The Waterlooville sisters whose public art is getting them noticed

It’s still a surreal feeling for Chloe and Lauren Piper to walk down the street and see their art on a wall or shop in Portsmouth.
Lauren, left, and Chloe Piper, of 2 Sisters, in front of their mural at Portsmouth Creates market, Southsea.Lauren, left, and Chloe Piper, of 2 Sisters, in front of their mural at Portsmouth Creates market, Southsea.
Lauren, left, and Chloe Piper, of 2 Sisters, in front of their mural at Portsmouth Creates market, Southsea.

What started off as a hobby has transformed into a full-time business for sisters Lauren and Chloe, who specialise in sign-writing, graphic design and murals under their business, 2 Sisters.

Working out of their Waterlooville home with mum Claire, dad Paul and Buddy the cockapoo, the duo’s business has seen them work for Dior, The Hilton Hotel and travel to Venice.

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But staying closer to home, they have also worked on artworks at The Mary Rose Museum, The Spinnaker Tower, Baffled Coffee and Southsea Beach Cafe and last month, Portsmouth Creates Market, Southsea.

2 Sisters painting Southsea Beach Cafe.2 Sisters painting Southsea Beach Cafe.
2 Sisters painting Southsea Beach Cafe.

Lauren, 22, says: ‘We both went to Cowplain School, and then moved on to South Downs College. I loved art and graphics in school, and always stayed behind to work on my sketchbooks or use the laser cutter in the graphics room.’

‘Our mum works for Boots pharmacy, and dad works as a chief engineer for Openreach, so neither of them have creative jobs. However they’ve always encouraged us to do what we love,’ adds Chloe, 19.

Lauren decided not to go to university and has instead spent years building the business. She says: ‘I decided to spend more time developing my portfolio and contacts. Although I barely had any work at the beginning, it built up over time.’

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After finishing college, Chloe joined her sister in the business in 2017 and 2 Sisters took off.

Lauren and Chloe creating a tropical mural.Lauren and Chloe creating a tropical mural.
Lauren and Chloe creating a tropical mural.

Chloe says: ‘Our business didn’t really have an official start date, as we’ve spent years developing it from a hobby to a full time job. In 2011 we made our first bit of pocket money by selling at the Waterlooville Summer Fete and created a selection of hand-painted signs using reclaimed fence panels and pallet wood.

‘After getting loads of lovely comments from friends and customers we started to paint more and more, working on things like soda crates, coat hooks, and up-cycling bigger pieces of furniture.

‘After painting a few successful murals and working on some awesome design projects, we then started selling more artwork online. We now have a collection of more than 200 travel prints which we sell mostly on our website, Etsy, and occasionally at markets.’

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The past three years have seen Lauren and Chloe travel much more than they first thought so having to pick one project they enjoyed the most is tricky.

‘One of my all time favourite projects has to be our first large-scale mural for Gorilla Spirits in Feb 2019. Although it was absolutely freezing, it was so much fun working on something so massive,’ explains Lauren. ‘I also loved working in Cardiff for Fusion Students who wanted three murals for their new student accommodation.’

Chloe adds: ‘My favourite mural is definitely the mirror mural we did for Astor Hostels in London this year. It was completely free-hand which left no room for mistakes.

‘It was also really cool as it was our first time properly working in London, and at the end of every day we would walk over to Hyde Park and have a picnic for dinner.

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‘I think our most exciting project was when we got asked by Wombats Hostels if we would work on their Venice site. They organised our flights and accommodation and we got the chance to visit somewhere we’d always wanted to go. We spent a few days exploring the city, and then a few days painting – it was amazing!’

For some people, working with a relative who they also live with could be hard. But Chloe and Lauren are not only sisters and business partners, but also best friends.

‘It works really well because we’re convinced we can read each other’s minds,’ says Chloe, laughing. ‘We can get tired of each other, but most of the time it’s so much fun working together.’

And they could not ask for more supportive parents, who don’t mind when they paint their sink black…

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‘Our mum is definitely our biggest fan. She’s put up with us painting huge pieces of wood in the kitchen, cutting through her tablecloths, and covering the sink in black paint, so we love her very much for that,’ says Lauren. ‘Dad is always there to listen to and expand on our crazy ideas, and to help us with any woodwork we need for big projects.’

Looking to the future, both Lauren and Chloe hope they can travel abroad with their business when Covid restrictions allow.

‘We were supposed to be flying out to Berlin this year to paint, but unfortunately Covid stopped us, so we’re hoping that projects like that will be back on track soon,’ says Lauren. ‘But we also love going places in the UK that we would never normally go to. We’re going to be painting in Birmingham which we’re looking forward to as we’ve never been there before.’

‘We sell our artwork online, and have seen a steady increase in sales over the last two years, so it would be amazing for this to keep growing,’ explains Chloe. ‘We’d love to expand our range of merchandise one day, and create things like stickers and sweatshirts.’

For more information about 2 Sisters, go to 2sistersuk.com.

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