Art exhibition

As a little girl, Pippa Toledo was surrounded by her father's paints and brushes and she would spend hours with her head buried in his numerous art books.

She inherited her father's passion for art and at a very young age she was already lending her inspiration to kitchens and furniture at a small company.

Now, several years on, the established interior designer and self-taught artist is launching her first public art exhibition of modern acrylics on canvas.

The exhibition, open at Cleland & Souchet at Portomaso, St Julian's, is titled Textures and includes 22 paintings.

Textures is dedicated to her father, a dental surgeon by profession, who passed away three months ago.

Ms Toledo lives and breathes art and her full-time job is running between hotels, restaurants and private houses adding her unique touch to the interior design.

Her portfolio includes the interior design of Xara Palace, Kennedy Nova Hotel, Waterfront Hotel, numerous restaurants and more recently the fresh, modern decor of Mézè and Cafe Juliani at Spinola Bay.

Ms Toledo, who has an 18-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter, usually paints late at night or early in the morning when there are no distractions.

The exhibition, which she hopes will be the first of many, will remain open until Thursday.