There’s something equally inspiring and distressing about meeting someone who is young, talented and doing what they love. Charlotte Thomson is a Nottingham based illustrator and gallery coordinator at View from the Top gallery, which is where her Burlesque themed exhibition ‘Femme Fatale’ took place. She’s produced promo designs for Nottingham’s very own Pitty Patt Club Burlesque night and even for Las Vegas’ premier Burlesque pageant ‘Exotic World’. ‘Femme Fatale’ was Charlotte’s first major solo show and the walls of the VIEW from the Top gallery were adorned with a collection of her sultry figurative studies of 1940s and ‘50s inspired pin-up dames and divas.

What do you think the enduring appeal of the femme fatale is?
It’s the glamour. It appeals to both men and women. That’s one of the main things. People probably assume most of my clients are men, but they aren’t – they’re women. Even if it’s a couple it’s usually the woman who say ‘Can we buy this darling?’ It’s women who love the glamour, they love the fashion, they love the clothing, and they love the make up. They just love that glamorous, empowered female image. It’s sexy, but it’s not a submissive image, and it’s not the kind of imagery you’d get in a lot of men’s magazines. People just like that sultry female image don’t they, and woman see it in themselves as well.

What drew you to the Burlesque theme?
I’ve always been interested in that 1940s and ‘50s sort of culture. And I kind of fell into the Burlesque art in a way because it just happened to really crossover with what I already liked. Some Burlesque performers saw my work and commissioned pieces for themselves. So I kind of got drawn more and more into the Burlesque scene and realised that it actually covered all the areas that I’m already interested in. I was like ‘Wow this is amazing, I love this!’ I’ve always had a passion for it in a bizarre way.

Has there been a boom in Burlesque’s popularity?
Definitely! A definite revival. It’s been going on in the US for quite a long time and the revival has already happened, is expanding and is finally catching on in the UK with more and more clubs opening. Nottingham’s catching on too. I think there’s two club nights going now. I was lucky enough to get involved with the Pitty Patt Club, which is like the main night that’s on in Nottingham.

What particular artists have influenced your work?
The pin up artists of the time, like Gil Elvgren and Alberto Vargas doing the classic pin up girls in the magazines. I also love looking at older artists and looking at the Burlesque art. People like Toulouse Lautrec who were doing more commercial poster art of that time. Edgar Degas who did all the ballerinas really inspires me because it’s so theatrical. Lowbrow artists too, like Vince Ray who does a lot of tattoo and more commercial illustration. And this is really sad, but one of my biggest influences was Bruce Timm of the Batman Animated cartoon. Big Batman fan. When I was around 13, 14 and I was finding my feet on the things I liked to draw, he was a big influence on me.

Do you tend to use models or photo reference in your work?
I don’t very often use life models. It’ll either be photo reference or the more whimsical stuff will be from my head. I’m doing a series of paintings that are going to go into an exhibition in Derby, hopefully, in October. The idea is ‘behind the scenes’ so it’s people getting ready to go on stage. I did a call out for Burlesque performers to send me backstage photos so I’ve got lots of backstage photos of them putting on wigs, which is really nice. That’s going to be slightly more realistic work and a bit of a departure, but for the most part it’s either photo references or imagination.

You work in mixed media and with paints, inks and pencil, which medium do you prefer to work in?
I love pen and ink. I really love the effects you can get with that. That would have to be one of my favourite mediums, but I do enjoy acrylics. And a lot of my stuff is mixed media, like in the big paintings there is glitter and sequins in the background. So it gives you more freedom. But working with pen and ink can be really difficult, because if you make one mistake it’s messed up. I do love the challenge of working with it.

How long does it take you to complete one of your larger paintings?
I work incredibly quickly. I have a pathetically short attention span and get distracted very easily. If it takes me longer than a month I probably won’t get back to it. For the most part things will take me about a week. With the smaller illustrations and things it’ll probably be the space of two days but spread out over a longer period of time so I won’t be working on it constantly.


Do you have a few pieces going on at once?
Yeah, all the time.  I’m doing commission work pretty much constantly I have to have about 2, 3 or more things going on at the same time. And I’m working towards three exhibitions coming up - two in October, one in November.

Have you ever turned down any commissions, ones that have been a bit bizarre?
I’ve had one where they were pretty much asking for something that I don’t tend to do. They were very much focussed on wanting something, which wasn’t necessarily pornographic, but more explicit than what I produce. I’m not a prude, but I do draw the line at something I can show my Gran. And my Gran’s quite open minded. I didn’t turn them down as such. I just said ‘Please take a look at my work and see what I do.’ People come to you without looking at your work sometimes. Obviously they want their own ideas and that’s fine. I’ll always take on board other peoples concepts and I’m open to anything really. But if people are after you doing something more pornographic than you normally would, you do draw a line there. My work just isn’t like that. I like to have a certain amount of taste and dignity for my ladies in my work.

How long have you been exhibiting your work for?
The first time was probably when I was doing it on a semi-professional level in 2002, but just on a very small scale. This is my first major solo show in a proper gallery space. January this year was probably my first show that I curated and put together, which was a group show that I also showed in. And also in March, ‘Oh La La!’ the Burlesque inspired arts show with me and Natalie Watts was the biggest thing we’d put together. From the beginning of this year I’ve really started pushing exhibitions and going for bigger and better.

Did it take long to let people look at your work, or were you always eager to have your it on show?
Half and half. Even when you’re desperate to get it up on the wall, you can see every flaw in it and hope that no one else can. You do have that self doubt. But at the same time it’s really nice to see your work up on the wall and show it off to people. When it’s quite personal work like this the criticism hurts more because it’s all the stuff that I love brought together on canvas or on paper. It’s nice to get praise, but obviously some people won’t like it so you do feel like you’re putting yourself on show a little bit when you put it up on the wall. But it’s gotta be done.

Next up for Charlotte at VIEW from the Top gallery is ‘Danse Macabre’. From October 30th to November 5th the gothic themed exhibition will feature the work of 15 artists. ‘Femme Fatale’ exhibition was at VIEW from the Top, June 19th – 25th 2007

www.charlottethomson.co.uk