quentin is the daughter of the architects Edward and Margot Jones and sister to Jemima, the
co-founder of the catering business Tart London, who all live nearby in Primrose Hill. ‘This actually belonged to my parents,’ she says as we sit down at the Alvar Aalto table in her dining-room, surrounded by quirky props from her video shoots. ‘If you look closely, it’s got an interesting collection of doodles on it from when Jemima and I were kids and used to sit under the table and draw.’ Born in Toronto, she remembers her Canadian childhood with fondness. ‘Back then it was the kind of neighbourhood where you could leave your door unlocked,’ she says. ‘I had a yellow school bus that would pick me up every day and the candy was all Fruit Roll-Ups, jelly beans and Popsicles.’ After her father’s firm was commissioned to modernise the Royal Opera House, the family moved back to the UK, where, at 15, Quentin was scouted as a model. Despite forging a successful career in front of the camera, she went on to study philosophy at Cambridge University: ‘I was very lucky because modelling helped me pay off all my student loans and meant that I built a good
‘I enjoy getting dressed-up, but in the day, I tend to be quite tomboyish and usually wear jeans’
network within the fashion industry.’
Her big break came in 2010, shortly after she graduated with an MA in illustration from Central Saint Martins, when a tipsy latenight conversation with her flatmate sparked an idea to make an online video inspired by a line of Chanel nail polishes. Featuring dancing hands and enchanting collages, the resulting stopmotion film caught the eye of Chanel’s directors, who commissioned her to make more. In the years that followed, her distinctive multimedia approach – layering photography with illustrations and cutout images – was used in campaigns for other luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton and Victoria Beckham. ‘I like the challenge of working with a product that’s got such a welldefined image, and figuring out how to interpret it,’ she says. ‘It’s more engaging as an artist to work like that.’
Quentin clearly loves fashion as much as it loves her and has turned one of the upstairs bedrooms into a dressingroom. ‘I have a split personality when it comes to clothes,’ she says. ‘At night I really go for it, because I enjoy getting dressedup, but in the day, particularly with what I do, and with being a mother, I tend to be quite tomboyish and usually wear jeans and a Tshirt.’ As a result, her wardrobe is a highlow mix of Birkenstocks and Balenciaga jeans, Saint Laurent blazers and flat boots, APC tops, Gucci handbags, Reformation dresses and pieces by Valentino and Dries Van Noten. Also on the rails is a white silk slip that she wore to get married in Venice almost three years ago. ‘I didn’t want to be that person who gets a wedding dress and can’t ever wear it again,’ she says. ‘I had this made a bit shorter and I take it on every holiday.’
Her keen eye for design also led to her homeware collection in collaboration with Habitat earlier this year, with several items, including a geometricprinted rug and cushions with embroidered eye motifs, now furnishing the couple’s home. ‘I also love it when people repurpose things,’ she says. ‘Our bathroom mirror is actually an old window frame that I found at the Architectural Forum – a cool old antiques
place on the Essex Road.’ It’s joined by a claw-foot bath, a marble cabinet top that was cut to order, and optical floor tiles she designed herself when she couldn’t find ones she liked.
Downstairs, a rectangular panelled coffee-table picked up on holiday in Marrakesh takes pride of place in the sittingroom, alongside carved wooden antiques from Paris fleamarkets and several giant potted plants. ‘Ebay is also great for antiques if you know what you’re searching for,’ she says, pointing to a pair of leather chairs from Aram and an IC Floor 1 light by Michael Anastassiades. But the most eye-catching piece is a neon artwork that was another birthday gift from Quentin to her husband. Written in her own hand, it reads ‘Disney Prince’ – ‘That’s what my friends and I nicknamed George when we first met,’ she says. And looking around her vibrant home today, it’s clear that Quentin’s fairy-tale ending really has come true…