Arjuna’s
Ponder’s End Studios
A Personal Man-Cave of a Studio complex fit for a Modern Master Painter blessed with versatility.
Versitile
Ponder’s End Studios at Dusk
Painting Studio
c. 2025
Arjuna Gunarathne’s studios are a visual delight, as stepping onto the set of a Wes Anderson film, where every object seems intentional, curated, and quietly alive. They are a true expression of the miniature painter’s soul & character: intimate, layered, and precise.
Arjuna’s fluid, spontaneous practice gives him the freedom to work between two spaces: his home studio in Enfield, North London, and his primary studio complex at Ponder’s End. At Ponder’s End, he is surrounded by shelves of collectable trinkets, a vast and specialised art library, canvases, pigments, brushes, and artefacts fit for a master painter. The walls are mostly adorned with his own works, quiet reminders and echoes of memories and emotions. His most personal and treasured pieces are kept close, hanging both at home and in the studio.
His vast archive, spanning nearly four decades of full-time professional practice, is now being meticulously catalogued. Every corner of his studio reflects care and attention. Arjuna cleans the space thoroughly each evening, returning the next day to a sanctuary ready to host his “magical process.” Everything is placed with purpose - each object as if it had always belonged there. Among his oils and papers, one might spot an antique relic or a handcrafted artefact from another culture.
His Mughal miniature painting booth evokes the feel of a hidden Lahori cavern - a snug, contemplative alcove with colourful pigments nestled in seashells, like an alchemist’s hearth. His English studios, like his form, evolved organically over time.
When Arjuna first migrated to the United Kingdom, the realities of starting anew didn’t allow for the luxury of a dedicated studio. Undeterred, he began drawing in notebooks during work breaks. Those early sketches, ‘Fragments of Resilience’, have since become sought-after collectors’ pieces. He later painted in his one-bedroom flat, laying canvases across the bed or floor. As a young father, he found no peace except in drawing his sorrows. Every Sunday, he visited galleries to study the Old Masters up close, absorbing their techniques and refining his practice at home.
In 2008, having saved enough, he moved into his first dedicated studio space in Ponder’s End. Over time, as his practice stabilised and matured, the studio complex expanded. He also maintains a converted room at home as a second studio, where much of his sketching is done in situ, either en plein air or while observing his family.
Many of his masterworks have emerged from these spaces. For Arjuna, the studio is not merely a place of production; it is an indivisible part of the artist himself, an extension of his vision, his taste, and his life.
“A true artist’s studio is a sanctuary of solitude and peace. To draw from the wellspring of remembered emotions and sensations, one must cultivate a sense of familiarity. My studio is an intimate space, both deeply personal and, in a way, my private gallery. Nearly all the works I hang are among my favourites. In the spirit of the British studio tradition, they are there to remind me, to nourish my eye, and to quietly accompany my process.”
— Arjuna Gunarathne