Sep 1, 2009

Penny Fielding

Penny Fielding is one of E17s greatest champions of art. Since founding Beautiful Interiors in 2005, she has exhibited, promoted and sold the work of many different artists. As usual her shop will be one of the Trail's main venues but she has also managed to find time to do some of her own work which will be exhibited in the Ancient House.




1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2009 E17 Art Trail?
The work I am exhibiting are a series of Stitched panels. They are inspired by a needled pouch I made for my aunt when i was nine. I found it in her sewing box after her death last year. She had kept it for 45 years. It reminded me of being happy and purposeful when I was home alone after school. The pieces for the exhibition are made from old fabric swatches from my days as an interior designer.

2. Could you have done this work anywhere, or is it specific to E17? Did you respond to this year’s Art Trail theme ‘At Home’?
I live in one of Walthamstow's most beautiful and oldest houses. The house is most inspirational! I think of women from past times sewing by the fire and making the most exquisite pieces. The theme of home is very close to my heart. I spent a lot of my childhood in children's homes and i think this is what inspired me to become an interior designer. Home is a special place where you feel safe and happy.

3. Have you participated in the E17 Art Trail before?
Yes every year.


4. How does your work this year relate to your previous artistic practice?
This years work is a development from paintings I have made that have been concerned with colour in it's purest sense. The fabric pieces embrace texture.

5. What challenges (if any) do you face in realising this work?
My job doesn't leave much time for my own work, which is why as an artist I find the e17 art trail so helpful in giving me a structure I can work towards. I have made this work in the evenings and with snatches of time at the end of long and tiring days. I think if I had had more time I would not of made these particular pieces, I would of made something more "serious". The beauty of sewing, is that you can pick it up and work on it in short periods.

6. Who is this work for?
I Everyone really, although I have tried not to think about this too much. I have made them for their own sake and to see where it takes me. I am more interested in the "experience" than the "product" at this stage.

7. As well as being an artist what else do you do?
I have a shop in the village.

8. What is your favourite place in E17?
My shop. I have invented my own space where I feel happy, and I love being part of the community.


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