Curating for One off to 25

interview by Karolina Barnes

Consumers are now buying online as much as they shop in store. One off to 25 is an online art gallery combined with a unique consultation service. Here we chat with its curator, Jasmine Rosten-Edwards, to tell us how it works.

1. Could you tell us how you got into interiors and the art worlds?

I have always had a passion for art and interiors from a young age, as both give me joy and provide me with an artistic outlet. I understand the contemporary art market as I have been buying art for the last 20 years and saw how consumer behaviour and market forces have evolved, making the purchase of online art the norm. Specifically, whilst nearing the completion of my MBA degree I came up with a business idea to combine my love of art and interiors, and I created One off to 25, an online art gallery.

One off to 25 is a sustainable business with a transparent supply chain and as such I specialise in originals, limited edition prints, and prints produced in small runs that support local businesses. This has allowed me to specialise and curate a collection of artworks to cater for different budgets and aesthetic tastes.

2. How do you choose the artists you represent? Do you have some criteria or requirements?

One of the main principles behind my business was to give a platform to new or emerging artists, mentor them and help get their products to market but I collaborate with established artist too. All of the artists I represent are talented, hardworking, driven, passionate and personable. My decision to choose to work with an artist is always based upon gut instinct i.e. I love their work coupled with an assessment of how commercially viable I think their artwork will be.

3. You also provide art consultancy. What does it involve and how do you help your clients?

The art consultancy was born out of my understanding of art from a commercial and consumer point of view. I can be contacted through my website, which provides basic information about the service. When a client makes contact I ask them about their prerequisites as well as find out what emotionally resonates with them so I can source their requirements and fulfil the brief.

However, sometimes it is appropriate to provide aesthetic advice and input. For example, I am working with a client who recently contacted me about sourcing an original piece of art for a specific room in their home. Yet, upon seeing photographs of the room, I have advised that complementary individual pieces in different sizes will have more impact as well as providing more flexibility long term if they want to move them to different rooms in their home.

4. What was the most interesting project or piece of art you sourced or been involved in? I have been involved in interesting projects from working with an Interior Designer, who worked on a very large renovation scheme where I sourced rare vintage art, to working with people on smaller domestic schemes.

The most interesting piece of art I sourced was for a client who was very specific about their requirements and budget. They wanted a large piece of female artwork that would not dominate the room or any of their other existing artworks in there i.e. it had to be complementary plus they liked the colour green.

The artwork I sourced for them is by talented One off to 25 artist called Sara Hurley. Sara produces strong, graphic figurative artwork and many of her pieces have a very restrained colour palette. The piece I chose for the client is an A2 Limited Edition print of 5 called ‘ccxliv’.

The client absolutely loved the artwork because it worked perfectly in their room and totally fulfilled the brief. They said the chosen figurative piece of artwork, which shows a female figure looking at an art gallery exhibition, also looked like she was viewing the artwork in their room and that it brought everything together perfectly.

5. You have partnered with one of the artists, Amanda Mulquiney-Birbeck, whereby you donate very generous 30% of sales of her original art or limited edition prints to The NHS Charities for Covid-19 Urgent Appeal. Can you tell us how this collaboration came about and the story behind it?

It was a stressful time for people due to the Covid pandemic. It made many people more mindful of living in the present time rather than focusing on an uncertain future. I believe that art has the power to soothe and heal - it can be good for the soul. I wanted to combine this with giving something back and helping others, so I partnered with artist Amanda Mulquiney who is a great fit. Amanda’s art is bright, high octane, poignant and instils a feel-good factor. We believe that being philanthropic is more important than ever, indeed our way of helping out at this unusual time in living history.

Artwork from top left: Summer Storm by Jasmine Rosten-Edwards (1) | ccxliv by Sara Hurley (2) | Flemish Flowers by Amanda Mulquiney-Birbeck (3) | Harmony by Flo Lee (4)

WEBSITE: oneoffto25.com

INSTAGRAM: @oneoffto25