Life & Style
Christmas With SJ Axelby
With a long line of artists in her family, and antique dealers for parents, it’s perhaps no surprise that watercolourist SJ Axelby merged these influences to paint interior portraits. Here she shares the festive traditions celebrated inside her own home…
Christmas cooking…
A house filled with guests will mark the day, starting with neighbours for fizz at 11am. Late lunch, then the King’s speech with family and in-laws. Everything will be ship-shape and prepped beforehand so I can enjoy the day too. Yorkshire puddings feature in all roasts at this time of year. They are compulsory!
Decorating the table…
My friends call me Mrs Christmas because I cannot get enough of the festive season. I love decorating the table – and the whole house too. Lots of freshly foraged foliage will feature and I love to dress shelves and the table, creating a runner of flowers and berries. My addition this year will be a carousel of tea lights from Willow Crossley, which is so charming and nostalgic.
I’ll be listening to…
I always have Carols from King’s College on repeat. My friend Nikki gave me the CD and it sits in the player all year, waiting for the festive season!
I’ll be watching…
I love to cosy up with an Atlantic blanket, light the fire and enjoy any cheesy Christmas film that’s on. If I had to choose one, it would be Miracle on 34th Street.
I’ll be wearing…
Cosy cashmere. My favourites are the oversize rollnecks from Arket and the classic crews from Uniqlo. I’ll definitely don my new pink and red, rickrack-trimmed Gabriella dress by Stoned & Waisted, who do made-to-measure designs and are based in the UK.
My festive tradition…
I can’t give you just one as I have so many: planting muscari and paperwhites in bowls and vases; covering matchboxes with wallpaper to give as gifts for lighting candles and fires. I have a bowl of them by the door so that everyone who visits the house leaves with a box. We pick out tree from a delightful arboretum just down the road in Pednor. You walk around the field, choose the tree you want in September and then come back in December to collect it ready-cut. They have usually grown an extra foot by the time you collect; ours is always at least 15ft and the most beautiful blue fir. I make two Christmas cakes – one to share at home, and one for guests to take a hunk home with them. Mimosas for breakfast, always. And a Christmas walk with Bon Bon our Bordoodle (a border collie x poodle). I hang little framed photos of all the people that aren’t with us anymore on the tree. My Dad features right at the top!
My Christmas holiday treat…
My husband always treats me to a box of rose and violet creams from Fortnum & Mason, and this year I’ve got my eye on a Dennis Severs’ House advent calendar.
My Christmas smells like…
Eucalyptus, pine, and whiskey (Father Christmas likes this!) and there’s always a Diptyque Baies candle on the go.
How I’ll give back…
I usually give a percentage of sales to a homeless charity as part of the Room For A Room campaign I set up for @roomportraitclub. This year I’ve donated work to be auctioned off for the Art for Charity Collective and also TP Caring Spaces. I also bought one of the delightful Charlie Mackesy soft toy moles to give to someone who’ll really enjoy it. My children would have loved it when they were little..
SJ's Christmas Wishlist
