Ambridge style life is Sarah's cup of tea

NOT many illustrators could claim to live the life they have drawn in the pages of a book, but Sarah Bell is one artist who very nearly does just that, writes Caroline Doughty. She has recently painted 45 watercolour images to illustrate the just-published Archers' Cookbook. And as she hands me a jar of her home-made damson jam ("which I made yesterday"), she confirms that, yes, she really does live like an Ambridge local.

Home is a 15th century farm called Sampsons Farm, near Newton Abbot, and Sarah's pride and joy are her chickens, ducks and geese. The ducks are bright white and look like a row of Jemima Puddleducks waddling around under apple trees in an old orchard.

The hens come in all colours and are truly beautiful. Their blue-painted sheds scattered around the orchard add to the picture postcard effect.

It's a long time since Sampsons was a working farm, but Sarah assures me there are 160 cows just down the road at her best friend Meredith's, and they pass by for milking twice a day. Sitting in this ancient house, nestled in a country hamlet, we could almost have been in deepest Borsetshire.

"Farmers Weekly is always on the table with the marmalade and the pot of tea. I sit there with Meredith and we really do have those kinds of conversations about milk quotas or the wheat not coming in because of the humidity," Sarah says in a strong Lancashire accent. When she speaks her accent comes as a surprise – it's certainly not one I expected, but it doesn't seem to have been softened by life in Devon.

Sarah found her way here via art school in London and nine years in Amsterdam, where she worked as an illustrator.

Paintings in the dining room of women in beautiful period dresses are a reminder of the time she worked as a costume visualiser for the film industry. She would receive photos of actors cast in certain parts, ideas from the costume designers of what they should look like, and other bits of information about the film and would then paint images of what the stars would look like in costume. It was a fantastic job that she clearly enjoyed – but a far cry from painting chickens.

"I came here originally because my sister had had a baby and I wanted to visit, but I wanted to stay somewhere really, really old, in the country, where I could paint chickens," she said. She was travelling alone and had been charmed by Nigel Bell on the phone when she enquired about Sampsons.

So she came and painted chickens, and on the third night of her visit Nigel closed the Sampsons Farm restaurant, took her out to dinner and the rest, as they say, is history.

Doing the Archers Cookbook was a gift for Sarah, who loves illustration – and food. She would love to illustrate more books, using her artistic talents and training as an illustrator – which, she says, has given her the ability to work very quickly. The book contains recipes for every month, divided into seasons, and is written by Angela Piper, who has played Jennifer Aldridge in the long-running Radio 4 series for over 40 years.

She introduces each season with gentle reminiscences about life in Ambridge and stories about the characters, and the recipes are a mixture of traditional dishes served on occasions like Bonfire Night and Christmas, with things different Archers characters would eat at home or cook for guests.

Lilian's posh fish pie, for example, and Debbie Aldridge's bonfire toffee.

Sarah's illustrations complement photographs of fruit, vegetables and kitchen items with the effect of a colourful, well-thumbed and much loved scrapbook.

All the pictures were done in watercolour, yet they are quite striking, and Sarah's use of strong colours resonates through the pages. Food is a subject she really enjoys painting and the pieces she has hung in one of the dining rooms at Sampsons Farm are particularly impressive. Large, bold watercolours of seafood adorn the walls – three "party crevettes" with their tendrils waving like streamers; a bold orangey-pink lobster; a bowl of deep purple mussels and a couple of rather fearsome looking red gurnard.

"I painted for a day at the Exeter Food Festival and it gave me the inspiration to paint some seafood," Sarah said. So she made a daily visit to her local fishmonger and bought a single item each time, which she would come home with and paint. Her next painting outing is to the Dartmouth Food Festival on October 24 and 25.

"Watercolour is pure pigment and you can achieve effects almost like a stained glass window," she says enthusiastically.

"When I teach I give my students a big brush and a lot of paint in a big palette to mix up great deep wells of colour. I get them to dip the brush in the paint and leave it until it's dripping. Then I tap it slightly and paint with a loaded brush – you have to use it really juicily."

Not for Sarah a small palette with blocks of paint and a tiny watercolour brush – she uses whole tubes of colour.

Sarah started painting as a child, and was first taught by her father. Some of his images are also hung at Sampsons.

"We used to go to a farm to collect free range eggs and I started going out painting with Dad," she says. "We would paint the chickens at the farm. The first painting I sold was a painting of a chicken I did when I was 11."

Now Sarah is running a series of painting workshops and classes, some of which are arranged over three days, so that students can stay at the farm and enjoy the wonderful food – as well as watch the poultry.

The restaurant has an AA rosette for food and service, and the food – all sourced from local farmers and suppliers – is delicious.

For more information call 07866 415 111, e-mail sarahbell@sampsonsfarm.com or visit www.watercolourworkshops.co.uk. Future courses include: Beginners (October 5, November 2 and 30), Improvers (October 6, November 3 and December 1), Painting Skies (October 7), Painting from Photographs (October 8), Apple Day at Killerton House, near Exeter (October 18) Landscapes (November 4), Draw What You See (November 20) Christmas Card Printmaking (November 21), and Portraits (December 2).