Lottie Cole is a contemporary British painter based in Sussex, celebrated for her richly coloured, meticulously constructed interior landscapes. Recently named an "Artist to Watch in 2026" by Seen Art, Cole currently serves as the Vice President of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS). Her oil, watercolour, and gouache paintings frequently navigate the boundary between cosy domesticity and psychological tension, examining how the spaces we inhabit reflect our personal histories, class, and identity.
Cole trained at Wimbledon Art School, Foundation Course, followed by a degree in Art History at St Andrew's University. This academic foundation greatly influences her approach to painting in that she treats spaces as texts packed with visual allusions waiting to be decoded by the viewer.
Cole's interiors are famously uninhabited, yet they resonate deeply with human emotion. The presence of previous occupants is felt through the careful arrangement of everyday objects, from books to mantlepiece trinkets.
Her paintings draw direct inspiration from architectural history, poetry, and prose. Notable muses include the Bloomsbury Group (and their iconic Charleston Farmhouse), Eileen Gray, Vanessa Bell, and writers like T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats, and Elizabeth Bowen.