Let’s hear it for the girls… SAMANTHA FRENCH Minnesota-born, Brooklyn-based US artist Samantha French’s dazzling works “explore the idea of escape, the tranquility and nostalgia for the lazy summer days of her childhood”. I particularly love her photorealistic, stylized underwater paintings which feature sunny blues that take me back to the outdoor swimming pool I used to go to in the holidays with my granddad – really, they’re that good they transported me right back there! French says of her art; “I attempt to recreate the quiet tranquility of water and nature; of days spent sinking and floating, still and peaceful. These paintings are a link to my home and continual search for the feeling of the sun on my face and warm summer days at the lake. They are my escape, a subtle reprieve from the day-to-day.”   HATTIE STEWART Professional doodler and magazine defacer Hattie Stewart has more collaborations under her belt than you can shake a sharpie at – she’s doodled for House of Holland, Marc Jacobs (the now defunct) Luella and …