In the Frame: Bella Roberts explores her personal connection to art
The filmmaker and content creator grabs her headphones and heads out for a day of inspiration with her National Art Pass.
Filmmaker Bella Roberts aka @bella_does_editing answers five questions about the art she loves in this episode of In the Frame.
Bella joins us at the Photographers' Gallery to share why she'd like to step into the life of Van Gogh, a painting that means a lot to her, and how to find the perfect tune for your gallery visit.
Plus, she explains why spending time with photography is a great way to reflect, unwind and take a break from screen time.
Let Bella inspire your next visit with your National Art Pass – and if you’re looking for even more ideas, search for museums, galleries and exhibitions near you and use the filters to find exactly what you’re looking for.
Bella Roberts explores her personal connection to art
Explore the Photographers' Gallery with Bella Roberts
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Q&A: In the Frame with Bella Roberts
Art Fund: If you could step into the life of any artist, who would it be?
Bella Roberts: If I could step into the life of any artist, it would probably have to be Van Gogh.
I read about his life and he was so misunderstood. I feel like he dealt with a lot of mental health issues. Like he cut off his ear. I mean, that kind of sums it up, really.
But at the time when he was painting, like, only his close friends really knew about his paintings. He even moved to the south of France with the vision of making this whole art gallery and everything, but it never happened. It was only later in his life did people discover his paintings and realise, wow, he's actually really cool.
I wish Van Gogh existed now because, with social media, imagine Van Gogh with social media. How cool would that be? He'd be like, ‘Hi guys, I just made my new painting, oops I just cut off my ear, like, hashtag YOLO.’ I feel like he would be so popular now, and I think it was just unfortunate that he was born in the time that he was, but his artwork is absolutely fantastic and I wish I could step into that life and understand more of what he was going through. And his ideas behind the paintings, it would be so cool.
If only he was born in today's era, he would be so much more popular, much quicker.
Do you remember the first time you visited a museum or gallery?
The first art gallery I ever visited was probably the National Gallery, and I remember that so vividly. When I was a kid, I didn't really appreciate art that much. And I was like, ‘Argh, they're taking me to an art gallery, it's going to be so boring.’
And I remember this one painting, it's called The Ambassadors, it was a Tudor painting, two guys standing, but it had, like, this optical illusion at the bottom, and it's a skull. If you walk in a certain place, you can see the skull in its full form. But if you look at it from the side, it's all warped and skewed. And I was like, that is so cool. Like, some person back in the old days was like, ‘Yeah, let me put an optical illusion in this painting.’
It really changed my perspective on art because it made me realise, yeah, art can actually be interesting. Like, although it's a still image there's a lot of detail. And if you look carefully, you can find a lot of cool stuff.
Is there a piece of art that inspires you?
A piece of art that really inspires me, and it's something that I don't think a lot of people know about – it's called Marco by Frances C, and it's in the Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.
I absolutely love it because it reminds me so much of my dog. Hold on, let me show you a picture. [Bella picks up a photograph.] This is my dog, and she passed away last year. That painting is of Marco, which was Queen Victoria's dog, and the dog was a Pomeranian Terrier, and my dog was a Pomeranian. Occasionally I'll have, like, a memory pop up of that painting because I took a photo of it. Every time I see that painting it just reminds me of my dog, and it just reminds me of the good memories I have.
And I think that's what I love about art. You have your own attachment to it. You create your own memories to the artwork.
Do you prefer to go to galleries alone or with someone?
Everyone has their own speeds when looking at artwork or in museums. I like to go by myself, put some headphones on, listen to some really good tunes.
I like to find music that, like, attaches with the age that I'm looking at. Recently I went to the Hunterian Museum. All these things in jars and you go, oh, it's a bit creepy. And then I put on some, like, really kind of Stranger Things-vibes music. And I was like, yeah, I'm in the zone. It was really cool.
So I really recommend, if you're going by yourself, just pick some good music and you'll have a blast.
And I find the best experiences are the ones that you have by yourself. You can really learn to appreciate it. And also it means you can take as much time or as little time in a museum or an art gallery as you want. So that's why I prefer to go alone.
How will you make the most of your National Art Pass?
I'll make the most of my National Art Pass by visiting galleries and museums that I haven't been to before. The fact that I live in London, I'm so lucky that I have access to galleries and museums from pretty much within walking distance. I think I just don't know they exist.
What's really cool about the Art Pass is that you can look up online and actually see, like, the different galleries and museums that are near to you.
Like today I was really curious. I was wondering if there was a cartoon museum. Yes, there is. You can go and look at just cartoon drawings.
It's really cool to have an Art Pass because you have access to so many art galleries and museums that I never knew existed. And for me personally, being an editor, looking at screens all day, it's really good to go to museums. I love history, personally, so I love looking at what happened in the past. And then also art galleries. It's really cool to see still images instead of moving ones. It makes a nice change for a while.
I can't wait to use my Art Pass. I'm so excited. I'm going to have access to places all around the UK for half price or even for free. It's going to be brilliant.
The more you see, the more we do.
The National Art Pass lets you enjoy free entry to hundreds of museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, while raising money to support them.