The living room/chill zone/guest room/TV room
I got the magnum of Black Pig (worth £40) free from the most excellent Naked Wines, with my last delivery. I’m saving it for my housewarming!
I’ve now been living in my new, rented flat in Margate for exactly a month, and it’s all working-out beautifully, largely thanks to my wonderful Chilean friend Tito (who’s also a great artist), without whom it couldn’t possibly have come together like it has.
He’s helped me on so many levels, and I’m truly grateful.
My new home is now looking and feeling really fantastic. It’s really shaping-up to be my best home ever, especially because of its funky, sunny outside space (which is already starting to become quite magical) and its fantastic location just a few hundred yards from the seafront and the beautiful old town. Also, it would appear that I can make as much noise as I like - as my studio is in the basement, next to the spacious kitchen/diner, with my bedroom and living room above.
My niece Tashan just sent me a WhatsApp message saying that she’d seen my new pics of the flat on IG, or maybe it was FB, and asking how I was liking Margate.
I repled: ‘Loving it! It's like being on a permanent holiday. The sea air is wonderful for my COPD and the flat is now ready to welcome visitors and guests. The local junk and antique/vintage shops and a huge market are amazing, and there are so many cool bars, restaurants and pubs. I've been invited to my first private view at the Carl Freedman gallery on Saturday. Might get to meet Dame Tracy Emin and the guys who are responsible for the hugely successful TalkArt podcast, married couple Robert Diament and Russell Tovey.
And the skies and the sunsets - wow!
My lovely late mum Audrey had these curtains made for the dining room at her former home in Bath, where I lived as her carer from September 2019 (after 46 eventful years in London) until she passed away peacefully, aged 95, in 2023. Her beautiful house on the canal has recently been sold, so I had to find my new home pretty sharpish. Everything eventually fell into place at the last minute, which, I have to say, with rueful hindsight, was somewhat stressful!
The chair is a repro of Ray And Charles Eames’ Eiffel Chair from 1955.
The studio leads onto the back yard.
I’ll take some more pics when the wildflower seeds that I’ve planted start to bloom. The first jasmine is already flowering and a honeysuckle is happily climbing up the red-painted wall.
My bedroom is feeling very comfortable and relaxing, and I have say the sea air, makes me sleep very well. My painting above the bed is also a Steve Swindells’ song, from the late eighties called (can you work it out?) ‘Love Has Many Levels’ from ‘Woke Up This Morning’, my new compilation album of home recordings from over several decades.
As you can see, it’s available to stream or download, along with three other albums, on steveswindells.bandcamp.com, complete with lyrics, original artworks, sleeve notes and credits, unlike all my other other albums and singles on Spotify and all the other streaming platforms.
The above is digital artwork I created yesterday called ‘Pronouns’. I created it using the Fused app on my iPhone. It’s a mashup of a photo I took (in the gents toilet in my fave bar The Grapes in Bath) and an iPhonephingerpainting I created a couple of months ago in Bath.
A typically Turner-esque sky on a beautiful, spring evening. Taken from inside my new home-from-home bar, Little Swift. Their spicy Bloody Mary’s are totally epic!
This is going to be my new single, on Spotify and all streaming platforms. ‘Never Let That Moment Go’.
I’d really appreciate it if you would subscribe to my Substack, or at least send me a prezzie on Paypal!
© Steve Swindells. 2025. All rights reserved.
'Never Let That Moment Go' (featuring my younger brother Frank on guitars) will be released on all streaming platforms on, or soon after, May 23rd.