Peter Blake: ‘I have mixed feelings about Sgt Pepper’

My style signifier is a three-piece black suit made by David Chambers, often in corduroy. And red braces, with a blue shirt. Quite early on in my career, I became friendly with Justin de Villeneuve, who was Twiggy’s manager at the time. He recommended that I get my shirts made at Turnbull & Asser, which I’ve done ever since. I may have looked like an old tramp, but I’ve been wearing Turnbull & Asser shirts, N Peal cashmere socks and braces from various places on Jermyn Street! 

The last thing I bought and loved was an early Ben Nicholson pencil drawing of Cornwall, from Chiswick Auctions. 

The place that means a lot to me is Chiswick. I’ve lived here on and off since the ’50s. Originally there was a wonderful music hall on Chiswick High Road I used to go to. And I love the antiques market. The area has changed, but it has always been busy and lively, with lots of restaurants and cafés.

The best souvenir I’ve brought home is the side of a Sicilian horse and cart. When I left the Royal College of Art, I got a scholarship to travel in Europe. I’d never been abroad and I travelled for a year on £500 with some left over, God knows how. I came back with all kinds of things: tickets to the bullfight, the horse and cart. A body of souvenirs.

The album that changed my life has to be Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. To do the cover for The Beatles at that time was bound to change my life. We still get three or four albums through the post each week for me to sign. But I have mixed feelings – it’s always the first thing that anyone mentions. 

The musician I’d most like to collaborate with is Brian Wilson. And I have. My ambition for many years was to do an album cover for The Beach Boys, and eventually I did the cover just for Brian, as a solo artist, Gettin’ In Over My Head.

The best book I’ve read in the past year is one by my daughter Rose, who is an illustrator, mainly of children’s books. It’s a little pamphlet for Rough Trade, called Egg and Spoon, about her as a little girl and what she remembers of our relationship. It’s a very beautiful piece of writing. 

My style icons are Justin de Villeneuve, the smartest dresser I’ve ever known, and Paul Weller, with whom I’ve been working again recently for the cover of his new album, 66. He’s consistently stylish and so cool – his silver hair looks wonderful, his haircuts are great, and he’s always dressed very well.  

In my fantasy fridge you’ll always find pork pies. But I’m not allowed them now

The best gift I’ve given recently is a watercolour I did of the poet Linton Kwesi Johnson; when Linton saw it, he said: “Him flatter I.” I gave it to [gallerist] Paul Stolper, who had organised an exhibition of portraits of Linton; the watercolour was made into a little print, but Paul loved the original so much, I gave it to him. 

And the best gift I’ve received is a hamper from The Newt in Somerset – from Paul Stolper and his wife, Anna. It had some incredible chutneys, including fig, some salmon pâté and the most beautiful apple juice, the best you’ve ever tasted.

I have a collection of model and toy elephants. It came about because I am an auction junkie, and it reached a point where I might go home with a bicycle or something cumbersome and silly, or 30 Norah Wellings dolls, or 10 model galleons, so this was a way of putting a safety check on myself. If I came home with just a little model elephant, I would be happy. I have many, many other collections: of hats, from sombreros to space helmets, and birds’ nests, and taxidermy. But the elephants are my auction safety valve. 

In my fantasy fridge you’ll always find pork pies. But I’m not allowed them now, so it’s more likely soups and juices – clementine or apple and ginger, which I drink instead of alcohol. 

I couldn’t live without my wife, Chrissy. We’ve been together 44 years. She looks after me, and I wouldn’t be alive without her. 

I’ve recently discovered the difficulties of being 91 and in a wheelchair. Just trying to negotiate a wheelchair, really. But also how kind people are. Yesterday Chrissy couldn’t get the wheelchair up to the kerb and some ladies came and helped. People are always offering to help. 

The last item of clothing I added to my wardrobe was a Marks & Spencer navy tracksuit. Getting dressed has become a bit of a business these days, and I had been working in my pyjamas – like Stanley Spencer did – but Rose, my daughter, said, “Come on, Dad, let’s make an effort.” 

An object I would never part with is General Tom Thumb’s military-style boots. Another of my collections is shoes, and at auction I bought the boots worn by the famous Barnum & Bailey circus performer, who was 25in high. I’ve also got comedian Max Miller’s stage shoes, and some incredible clown shoes, and a pair of wrestler Kendo Nagasaki’s boots. But the best are Tom Thumb’s. 

The one artist whose work I’d collect if I could is Brâncuşi. Especially his wooden piece called Endless Column, about 98ft tall. I love the simplicity – it is beautifully raw. 

The grooming staple I’m never without is highly scented Floris soap. When I’m working, I’m often washing my hands, and I like to smell the perfume immediately. The one I have now is Rose Geranium. £18, florislondon.com

My favourite room in my house is the sitting room. There’s some wonderful art, by Hockney, Nicholson and Villon, Marcel Duchamp’s brother; the light is great; and it looks out onto a busy street so we can see all the people. There are various characters who go by every day; we don’t know them, but we’ve got names for them all. The wobbly man, the sloping man, and the thief: the woman who’s always stealing things. She’s in prison now. 

My favourite building is the Natural History Museum because it is so magnificent. I particularly love the railings. 

The best band I’ve seen live has to be The Beach Boys. But it’s a tough choice. At the age of 15, I was going to concerts, mostly jazz, so I saw people like Count Basie, Duke Ellington and everyone that came to London after the war. But I’m still going to stick with The Beach Boys.   

A cause close to my heart is a theatre company called Graeae, which is for disabled performers. When it started, myself and Ian Dury were patrons. I still am. And Teenage Cancer Trust, whose fundraising concerts were started by Roger Daltrey. I recently did a new record cover for them; Mark Knopfler got together as many of the world’s top guitarists as he could – 40 or so including Eric Clapton and Joan Armatrading – to record “Going Home”, the theme from the Burt Lancaster film Local Hero. And I did the cover. 

Some of my best ideas come when I’m in the shower, when my mind is at rest. 

My wellbeing guru is the NHS. Especially Ladislava Lysakova, the consultant plastic surgeon at Charing Cross Hospital who recently looked after my leg. Her father was exactly my age, and was an artist. She was very sympathetic. 

My favourite app is Instagram. I use it to see what my friends are doing. For example, Justin [de Villeneuve], to see if he is well or not – because he always says how he’s feeling and what he’s cooking!

In another life, I would have been something in the building trade – if the question means what I would have been if I hadn’t made it as an artist – because my dad was an electrician and there were other builders in the family. But if it was another ambition, I would have been an architect. 

My motto is “living well is the best revenge” – a proverb beloved of the artist Gerald Murphy. I adopted it after I divorced my first wife. 

Peter Blake: Sculpture and Other Matters is at Waddington Custot, London W1, until 13 April; waddingtoncustot.com