In this post, I’m sharing how I source art for professional photo shoots, how that differs from sourcing art for your home, and why copyright is a total non-negotiable.
Art plays a huge role in how any space feels. Whether you’re styling a room for a photoshoot or living with it day to day, art is often the starting point. It can set the mood, introduce colour or pattern, and give a space its personality.
But sourcing art for shoots and sourcing art for your home are sooo not the same thing. There’s crossover, yes, but there are also some very important differences – especially when it comes to copyright.
First things first: copyright really matters
When you’re finding art for any kind of shoot – editorial, commercial, stills, film or TV – you must have permission from the copyright owner before you feature it.
That permission needs to be explicit. It’s not enough to own the artwork, borrow it, or buy it from a market. If the artwork is going to appear in photos or film that will be published, broadcast or used commercially, the copyright holder has to agree to that usage.
This is something I’m very careful about in my work, and it’s something I see people trip up on all the time.
I interviewed the Head of Operations at the UK Intellectual Property Office on The Inside Stylists podcast, all about copyright and creative usage. If you want a deeper understanding of how copyright works in real life (not just in theory), I highly recommend listening to that episode.
Once copyright is understood, sourcing art becomes a lot more fun and a lot less stressful.
Why I love starting with original art
I really love using original art in both shoots and homes. It’s such a great way to build a room’s design and a connection with like-minded artists.
Oftentimes, when styling or designing a space, I’ll start with the pattern. That might come from wallpaper, fabric or a rug. But often, art becomes the starting point. A painting can inspire the entire colour palette and feeling of a room. Introduce that and everything else just falls into place.
When I’m choosing art, I always opt for artists whose work I genuinely love. That’s sooo important. Clients don’t hire me to copy someone else’s style – they hire me for my eye, my styling, and my way of putting things together. So the art I choose needs to align with that.
Of course, it also has to fit the brief and the shoot – but those two things usually sit quite nicely alongside each other.
My first stop: the Inside Stylists Artist Directory
The very first place I look when sourcing art for shoots is the Inside Stylists Artist Directory.
This directory is made up of artists who are happy for their work to appear in editorial features, commercial shoots and professional photography. That alone makes it an incredibly valuable and easy to use resource.
The artists listed understand how the industry works, which removes a lot of friction. You’re not having to explain usage, permissions or credits from scratch – everyone is already on the same page.
I follow artists whose work I’m drawn to, and over time you start to see patterns in what you love: beautiful colour palettes, textural styles, subject matter. It becomes a visual reference library in its own right. Instagram is a dream artist-finding tool
For shoots, I’ll always take the next step and make sure permissions are in place. For home, it’s a lovely way to build relationships with artists and support their work directly.
When it has to be specific: prop houses
If I’m styling a shoot where everything needs to be a specigic look – and especially if it’s for a larger commercial job where credit can’t be given – I’ll often source art from prop houses.
Prop houses label artworks clearly, with stickers saying things like “cleared for stills” or “cleared for TV”. That means the copyright permissions have already been granted and you know it’s safe to be featured. That takes a lot of pressure off, and it’s one of the safest ways to source art for shoots where there’s no room for error. If in doubt check that a piece has copyright access when hiring. No sticker may mean no cover!
Antique markets, craft fairs, autions and boot sales – for the home
When it comes to sourcing art for my own home, I totally relax the “Interior Stylist’s” rules and let myself have some serious fun. The hardest part is getting my fave pieces past my husband – but that’s a story for another day!
I love antique markets like Ardingly Antique Fairs, craft fairs, auction houses and especially boot sales. You can find the most incredible oil paintings and watercolours this way – often from amateur artists, for very little money.
House clearance sellers are particularly brilliant at boot sales. They often have stacks of framed art that’s been sitting in a loft or spare room for decades. There’s something really special about bringing those pieces back into everyday life.
I always have an eye out for art at boot sales. Always.
Galleries and art fairs
Of course, there are the more obvious routes too: galleries and art fairs
Art fairs are a brilliant way to see a lot of work in one place and get a feel for what’s out there. In London alone, you’ve got fairs like the Decorative Art Fair and the Affordable Art Fair, and there are plenty more happening around the UK.
They’re well worth visiting if you want to immerse yourself in art, spot emerging artists, or invest in something more considered.
I’m also always drawn to the galleries when I’m on holiday. Last year I loved the many pieces on display at Porthleven, Cornwall. I brought some prints home and love how they remind me of our holiday.
Stylists are all artists at heart
Because of the copyright thing us interior stylists are very careful to only show art that is totally copyright approved. The easiest way to do that is to create it yourself. I’ve seen so many inventive ways stylists make art. Some use foliage in frames – ferns and monstera leaves are good for this, some paint up pieces of paper in the shoot’s colours and tear or cut them into shapes and layer them up in a frame (Matisse stylee, some are just naturally good artists and draw or paint canvases for shoots but you don’t have to have tons of skills – just time, patience and a little creativity.
So, where do I personally get the art in my own house?
To be totally honest – and I always am? A lot of the art in our house is made by us.
Both of my daughters studied art at A-level/Art School, and over the years our walls have quietly filled up with their work – alongside pieces I’ve made myself.
When we first moved into our home (18 years ago), I bought the biggest blank canvas I could get my hands on. I stuck a plastic dust sheet to the wall, so it draped on the floor and gave my then 3 and 18-month-old paints and told them to “go to town”. I’d leave the canvas to dry, and a few days later I’d turn it by 90 degrees and then they’d paint again. I kept doing that till the whole thing was covered. You can see spots of glitter in there – as all three year old girls are just drawn to the stuff. It now takes pride of place in our kitchen- as you can see in the first shot of this post.
Every single time my Poopah comes round, he says, “When are you going to enter that into The Summer Exhibition at The Royal Academy?” – every time – without fail. For me it’s a part of our family history.
On the other wall in the kitchen is a piece my daughter created during lockdown. It was a particularly hot summer and there was a trend for putting loads of different coloured paint into a bucket, piercing a hole underneath and suspending it over a canvas. You then swing it around and round so it makes circle patterns. Ours didn’t quite work like that. It just went splat, splat! The colours that landed were spectacular and very bumpy. We literally left the painting on the garden table in the sunshine so all the layers could dry. I love that piece.
For her A levels, my youngest daughter, Darcey had to paint a self portrait from a photo. She painted her face in loads of colours, took the shot, then recreated the look in paint on a canvas. All the bright colours of that coursework are perfect for our living room. Each evening, I sit and see her on the mantlepiece – even though she’s currently travelling in Thailand!
My last share is tucked away almost behind the TV, but for some reason, I have ended up with my sister’s GCSE Art coursework. It’s a speckled lino print of musical instruments, and it has sat on my console table for years. The glass from the frame broke ages ago, and I never got around to fixing it but the art still sits there.
I could go on but I think that’s enough for now. They’re all so personal, full of memories, and completely irreplaceable.
At the end of the day, that’s really what art does – it holds stories.
Whether it’s something carefully sourced for a shoot, hired from a prop house, bought from an artist you adore, or picked up for a fiver at a boot sale, art brings emotion into a space in a way very few other homewares can.
For shoots, it’s about respect. For copyright, for artists, and for the work itself. For homes, it’s about connection. What you love. What makes you pause. What still means something years later.
Some pieces will be perfect. Some will be a bit quirky. Some will never make sense to anyone else. And that’s exactly the point.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned after years of styling both spaces and shoots, it’s this: the best art isn’t always the most expensive or the most impressive. It’s the art that makes a space feel lived in, personal, and quietly yours.
And honestly? That’s the kind of art I’ll always choose.
