About us
We’re Francesca, Jo and Simona — three artists who met through making and sharing art in London. Artful Living is our collective. It came together quite naturally, through friendship, creativity, and a shared sense that art should feel like part of life — not something separate.
It all started with the exhibition “Why Be Normal When You Can Be Happy,” which Francesca and Simona organised in summer 2024. That show was about celebrating all the different shapes happiness can take — the ordinary, the messy, the unexpected. It was colourful, personal, and full of heart.
From there, Francesca and Simona kept working together often opening their studio doors to public for Open Studios events. Along the way, Simona met Jo at an art fair, and the connection was immediate. We have different styles, but we understand each other’s work and support each other’s paths. We realised that showing together made things feel easier, warmer, and more exciting.
That’s how Artful Living was born — three women, three artists, three voices coming together to create and share. Each of us brings something different: Francesca’s playful energy, Jo’s emotional depth and Simona’s quiet strength. But we share a belief that art is about feeling, connection, and a little bit of beauty in everyday things.
Francesca Zagari
Francesca Zagari is a prop maker and visual artist known for transforming everyday materials into imaginative and playful sculptural works. With a background in sculpture fabrication, she brings both technical precision and creative flair to her practice, whether responding to client briefs or pursuing her artistic explorations. Driven by a fascination with manufacturing processes and a love for salvaging found objects, Francesca’s work defies predictability. Each piece is a fresh, eye-catching composition that reflects her inventive approach to form and material.
Jo Barnard
Jo Barnard is a contemporary mixed media artist from Essex, UK. Her expressive abstract work is built up intuitively in layers of paint, scribbles and drips, creating a sense of depth and mystery, which reflects the human experience, and echoes her career as a trauma therapist. Jo loves to work with clients to create unique pieces of art that convey the mood or vibe they'd like to experience in their homes.
You can view Jo's available artworks or learn about her commission process here.
Simona is a London-based minimalist painter whose work explores geometric simplicity, balance and containment. Rooted in graphic design principles, her paintings strip complexity to its core, creating visual harmony through precise compositions. She is influenced 1960s modernist minimalism and draws inspiration from urban architecture. Simona's process - working without a strict plan but with meticulous precision, embracing limited corrections - places her in a meditative flow state. Through her restrained yet expressive approach, she invites viewers to engage with stillness, order, and the quiet beauty found within simplicity.
Simona Puidokaite
