Hello, I’m Freya Marton

Black Lion Workshops began in lockdown in 2021, when I was studying Fine Art at Newcastle. Locked out of the university studios and forced to return home to London, I started with two simple goals: to give second-hand lamps a new lease of life, while giving me a creative outlet and sense of purpose!

Since then, I have completed my degree and my business has grown into a full creative practice. A local carpenter now creates the bases to my designs using FSC-certified sustainable tulipwood, I paint and finish every lamp, and a certified electrician wires them – all here in the UK.

Each lamp is a true labour of love. An initial idea is rarely the finished piece. I’ll sand, rework, and sometimes start over completely until a design feels right. Often, it takes weeks before a design comes together – and that process is the part of my work that excites me most.

I’m inspired by movements like the Arts & Crafts, Omega Workshops and the Bauhaus, all of which questioned why form and function, art and utility, could not coexist. That same question drives my practice: how can Fine Art and design meet in something as everyday as a lamp?

In an age of mass-produced, poorly made furniture and decorations, I aim to create sustainable objects that are both beautiful and practical. My lamps are functional artworks for the home – and I fully subscribe to William Morris’s tenet that you should

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”.

In addition to the lamps featured on my website, I also create bespoke lamps, murals, and furniture, applying the same dedication to design and meticulous attention to detail. Each project is tailored to its environment, drawing inspiration from the client’s own interests, as well as from artists, works of art, and the surrounding landscape.

I welcome bespoke commissions and love collaborating with interior designers and clients, helping bring their inspiration and rooms to life.

The name Black Lion Workshops reflects both my artistic admiration and a personal tribute. It nods both to the Omega Workshops of the Bloomsbury Group, and also to Black Lion Lane, just off St Peter’s Square in Hammersmith, where my mum’s partner, Simon, owned and ran the award-winning pub The Carpenters Arms. During lockdown, I was fortunate to use a small attic room above the pub as my studio. Heartbreakingly, Simon recently passed away, and the name of my business now carries profound personal meaning – a tribute to him and his influence in my life.