Thyme on a Chipped Cup

Born in London in 1952, Chloe Cheese is an artist and printmaker whose early life was shaped by the creative community of Great Bardfield, Essex, where she grew up observing the printmaking practices of her parents, Bernard Cheese and Sheila Robinson, and their friends Edward Bawden and Michael Rothenstein. Both her parents had recently completed work on the murals for the Festival of Britain at the time of her birth.

Chloe studied at Cambridge Art School before attending the Royal College of Art in London (1973–1976). She has lived and worked in London ever since.

Her early career was rooted in illustration, with work regularly appearing in The Sunday Times Colour Supplement and commissions for Habitat via Terence Conran. She has worked internationally, and illustration remains an important part of her practice, though her focus in recent years has shifted to printmaking and drawing. Chloe now creates editions of etchings at the Thames-Side Print Studio in London and produces monoprints at home. She is an elected member of the Royal Watercolour Society and frequently contributes to their group exhibitions.

Chloe has exhibited widely, with many solo shows in London and Japan. More recently, her work has featured in mixed exhibitions, particularly at The Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden, Essex, which holds an important collection of work by the Great Bardfield artists. Her own work is represented in the collection, reflecting her childhood ties to the village and its enduring influence on her creative life.

In 2023, Chloe co-curated an exhibition and contributed to a book about her mother, Sheila Robinson: Balance, Humanity and Nature, published by St Jude’s. The publication features writing by her daughter, Florence Shaw, and includes some of Chloe’s own images. She has been instrumental in helping to bring renewed attention to her mother’s work, including the reissue of Sheila’s Monkey and Birds wallpaper by Simon and Angie Lewin of St Jude’s.

Selected commissions include a lithograph of The Vote Office for the House of Commons; illustrations for A Passion for Pasta by Antonio Carluccio; and Walking the Bridge of Your Nose, a collection of poems for children chosen by Michael Rosen.

Her work is held in public collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum; the Arts Council of Great Britain; the House of Commons; Tate Britain (Print Collection); and the Museum of London.