Soo Far Soo Good!

With her unique mix of talent, instinct, passion and experience, it is no wonder that Soo Turner is enjoying great success with two galleries, an art consultancy and a framing business. 4walls was fascinated by her rejection of following the pack and of being influenced by interior trends. When it comes to art, Soo simply follows her heart, and encourages her customers to do likewise.

Initially a picture framer, Soo worked alongside her father to set up Interior Angle picture framers in Chelmsford back in 1994. She then opened the Turner Barnes Gallery in 2011. To start with, she sold prints and limited editions, dealing only with publishers. She then decided to champion local artists, ultimately moving on to emerging artists on an international scale.

Soo has a fantastic entrepreneurial streak. For example, she noticed that in Selfridges on Oxford Street, the furniture concessions had nothing on their walls. She soon addressed that! Today her customers range from Berkeley Homes to Liam Gallagher. Other projects and collaborations include: London Design Festival, Icon Magazine, Grand Designs, Chaplins of London, Edinburgh Festival, Made in Chelsea and South Place Hotel.


She aspires to be known as the biggest and best gallery in Essex and recognised nationally as the primary showcase for emerging talent. Her personal favourites include the Connor Brothers, Gavin Mitchell and Maxim with the portfolio extending across realism, abstract, pop and urban styles, in the mediums of pictures, photography, sculpture and installations. Her inspiration is truly global and she regularly spends time in New York, Hong Kong and Miami.
One of the secrets of Soo’s success is her ability to constantly adapt to market trends in terms of buying habits – while maintaining a purist approach to the art itself. She explains: “I have seen the market go full circle. We originally had a high street presence in Chelmsford but people got fed up with parking fines and were migrating to online viewing. So in 2010 we moved out of town to facilitate a dedicated gallery and framing service which worked for a while but we then started to miss the profile that a high street presence brings! It therefore made sense to open a small gallery in Shenfield to showcase all our services and meet the demand for an art experience in a retail environment. Now, to complement the Shenfield outlet, we have just opened a 4,500 square foot site on the outskirts of Chelmsford that houses our gorgeous new gallery, the framing workshop and provides an office for my consultancy work.


While Soo’s approach to art is very individual and experimental, when it comes to framing she is totally disciplined. This started back in 1994 when Interior Angle was launched, and 4walls was pleased to hear that her first ever moulding order was placed with Larson-Juhl! She says:“My artwork always gets high quality framing and high quality mouldings. Otherwise, what’s the point?!

“It can be the hardest job in the world to convince a new artist about the virtues of framing. Sometimes I just need to be very explicit that proper framing will increase the value of their work! I am actually not prepared to show work that doesn’t have good quality framing and I not prepared to sell anything if I wouldn’t have it on a wall of my own!”

As a proud, self-confessed “retro girl”, Soo loves Larson-Juhl’s walnut finishes…The concrete and rust of the TouchStone and TouchOxide are also current favourites.
Today, Soo employs two framers – Sean Hill, who has been with her for the majority of her 25 years in business, and Jane Hepburn – ex New York fashion photographer, Equine photographer and, for the last three years, part time framer.


When it comes to marketing, Soo believes you need a whole range of different activities to create awareness and build relationships - as well as clinch sales, of course! “We get business from Google, referrals, social media, events, our e-newsletter and walk ins to our Shenfield shop – you need to do it all,” says Soo. A big fan of social media for all aspects of the business, Soo posts every single day. “It’s worth the effort though. One Instagram post resulted in a £10,000 sale!”

Whatever the channel, Soo seeks to be unique. Her mantra is: “Be bold. Be brave. Be different!” Some might say it is easy for her to be anti-convention but this doesn’t mean that she is not gentle with her art customers! She adds: “My mission is to make sure that people choose art because they love it – not because it is a particular colour or a specific size! When new customers come to me they are sometimes quite nervous. I visit their house. View the wall space they want to fill and then get a feel for their personality and taste. I can then present them with some options that will ideally be a key feature within their home for many, many years. It seems to work. Many of those who were tentative at first are now collectors!”

A typical first time buyer will spend £1-2,000 – but overall the full spectrum of sales is from £100 to £50,000!
You can follow Soo and her team’s work and progress on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @Turner_Barnes and @interiorangle.

interiorangle.co.uk