The Linen Trilogy: Meet Freya, Lila and Anima

by Roberta Heslop September 6, 2026

Three paintings. One wall. Natural linen.

And that linen is really the star of the show.

I primed them with clear gesso so the natural tone stays visible throughout. I didn't want to overwork it. I wanted the linen to breathe, and the figures to have a relationship with that beautiful natural ground.

Freya, Lila and Anima. The Linen Trilogy - now installed at Transcend Wellness in London.

How they started

I'd been working with linen for a while, drawn to the warmth of it, the texture, the way it breathes under paint. I painted each one in white first - fast, gestural, just finding the body. Then I went back in with warm flesh tones. Blush, taupe, the colour of skin in certain light. The linen shows through it all. The canvas and the body working together. Natural ground, natural form.

Detail of reclining female figure in Anima showing gestural brushwork by Roberta Heslop

The three paintings

Freya stands. She arrived bold and stayed that way. Wide sweeping marks, warm flesh tones against the natural linen. She doesn't need to do anything else.

Freya original figurative painting standing female torso warm flesh tones on linen by Roberta Heslop

Lila is seated, folded quietly into herself. The marks on her are minimal - just enough to find her. She's the quietest of the three and somehow the most powerful.

Lila original figurative painting seated female form warm flesh tones on linen by Roberta Heslop

Anima reclines. Low, long, almost dissolving into the linen. She is the still centre of the trilogy. Anima is Italian for soul. It really suited her.

Anima original figurative painting reclining female figure on linen by Roberta Heslop

All three are 100cm x 100cm, acrylic on natural linen canvas, primed with clear gesso.

The installation at Transcend Wellness London

Transcend Wellness is a beautiful space in London - a place where people come specifically to be still in their bodies and heal. Seeing Freya, Lila and Anima on that wall, above the gong, between the chairs - it felt like exactly the right home for this series. You can read more about the Transcendence exhibition here.

Available now

All three paintings are available individually in my shop or as a complete trilogy if you have the walls for it.

And if an original is out of reach right now, I also have a collection of limited edition giclée prints from £95 - including Persephone, which is as beautiful in print as she is in person. If you can't find the painting or size you're looking for, just drop me an email at roberta@robertaheslop.com and I'll see what I can do.

Roberta xx