What came NEXT?

I first met Charlotte when she worked at NEXT in Peterborough in the mid-1990s.

Back then, Charlotte was a strong willed, determined individual who didn’t ‘suffer fools gladly’. To be clear, she did not have time for stupidity and false behaviour. She wanted truth and honesty. These were qualities that she displayed herself.

To be honest, it’s so long ago that my recollection of specific ‘happenings’ is sketchy, at best! I do know that we had quite a laugh working together at NEXT. Suffice to say that, like anyone who is lucky enough to have met Charlotte, I knew I had met a very special person.

I do remember one particular afternoon, when I popped over to Charlotte’s for a cuppa. We spent the afternoon talking about lots of things like friendship, aspirations for the future and………………art.

In talking about her passion for art, her experience of the art world and her desire to make art her life, Charlotte showed me that she was a talented young lady who knew exactly what she wanted from life. It was a great afternoon, at the end of which, I felt that I knew Charlotte a whole lot more than before.

Sadly, we lost touch very soon afterwards and it wasn’t until 2010 when we found each other on Facebook, through former colleagues at NEXT all becoming Facebook friends.

It was so lovely to see that Charlotte had achieved so much. A gloriously happy life, married, two beautiful children, living in a beautiful part of the world and……………………..a very talented and successful artist.

When you meet a soul like Charlotte, it’s hard to see a life bound by the limits that bind us all. Instead, you see something that is never ending.

Steve C

X

Dear Seb and Olivia,

Your mum is lovely!!  I met Charlotte when I first moved to Portishead almost one and a half years ago.  She was so friendly and warm to me and included me in everything from the outset.  I was worried about moving to Portishead and making new friends and Charlotte, together with Sarah, Jude, Ruth and Helen made it a really nice move for me.

Charlotte and Chris were going out to dinner at their neighbours one night and I came over to babysit.  This is the first time I’d seen your house and I was blown away by it (and very nervous about spilling something) but like Ruth said, Charlotte’s normal – no airs and graces.  Your dad made me laugh, he was worried that they didn’t have any wine to leave me and after searching every cupboard, he had his shoes on and was all ready to go off to the shops to buy me a bottle even though they were now late and as I pointed out, I didn’t want to be drunk in charge of children, that I had to actually command him to leave the house immediately and go to the dinner party.  Charlotte ended up opening the bottle they were taking to their neighbours and pouring me a glass (sorry neighbours) – she didn’t realise my fear of spilling something – everything’s white!!

After about an hour, I heard a little whimper at the top of the stairs and there were you Seb, all warm with bed hair sticking up – very cute! I asked you if you were ok but I don’t think you were actually awake and you put your arms out for me to pick you up.  Now Seb, you don’t know my girls very well yet but they are younger than you and much much smaller!! I managed to pick you up and you were so adorable and snuggly and I carried you back to bed and when I put you down, you straight away reached up and started twirling my hair round your fingers.  I let you play with my hair for a bit and then gave you a kiss and you drifted off.

When Charlotte came home, I told her you woke up and I had to put you back to bed and straight away she asked if you’d played with my hair and I asked her how she knew.  She said that is what you do to her all the time and in your sleepy state, you thought I was your mummy.  You have a lovely mummy Seb and Olivia who loves you both very very much.  By the way – I didn’t spill any red wine on the carpet!!

Another memory I wanted to share with you is of your dad.  He brought you two to Daisy’s party last year and you were both feeling a bit clingy that day.  I was struck at how patient and loving he was to you both and how he didn’t get cross.  Olivia, I think he carried you for the whole party and Seb, you were hanging off the other arm.  I tried to distract you Seb but you weren’t in the mood (I told you a very funny story actually and you didn’t even laugh!).  I’m not that patient and would have got cross with Innis and Merrin for hanging off me the whole time but your dad just did his best and tried to make sure you had fun.

Sami xxxxxxxxx

When I was little, ‘Charlotte’s Web’ was one of my favourite books, so when I first met your Mum, I was ready to like her, too.

We met through work, when Charlotte was running the Artlounge Gallery in Birmingham. She was wonderfully supportive and sold lots of my pictures which helped me to make my own career dreams come true. As if that wasn’t enough, she turned out to be an AMAZING person and artist, too. And beautiful.

Your Mum’s smile is so big, you can hear it down the ‘phone. Her warmth, intelligence and kindness are well matched by her sense of fun. She’s a best friend kind of person, not just a work person. I really LIKE your Mum. Your Mum is intelligent and thoughtful enough to tell it straight without being mean. Not everyone can do that. When I think of her, I think ‘friend’ and friends live in your heart always xxx

Finding Charlotte

We meet our artists in many ways but finding Charlotte was perhaps the most unexpected since we met her through my brother in law who has very little interest in art. Nevertheless it was James who said oh my friend’s wife is an artist – a phrase we often hear – and to be honest, it was with a slightly sinking feeling that I followed the link to Charlotte Latham’s work. What we found though was work that was fresh, interesting and definitely a hit with us.

When we finally met Charlotte it was a delight – she loves her work and enjoys talking about it. She’s kind and generous and an inspiration to other artists. She enjoys experimenting and we were amazed and delighted that, unlike some artists, she enjoys working in different mediums, producing works which are very different rather than staying with one style. Her City series in oils were so different  from the Waterbuds series we had seen but still inspiring.

Later on Charlotte introduced us to Andy, another artist,  and we have done both their work ever since, taking Charlotte’s work around the  country to London,  Bristol, Edinburgh and Newcastle. It always attracts attention. For us as a gallery, Charlotte is easy to work with and listens to what we say and always keeps in touch. It says a lot that, when she said she was pregnant for the first time, while we were thrilled for her,  we were  slightly disappointed  as it would obviously impact on the time she would spend painting!  In fact being pregnant was a very creative time for Charlotte when she really wanted to experiment and create.

Artists are imagined to be tortured souls but Charlotte works best when she is happy and content and that shines through in her paintings and inspires the people who admire and love her work.

Some people choose to make a name for themselves. With her paintings, Charlotte  chooses to make the  world a more beautiful place, that is a rare and special gift.

With love
Bill and Deb
Bridgegate Gallery

Hilary Middup has set up a group on Facebook called ‘Charly’s Angels’.

She says, “it’s for the charity 5K ‘race for life’ run in Birmingham in July for Cancer research. I’m running the race anyway but just wanted to extend the invitation to anyone who fancied running together – maybe in Charly design inspired t-shirts!
Maybe if friends are running the same race in Bristol the group could be called ‘Charly’s Angels’ too? Let’s see how the idea evolves!

If anyone would like to get in touch with Hilary regarding ‘Charly’s Angels’ please either leave a comment or to pass on personal details you could email lucie@celebratecharlotte.co.uk and I will pass them on.

A memory from Lucie of a fun afternoon.

Like so many other artists, I owe Charli a lot, she got me to look at my work and reasses it, she got me to work on my stone carving again, which was my first passion, little did she know, I carved a piece influenced by her, the piece was titled – She Moves, she never really knew she influenced the piece. She got me to look at my sensitive side and helped make a dream come true, I actually got to show the world my poetry, I am dyslexic and have always found it hard to come to terms with it, but Charli helped me overcome my embarrassment , she always helped me fill in the stupid forms when ever I was dropping work off at the gallery. We over time became friends, may I say that I always knew where I stood with Charli, there is a look she gives if she disproves of a piece of work. We became friends and she came to share a studio at the barns where I had my studio, but it was always me making the drinks. I can’t remember if she knew how to work a kettle lol. She asked me to show her stone carving, if I’m honest I was a bit apprehensive as she would find out my secrets, but anyway she grabbed the chisel and began, she is a natural 3D person, she should of been a sculptor, although her paintings ain’t to bad lol. She ran the art lounge and boy was she good at it, I used to crap myself when bringing new work incase I got the look lol .
Once she gets over what’s going on, I’m posting her a hammer and chisel and she can carve down there and won’t be any competition up here. I don’t say this lightly, I have met a load of people in life, but Charli is a league on her own, distance means nothing, she is still a real friend, after all She Moves. Rob x

‘She Moves’ by Rob Bowers

A Norwegian Christmas…

Such a beautiful day at Charlotte’s favourite place, Saunton Sands. We had a nice long walk on the beach, yummy lunch and great fun rolling down the sand dunes. Charlotte was out with her brand spanking new red Hunters…. very proud. My daughter Sophie loves Charlotte and this day will always be a very special reminder of what an amazing loving person she is.

Dear Seb and Olivia,

Whenever I picture your mum it’s in the sunshine. Ok, there is one memory of wild, bucketing, torrential rain – last year’s camping trip in Berrynarbor – but mostly, I remember sunny days. I see her padding across the tiles to the patio doors in bare feet or in funky flip flops and something loose and summery. She looks gorgeous of course with her blue eyes and kind smile and her hair all swept back casually in a clip. I follow her out into the garden and she’s pouring squash into beakers on the garden table and watching you tear around the garden, hiding things behind plantpots or jumping in the sandpit. Once we even went outside to find you Sebby and Jamie crawling along the scarily high boundary wall. And when your mum realised she couldn’t deter you, she grinned and let you get on with it even though it almost gave her heart failure. She drew the line at letting you join in though Olivia!

Your mum was the first person I met in Portishead and that too was a warm, sunny day, even though it was winter. Late January or early February 2011, I think. You were 2 going on 3 Seb and Olivia you were just under a year.
The Lakehouse Nursery had just opened and Seb, you and Mabel were among its first customers!
As I didn’t know anyone in the town, my friends in Bristol had arranged a sort of blind playdate for me with a mum who had recently moved to the Village Quarter from the same part of Bristol.
That day I picked Mabel up from the Lakehouse and was just letting her play for a few minutes in the nursery garden when I heard a friendly voice behind me and turned to see your mum. I think she’d heard me say “Mabel” and said Sebby had mentioned a little girl of that name.
We got chatting and within about 3 minutes we’d arranged to meet up at the gym academy a couple of days later where there was a free play session for little ones. (That’s where we met Jude for the first time!)
How does your mum do that? Although I’m quite confident and sociable I’m terribly disorganised and wary of rejection so rarely if ever instigate social get-togethers. Charlotte on the other hand is an amazing social organiser. She’ll scoff at this, but over the years, she has been the one who’s got us down the pub, who’s had us over for girly nights, who’s suggested most of the day trips, who got us mums walking to Clevedon and back, who’s organised your Halloween parties and got us camping in Berrynarbor last summer, and doing a first aid course.
When I say ‘us’ I really mean the Tuesday Club, which is to say Charlotte, Jude, Helen, Sarah, me and occasionally Sami. As none of us, except Sarah and Sami, had jobs to speak of, we started meeting up on a Tuesday afternoon for fun and chaos.
But I’m jumping ahead. So that day I first met your mum, I told her I couldn’t talk for long because I had to dash off to the Village Quarter to meet a local mum my friends had set me up with. When I finally arrived puffing and panting at this mum’s house in Wren Gardens, she made me a cup of tea and told me she had a friend who’s son went to the Lakehouse too. “Oh who’s that?” I asked. “She’s called Charlotte,” she said. “She’s got a little boy there called Seb and a baby girl called Olivia the same age as my little one. When I came to live in Portishead, she was the first person I met who made me think, ‘ok yes, I can stay here and stay sane. Everything will be all right.’”
That mum was Jenny, Billy and Daisy’s mum, and I knew exactly what she meant. I’d been nervous about moving from the city to a town, worried that the people would be insular and tediously concerned with the size of their houses and the brand of their cars. Funnily enough, your mum had the house and the car, but she isn’t like that. She knows all that stuff is icing sugar, not the actual cake.
Jenny too had only recently arrived in Portishead, and it’s just typical that of all the people she could have met and bonded with it was your mum. Charlotte is just like that. She steps forward and says hello. She reaches out and engages. I think that’s why she is a successful artist.

Sebby, your friendship with Mabel was cemented a couple of days later over the Buzz Lightyear watches that came free with a magazine Charlotte and I just happened to have bought you both.
You were always trying to arrange to wear these watches to nursery on the same day, but I can’t remember if you ever really did get in synch. It wasn’t just Buzz Lightyear watches you had in common. You both sucked your thumbs and twiddled your hair in exactly the same absent-minded way. Mabel fell head over heels in love with you Olivia. Literally. She was always hugging you until you fell over. I had to tell her off several times for jumping up on you from behind and giving you throat hugs. Your mum was very tolerant.

I will always picture your mum sitting on a blanket in the sunshine on the grass above Battery Point. I think we had a picnic that day while you scooted and gallivanted around us. Then we all went down into the shade of a huge tree near the swimming pool and you played underneath. Everything was an adventure; your mum has always tried to bring magic and adventure into your lives – like swimming in the rain at the outdoor pool and taking you on a gorilla hunt.
I will never forget your 3rd birthday party Seb, the Octonauts party. Your mum spent ages planning it – your Captain Barnacles costume, the bouncy castle, TWO cakes with sparkler candles; she even set you a treasure hunt with a real treasure chest. It was amazing and, of course, it was a sunny day. Your mum looked absolutely beautiful in a retro orange shift dress.
In those days, you and your friends were obsessed with the Octonauts show on CBeebies. We all were actually. Charlotte loved it too, even though it recounted the extremely unlikely adventures of a polar bear, penguin, a pirate cat, a dog, a rabbit, an octopus, an otter (what the heck was Shellington??) and some weird blobs called the Vegimals who lived in an underwater spaceship.
If, at one of our Tuesday afternoon sessions, all you kids were overdoing it with the tears or tantrums Charlotte would nip it in the bud by sounding the Octoalert. “Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!” she’d shout. “Octonauts! To the launch bay!” And you’d all come running. Then she’d set you a challenge. “Octonauts,” she’d say. “We’re in deep trouble. We’ve lost our dollies in the ocean.  Take the Gup A and go and find those dollies. Quick, quick quick. Whooop! Whoop! Whooop!” And off you’d run to the playroom to track down the missing dolls, or find five red objects or four modes of transport of what have you.
And that would give her just enough time to plate up the shepherd’s pie and make a jug of squash.

What I love about your mum is that she is just a little bit bonkers. And as I am too, it has been quite a relief to find her.
Didn’t your mum go on a course once to learn how to be a clown? I’ve seen the picture and I’m not surprised.
Take, for example, the day when I was hosting the Tuesday Club and Jamie wouldn’t eat his tea. His poor mum Helen had tried to coax and cajole him with bits of butternut squash, peas and pasta. She’d tried disappearing into the kitchen and leaving him to it. But he was having none of it. No way was he eating that food.
Then Charlotte tried a bit of reverse psychology. She said something like “I hope Jamie doesn’t eat any of his peas because it makes me go all wobbly and I end up falling over. You won’t eat them will you Jamie? Please don’t.”
Well, of course Jamie immediately popped a pea in his mouth. Your mum went crazy, shrieking and flailing her arms about. The next moment she was lying on the floor with her feet in the air.
All the kids burst out laughing. George was particularly tickled I seem to remember, and his laugh was so loud and so infectious that it set us all off.
Charlotte tutted. “Jamie, promise me you won’t do that again,” she said, getting up and dusting herself off. “No more peas, please!” To which Jamie flashed a huge grin and shovelled a spoonful of peas into his mouth. Your mum howled with alarm and was soon back on the floor shaking her legs in the air.
I was doubled over with laughter. The kids couldn’t get enough of it. I think your mum rolled around on that floor a good five times. “Not butternut squash Jamie. Noooooooo!” Jamie cleaned his plate. Mission accomplished. Captain Barnacles would have been proud of your mum.

You must be very proud of your mum’s art. I am totally in awe of anyone who can make a living from a blank canvas.
I loved going to the Affordable Art Fair at Temple Meads with her, and doing the North Somerset Art Trail. That was how we ended up taking you to Anchorage, the house with the dragon in the garden. Charlotte and I got talking to the bloke there. We asked him about the dragon and he said it was a prop from a children’s TV drama he had directed. Wow! It was only the bloomin prow of the Dawntreader wasn’t it? From the Chronicles of Narnia on the BBC. I’m sure you will read these amazing stories one day if you haven’t already. We asked him if he was still directing now and he said he was semi-retired but had recently directed 40 episodes of a CBeebies programme. “Ooh! Which one?” asked Charlotte.  In the Night Garden, he said. Charlotte and I gave a little squeal of delight. “In the Night Garden!!! Our kids LOVE that programme! It’s their favourite show.” we both shrieked. What we should have said was “It used to be their favourite show, like, a year ago when they were still dribbling and wiping their noses on the sofa, but now they’ve moved onto the Octonauts.” But it was too late.
The director dude looked pleased and asked you which of the In the Night Garden characters were your favourite. We looked at you eagerly, willing you to say Makka Packa or Iggle Piggle.
What did you say? Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse and Postman Pat, I believe. Ha ha! We were mortified…. for about five seconds.
Incidentally, I think it was there that your mum bought a ceramic circular fish that lived in your downstairs toilet for a while.

Charlotte told me that her A-level art teacher marked her down when she came home from Palm Springs because he considered her work ‘too commercial’. What an idiot. People love her budfields and oils and are willing to pay for them. But too commercial? Nothing could be further from the truth. Your mum was approached by the publishers Washington Green to turn some of her pieces into limited edition – but mass market – prints. She turned them down. One day, while I was washing up, she told me she’d been approached by a textile manufacturer who invited her to make a range of haberdashery prints for major major retailers like John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, Laura Ashley, Wilkinson and the Range. (I might have got some of those wrong but you get the picture.)
She was granted free reign to do any design she liked and was even allowed to use a pseudonym if she was worried about it having a negative impact on the Charlotte Latham name.
She turned it down because, in her heart, it was not what she wanted to do. She had never set out to be a textile designer and didn’t want to waste her time doing something she didn’t feel strongly about, especially when it was time she could be spending with you two.
I thought she was absolutely nuts. I was thinking of the money and the kudos and kept raving about what an amazing opportunity it was. But she just said she was blessed, because of your Dad’s job, that she didn’t have to make those kind of economic decisions. Too commercial? Yeah, right.
I think your mum has always known that she is blessed to have the comfortable lifestyle that she has enjoyed in Portishead. She doesn’t just give stuff to charity; she gives a bit of herself. She gets excited about it.
She didn’t have an easy time growing up, and appreciates what she and your Dad have built together, both emotionally and financially. It’s one of the most endearing things about her. I remember her driving me home one night (where from? Dirty Dancing at the Hippodrome I think) and she told me how lucky she was to have met your dad, her soulmate. All mums whinge to each other about their husbands, but your mum hardly ever did. The only criticism I can remember her making of your dad is a sort of affectionate exasperation with his love of  80s pop. ;o)

She is a very generous and genuine person, always there with a hug and a cup of tea and a listening ear and an offer to babysit…or a bit of a kick up the backside. She has always encouraged me, especially in anything creative, and I’ve absorbed her energy and gone with it. Last year I was planning to write an article for the Daily Mail, but it all started to go pear-shaped and I was on the brink of scrapping the whole thing. Charlotte told me to go for it otherwise I’d never forgive myself. So I did. I was brimming with pride when I sent her the press cutting a few weeks later.
And your mum is so, so proud of you both. You and your dad mean everything to her. I remember her gasps of encouragement and delight when you were learning to walk and talk Olivia. How we laughed at the wonderful and clever things you came out with. And at how you and George stubbornly toilet-trained yourselves a good year before your elder siblings had been out of nappies (Sorry to embarrass you but hey, it’s impressive.) And how strong and capable and independent you have been from such an early age Olivia.
And Sebby, when you conjure up jetpacks, Tree Fu Tom belts and light sabres out of cardboard boxes, a bit of foil and some sticky tape, your mum laughs and rolls her eyes but she is deliriously delighted by them. And I wish you had seen her face when you got on your bike and went flying down the squiggly path at lightning speed only a couple of days after the stabilisers came off.
You are both amazing people and a credit to your mum and dad – taking after them in so many ways but also taking off on your own wonderful, exciting journeys. Come and find me anytime if you ever want to talk.
All my love,
Ruth xxx