Then they realised an opportunity was, quite literally, staring them in the face, wrote Jeannine Williamson for The Argus’s sister title Sussex Life.
The sisters decided to pool their childhood passion and creative talents to become professional artists, although at the outset not everyone shared their enthusiasm. After receiving disparaging comments from Gemma’s former boss and sceptical friends, which they fortunately chose to ignore, they set up Two Faced Twins in 2017.
Since starting out on a shoestring in their parents’ garage, the 34-year-old twins’ vibrant artwork, inspired by local street scenery and architecture, has attracted attention from around the world and in 2023 their gallery was named the best in Sussex.
Gemma and Stella, who are Worthing born and bred, found an escape in art when they struggled with other school lessons and often ended up at the bottom of the class.
‘I definitely saw art as an escape. Despite trying, I never thrived in a classroom environment. When I think about myself as a child I felt useless academically, but when I did art I was able to enter my own little world. I loved creating characters and thinking up an alternative reality for them. I never went anywhere without my sketch book.’
After leaving school they both went to Worthing’s Northbrook College. Stella, who is known as the ‘ink genius’ for her work in black and white, studied art and design and graduated with a degree in illustration. Gemma, the ‘colour queen’, studied interior design but switched to a hairdressing course before once again returning to the artistic route.
‘I enjoyed the creative aspect of hairdressing,’ she explains. ‘After qualifying I set up my own mobile hairdressing business. I was only 18 though, and lacked confidence. So I returned to college to study fashion and textiles. For the first time in my life I was top of the class!’
For a while their lives took separate paths. Stella, who spent a gap year during her studies to work in the care industry, went on to work in the sector for six years and become a gardener.
‘I still didn’t think of art as something I’d ever get to do as a job,’ she says. ‘Eventually I set up my own gardening business, but I still did care work and enjoyed the variety of doing both.’
Meanwhile, Gemma worked for a travel company, which she says paid the bills but wasn’t fulfilling.
‘I was bored and the role didn’t pull on my creative skills,’ she says. ‘I got home from another dull day and said to Stella, “that’s it. I’ve had enough. I’m going into business, are you with me?” It’s hard to explain, but I had a really strong feeling that something incredible was destined for me in the future. I knew something great was coming, I just didn’t know what.’
Stella adds: ‘There was no way I was ever going to be a 9 to 5 person. That’s why I was already running my own show as a gardener. Gemma was the driver behind the idea to start up together, but I was fully on board once we decided that we were going to finally make our living as artists.’
The sisters admit it wasn’t all plain sailing at the outset, which wasn’t helped by negative remarks such as an ex-colleague saying it was a decision she’d regret when she handed in her notice. She then saw her savings dwindle as they tried to get the business off the ground.
‘Everyone we knew was incredibly unsupportive,’ smiles Stella. ‘We laugh about it now, because we know they were trying to protect us. One of Gemma’s friends even said, “do you really think anyone is going to buy your art?” She didn’t mean it horribly. She was at a place we’d been for most of our lives thinking our art would only ever be a hobby. It took us a long time to change that way of thinking, but as soon as we did we were determined to make it work.’
Converting their parents’ garage into a makeshift studio, a year into the business they finally sold their first piece of artwork for £60 at a Brighton craft market.
‘We were elated,’ says Stella. ‘At that point we still hadn’t defined our style, so the piece was nothing like the artwork we create today.’
However, a year after selling the first piece the twins hadn’t sold any more, and were on the point of giving up. In the meantime, they’d already committed to taking part in an Artists’ Open Houses event and agreed to go along with it. This proved to be the turning point.
‘We couldn’t believe it when we not only made sales but had people turning up at our doors weeks later asking for more,’ says Gemma.
The event finally proved they were onto something. The twins focused on developing the colourful and contemporary artwork which now defines their style and includes scenes of surrounding towns including Brighton, Littlehampton and Eastbourne. After successfully selling work from Worthing’s Montague Gallery and a pop-up shop in Brighton, they decided to take the plunge and open their own gallery in the summer of 2020.
The gallery, in Marine Parade, Worthing, had previously been used as a wood carving workshop but had been empty for a long time.
‘By the time we went to view it, it hadn’t seen the light of day for years and was so covered in dirt and dust that it was difficult to envisage what it would look like as a gallery,’ recollects Gemma. It wasn’t long though until they had transformed it into the bright and welcoming space it is today.
The twins credit their hometown to being pivotal to their work. Stella says: ‘Living in Worthing has enabled us to create the kinds of scenes we love; seafronts and unique Art Deco-style buildings. The sea, and how it changes every day and across the seasons, inspires our vivid colours. I honestly believe that if we didn’t live in Worthing our artwork wouldn’t be as successful as it is.’
Their collaborative creative process sees Stella taking photos of the scenes she wants to create, which she then sketches in fine liner pens; often working in local cafes. After she has completed the drawing, Gemma gets to work on the colour, which she creates digitally to achieve the bright effects that typifies their work. Some pieces even get an extra sparkle with a sprinkling of diamond dust.
The end pieces, which are all hand signed and numbered as limited editions, start at £145 and are mostly sold through the gallery and their online shop (twofacedtwins.com). As well as attracting a big local following, works have been sold in Europe and as far away as America and Australia. The twins also have a homeware and lifestyle range, starting with £3 greetings cards, and including coasters, tea towels, cushions, jigsaws and umbrellas.
As well as being inspired by their surroundings, the twins play an active role in the community.
‘One of the things we’re extremely passionate about is the work we do with local schools,’ says Stella. ‘We love going into primary schools and talking to the children about the importance of embracing their creative sides. We share our experiences of never believing we could have a career in art and where we are today. We often host school visits to the gallery too. It’s wonderful when parents pop in and say how their child has flourished in confidence and creativity since their visit.’
They also launched a limited-edition shirt in partnership with Worthing Football Club Supporters’ Association, with proceeds going to the local food bank.
They moved into 2025 with plenty of ideas. These include creating more artwork of piers around the country, following new works of Eastbourne pier launched last year.
‘We’d like to explore textiles, furniture and fashion,’ concludes Gemma. ‘We’d love to have our own clothing range in future. We’ve got so many plans for 2025; the only problem is fitting them all in!’
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