“Tabby’s work with us as head of scenic art has been of a very high standard. She is highly skilled, hard-working, thorough, professional and also a really good person to be around. She is excellent at leading a team and also happy to be part of a team.”
“I have been most fortunate to have been able to employ Tabby on many projects over the last few years. Not only is she a very lovely person, but she is definitely one of the most talented scenic artists in the industry. She has executed with the utmost creativity and skill many diverse assignments for us ranging from horror attractions at theme parks, to the most exacting and accurately realised medieval murals. She has directed large scenic site teams for us under the most severe winter weather conditions, and has a clear understanding of CDM regulations and requirements. She has completed for us the most excellent marbling work that I have ever seen, and her ragging, texturing and graining techniques are brilliant. She researches the project subject matter with skill and accuracy, and she has an excellent understanding of period styles and art history.
I would not hesitate to recommend Tabby for any scenic art assignment.”
— Colin Pyrah OBE, Paragon Creative
“As an Art Director working in TV (and invariably on a tight budget) a good Scenic Artist is absolutely essential - bringing to life the sets and locations. Tabby has the ability to interpret rapid, sometimes vague information with great intuitive creativity and flair. The results are always wonderful, whether as part of the world of the street, or of fantasy, or of grandeur. In addition, Tabbyʼs reliability and good nature, her attention to detail, her adaptability and willingness to travel, have meant she has become an invaluable member of an ever changing, fast moving team.
I am thrilled to know her and to have been able to work with her on projects ranging from the high brow to the absurd.”
— Jane Broomfield, Art Director 'New Tricks' 'Arthur and George' 'Spooks'
“I have been working with Tabby for over 20 years. We first met working on big style shoots for The World of Interiors, where Tabby wielded her magic brushes on large studio sets, creating anything from a de Chirico painting, an Indian Palace, to an abstract texture. It was always against a tight time frame, where there was no room for error. She never once wavered. After I left The World of Interiors, we worked on many editorial projects for American magazines, advertising clients, and we collaborated and produced a book on painted furniture, and another one on how to create the Swedish look, using paint. I have never worked with such a talented and incisive artist, who can interpret a whim into reality, and always understands what the end product needs to be used for; be it a photo shoot for a magazine, a book, a play, an installation, or a real proper house.
Her experience and multi-faceted ability is a unique quality”
— Katrin Cargill, Designer
“Tabby has been working as a freelancer on retail projects for me for the past five years, painting props and backdrops. Working with her is a total pleasure. She is a skillful and professional painter and always produces beautiful work”
“I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Tabby Riley on two attraction projects at Alnwick Castle. Tabby has a rare ability to look at a space through the client’s eyes, grasp the vision and translate that into her paintwork.
What Tabby produces is work that has been researched in detail, executed beautifully and is of an exceptional standard; in addition to that Tabby is a delightful person to work with.”