Aug 31, 2010

Wendy Le Ber

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail.

I decided to show with a group of people this year and as I had been focussing on environmental issues more earlier this year, I thought of the Hornbeam Environmental Centre and cafe. After getting in touch with them I've joined a great group of artists showing work there this year.

Our joint exhibition is called Common Grounds, my pieces are Natures Clock, Natures Clock Evening and Landscape by Design.

Natures Clock is based on a close up photograph I took of a Dandelion seed head, or Dandelion clock, I have painted on the photograph which is on canvas, exploring the patterns and design of the seed head. I had planned to do more with the image exploring notions of time in Nature and use more mediums, but as is often the way when working, work evolves in different directions to what you might have planned.


The Dandelion clock seemed to work just as it was with the painting added and so I went on to explore the nature of time in Nature on another small canvas, Natures Clock Evening. This piece explores some of the names given to the moon, the moon being one of the important aspects of measuring time particularly in the past.

By chance the circles and part circles I ended up drawing on the canvas were 12 in number and some of them have been painted with colours and symbols associated with the moon from various traditions. These include Wolf Moon, Harvest Moon, Nut Moon and Full Flower Moon.

Landscape by Design is a photographic interactive work, that is made up of cubes with photographs inside. The photographs are of the local and wider London landscapes and can be turned over and/or stacked up to make an ever changing landscape.

On one face of the cube are texts about the landscape or environment.


2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
I have been showing work for 4 years on the trail and am also taking part in the Visitors exhibition at Vestry House Museum, the E17 Designers market at the Asian Centre and will be putting some free work up on the trees by Walthamstow Bus Station on the 2 Saturdays of the Art Trail.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
I am inspired by a variety of things. As a Buddhist, aspects of spirituality inspire me, not just from a Buddhist perspective, but spirituality as it is found in nature and in other forms of human expression.

Living in London inspires me as I travel around and I have a more directly political aspect to some of my work which is often made as a result of something I read about or see in the world around me.


4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
I think all art work is a challange in some ways and this is something that makes art or creativity so exciting and challanging at the same time. When we make a piece there are choices to be made all the time, from the medium to use, materials etc.to the actual process of physically creating the work. Work goes through many phases all of which might require changes or even scrapping the work, emotionally your mood can change regularly according to what is happening as you work. Letting go of a piece of work can be challanging as can be showing work. As an artist you are so involved in the work it can be hard to see it as others might, and you have to trust that someone might respond to your work.

5. Who are your favourite artists?
There are a great many artists who inspire me and who I like from more spiritual artists like Blake, Samuel Palmer, Stanley Spencer and Cecil Collins to Alan Davie, Picasso and Corbet. Contemporary artists include Bill Viola, Martin Sexton, Rachel Whiteread, Gilbert and George and David Hockney.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
It's probably the open spaces that I appreciate the most in Walthamstow, from the parks and museums to the churchyards.

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
I really wish Walthamstow had a great Arts Centre


ARTIST WEBSITE

Hayley Holliday

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?
My - Strangers on a Train project began as a way of finding more time to draw. I spent every day travelling back and forth to work on the tube and decided this was an ideal opportunity to tune up my drawing skills.

Practically all the people I saw were travelling alone in very close proximity, often closer than cattle in a cattle truck. Crammed in, body space invaded, but almost everyone copes fine with it by managing to isolate themselves, sleeping, read books, play with phones and iPods’. People are almost oblivious to one another and generally no acknowledgement is made.

Very occasionally the isolation is broken, a joke is shared, an accident occurs or an argument breaks out, but it is generally peaceful.

After drawing these varied people day in day out I recognised their beauty, their kindness, their irritations, but mostly their warmth and humanity.

My paintings are inspired by the sketches I have made over the past 8 months, but they also draw on my love of colour, distortions produced by water and the transparency of the different materials I use.


I am also showing some of my Landscape and Seascape paintings produced over the summer. These painting are an ongoing theme I have been working on for the past 10 years. My Landscape and Seascape paintings are abstract watercolours that focus on land/ sea / wave, shapes and colours and the enjoyment of feasting your eyes on beautiful scenery.

2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
This is my first time on the Trail.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
I am inspired to create art by the process of drawing the people and things that are around me. It is something that keeps me happy and at peace with my life and the world around me. I also love trying out different art materials, techniques and effects to create images.

4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
I have work and childcare commitments and so my main challenges are about finding enough time to complete my paintings, mount work and put up the exhibition. My friends and husband have been very supportive and encouraging.

5. Who are your favourite artists?
Kurt Jackson is my favourite living artist. He is a landscape / seascape painter. He’s only about 10 years older than me and I’ve been following his work for years. He paints stunningly beautiful mixed media pieces and I’m always excited to see his new exhibitions.

I have also always loved and been inspired by Egon Schiele’s paintings, I love their honesty and passion.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
I like the market and parks.

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
I think a Cinema with a cafe would be nice. The local council closed the old one down ages ago and made promises about a new one but it’s never happened. I would like to go and see films but it would also create jobs, bring more people to Walthamstow and give young people somewhere to go locally.

Aug 30, 2010

THANK YOU WARREN EVANS!

I’m Zoë Robinson, Ethical Development Manager at Warren Evans. All of us here at Warren Evans are delighted to be the main sponsor of this year’s E17 Art Trail.

Warren Evans is a manufacturer and retailer of handmade, wooden beds, bedroom furniture and mattresses. We moved our workshop to Walthamstow in April 2007 as part of our mission to minimise our impact on the environment. We have found Walthamstow to be a diverse, vibrant and welcoming place to base our workshop and head office, and we employ local people. Warren started his business 30 years ago and has always been aware of the impact of his work, both on the environment and the local community. He has supported many local and national charities over the years including both Shelter and the Big Issue Foundation. In fact, the company gives away free beds and mattresses to re-housed Big Issue Vendors through The Big Issue Foundation. Warren is also supporting local women’s writing groups and schools.

We have also been very successful since we moved here, obtaining Forest Stewardship Council certification and winning eight environmental awards including The Sunday Times Best Green Companies Award three times and the Observer Ethical Award twice.

Here at Warren Evans we feel it is really important to engage with our local communities and to offer support to local projects. We feel that the Art Trail is a great fit for us as it is supporting local artists and promoting the incredible talents and diversity that Walthamstow has to offer. Many of the artists exhibiting their work may have found the idea of exhibiting overwhelming and a bit scary before the Art Trail came along. It really is amazing how people will shine, given the opportunity to show what they can do. The Art Trail is run by a team who are genuinely inspiring in their passion for what they do and can only go from strength to strength. Indeed, it has been growing every year and this year looks to be the best ever.

We wish everyone involved in the Art Trail lots of luck and success and we are really looking forward to seeing all the artists and their work.

Introducing E17 Art House


A little bit of magic has happened in E17. At the end of Stainforth Road, opposite the Church Hill Post Office Depot, where once there was a brick wall and weeds, appeared a little path and then a door at the end of it.

The door is now pink and the weeds have been replaced by a pretty garden. This is E17 Art House, a new art space and picture framers for Walthamstow. The dark storage rooms have been transformed into a bright and friendly gallery and workshop, where frames are handmade by the owners, artist Kirsten Schmidt and graphic design graduate Elaine McCloskey.

They framed together in Notting Hill for many years, but lived in Waltham Forest so they decided to set up on their own closer to home.



For the E17 Art Trail they are presenting ‘WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS’ an exhibition of fresh art and design talent. It’s a great line-up of East London artists including Pure Evil (very nice chap, exhibits with Banksy), Iain Hector (incredible screenprints!), Francis Long (Ketchup King) and other fabulously talented girls and boys.

 
WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS
Special Preview Evening
Wednesday 1st September 6.00pm-9.00pm.

E17 Art House, 6-10 Church Hill,
Stainforth Road entrance,
Walthamstow E17.
020 8509 8211

Gavin Maughfling

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail.
I will be showing a selection of new and recent work throughout my house and studio. This year I have been working on several series of small-scale oil on gesso panels which are drawn from different locations including Finland, Singapore, Mexico, and the former DDR. United by their starting point in photographic imagery, these new paintings explore the fluid boundaries between actual events as they are experienced in the moment and the ways in which photographs both trigger and mediate our memory or interpretation of those experiences. I'm also taking the opportunity to exhibit some large canvases from two earlier series of work. One is based on archive photographs of American 19th century college sports teams, and explores questions of hidden histories. The second group of large paintings are landscapes, taken from web-cam stills of American panoramas, and draw on ides of the Sublime.


2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
This is my second year of the Art Trail - last year was my first and it was brilliant.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
Images and ideas: sometimes it can be an image - a photograph in the newspaper or on the net or one I've taken myself or piece of film footage, or another artist's work which I come across, and at other times it might be something I've read, either apiece of writing about art or a work of fiction.

4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
This is a big space, with a lot of walls to hang work on, so that's been quite a challenge! Last year was really great, so I want to make sure that it looks good this time, and is a stimulating environment for people to visit.


5. Who are your favourite artists?
This changes the whole time. I've recently been thinking a lot about the work of a couple of Swedish painters, Mamma Andersson and Anna Bjerger. I like the way they both use and re-interpret traditional 19th century national styles of painting, and Bjerger's ability to work simply and directly has been a useful lesson for me.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
Two things I like about Walthamstow are: the sense of community, which seems to grow ever stronger, and also recently discovering with my partner that you can buy just about everything you need for Chinese cooking .

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
A new, full-length centrally located swimming pool would be fantastic.

WEBSITE


Aug 27, 2010

WHERE IS ROAN ALLEN???

First ....  I would like to say “thank you” for all your suggestions.

The August panic is nearly over. The last couple of weeks have been spent taking locations, planning a route and working out how to carry a chair on my back, without doing myself a great injury. Glad to say all’s finished now and `Figure withchair figure without` can be seen at the following locations

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 4th

12:15 – 12:45    
Lloyd Park tennis courts, beside the pond.

13:00 – 13:30    
Venue 27, Keeping Abreast. Aveling Park, adjacent to Lloyd Park Café

15:00 - 15:30    
Fanshaw House, The Drive, E173BY on grass patch.


SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 5th

11:15 - 11:45    
Junction of Church End and Orford Road beside red post box

12:00 – 12:30    
Junction of Orford Road, Wingfield Road and East Avenue

13:00 – 13:30    
Walthamstow Desert, top of The Market.

14:00 – 14:30    
William Morris Gallery. On the grass in front of building.


MONDAY SEPTEMBER 6th

14:45 –15:15    
Bus Stop, in front of Saint Saviours Church, Markhouse Road.

15:30 –16:00    
A parking bay at South Grove public car park.

16:30 –17:00    
Walthamstow Cinema, in front.

17:30 –18:00    
YMCA, canteen

19:30 –20:00    
Junction of Upper Walthamstow Road and Fyfield Road, on grass triangle


TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 7th

15:45 –16:15    
The Town Hall fountain.

17:15 –17:45    
Stoneydown Park, under big tree.

18:00 –18:30    
Blackhorse Road station, outside.

19:30 –20:00    
Venue 20, Welcome to Frederic Street. Outset Centre, 2A Grange Road.

The chair is heavier than expected so there may be a few more pit stops.....


See also website for updates:
www.roanallen.co.uk/

Deborah Daniel & Craft Guerilla

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?
It's a performance stroke educational stroke interactive event. We thought that it would be fun to host an event with several layers. Craftivista Social Club is an homage and play of words to the Buenavista Social Club,the Cuban music collective. As a collective ourselves we share the same spirit of freedom,rebellion and passion for creativity plus we're very much craftivists! Apart from the D.I.Y. craft night which we host on a monthly basis in E17 we thought it would be great to add a free dance workshop, a DJ, burlesque dancer and a live band.


Because of the popularity of craft within alternative culture there's been a funny kind of marriage between craft, punk,rockabilly and vintage hence the mix of acts and variety of performers at our event. Also we thought there aren't enough evening events on the Trail! Also it's a bargain at only £3 to get in.


2.How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
As Craft Guerrilla this is our 3rd year! We did "Arts for the Artless", "Craftea Party" and now "The Craftivista Social Club".

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
I have to say that everything is an inspiration but especially people/humanity and their mark on nature, the environment and society.

4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
Trying to find funding has been a big difficulty. Even when you go through reputable providers you're faced with a torrent of idiocy! What we managed has had to be done through calling a lot of favours and peoples generosity. Our event is done on a shoe string budget.


5. Who are your favourite artists?
Because we are many in the collective it's pretty hard to choose but personally top 3 are: Gustav Klimt, Frida Kahlo and Pure Evil.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
Because it's quite insular you get to know quite a few people so we always see a group of friendly faces at our events plus people are really proud of the area and being part of such a creative community!

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
The obvious...a Cinema and not so obvious...a Lido!

WEBSITES

Carolyn Abbott and E17 Designers


1 Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?
E17 Designers will be showing work that is hand made, designed and produced by each maker-products will range from original prints or photography, to hand made vintage fabric and leather bags and clothing to hand screen printed tee shirts and illustrators magazines, or simple bead, button or silver jewellery...the odd knitted and patch doll may appear...


2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
I's our third year
3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
We are all inspired by the idea of meeting our customers


4 Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
Easy access to the urban and the sub-urban

5 Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
A teensy bit more for the teens

WEBSITE


Dolores Rocket

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?

I’m taking the opportunity of the Trail to launch the website Dolores Rocket (named after the 1971 Greyhound Derby winner). It features the work of relatively recent arts graduates and a scientist/photographer who works in a range of media. In addition I’ve commissioned the artists to make a site-specific ‘kennel’, using only found materials, in homage to Dolores, especially for the 2010 E17 Art Trail.

2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
This is the first time.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
I do very little these days, instead focussing on promoting the work of the artists on my website.

4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
The challenges have been many and varied - and include working to transform my workshop into a tiny gallery and ensuring that the artists involved stick to their deadlines. I’ve been really inspired by their commitment and willingness to respond to a fairly demanding brief and create a kennel when none of them is a sculptor. Amy Blum is even promising to transform an Egyptian sarcophagus (found abandoned locally) into her interpretation of a kennel. In addition, Liam has volunteered for an extra challenge - when he found out my hall is soon to be replastered he asked if he could do a wall drawing - something he has never attempted before.

5. Who are your favourite artists?
At the moment it has to be Paul Neagu, Jamie Shovlin, Georg Paul Thomann, Zoe Leonard and some of the recent work of the Chapman brothers has been quite intriguing.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
The village and its proximity to the forest.

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
A view of the sea.

WEBSITE

Mark Burton

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?
Portraits from the Stadium: is a series of portraits taken during the last week of the Dogs in 2008. I wanted to be in keeping with this year’s Art Trail theme ‘Welcome to Walthamstow’, even though sadly we’ve already said goodbye to the Stadium.

The photographs include portraits of staff, dog-trainers and people from the crowd. All of the portraits were shot using a medium format film camera. Professionally I shoot on digital, but for my personal work I think film creates a much more intense portrait. The process of shooting on film (and the result) is a constant reminder of why I became a photographer in the first place!

Our local DIY shop Cut To Size agreed to hang the portraits in the window during the Art Trail – you’ll be able to go see them 24 hours a day.


2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
This will be my first E17 Art Trail.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
People and their stories.

4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
Making sure the frames don’t fall onto the floor – they may be suspended from the ceiling!

5. Who are your favourite artists?
Robert Ryman, Clint Eastwood, Danny Rolph, James Nachtwey, Martin Parr and Sally Mann.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
People in Walthamstow will usually wave to you when you stop for them at a zebra crossing (unlike in the rest of London) and being able to buy food from all over the world down at the market.

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
A large, empty, unused cinema – oh that’s right we’ve already got one of those...

WEBSITE

Stevey Scullion

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail.
The sculpture in the Vestry Museum Garden presents an opportunity for me to show in a garden setting - something I have usually avoided doing as I believe that it is difficult to compete with nature. This piece is therefore a more site specific work than I usually make, so the development of the work is a little circumspect but mostly innovation. The poems on the website expand on the themes I was concerned with when formalising the ideas for the sculpture.


2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
This is my second Art Trail.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
I'm of the persuasion that Art is often 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. That said, I would still find it difficult to pinpoint where the 1% comes from. For instance, with this particular sculpture 'Cascade' I was initially moved by the cascade on the river to document it with photographs. Writing notes about it conjured up images - connections were made with stock ideas.


However, I would have to say I was greatly motivated to pull it all together by a quote by Maria Sharapova - "the whole inspiration for the night dress was Audrey Hepburn, I'm really inspired by her".  I found this on google, I believe it is the one that sparked the quote.  I hadn't seen the dress before, but I can see why it caused a stir. I was initially struck by her unabashed, unbridled, go for it enthusiasm in the quote.


4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
The challenges are to contain the ideas to one piece that can be completed. My aim in the sculpture 'Cascade' is to combine the three separate strands - ceramic forms, steel structure, and the portrait template heads. I am still desperately trying to assemble all these elements together on time. Other challenges are not to let financial restraints dictate on the work and to refrain from entirely ignoring my daughters!


5. Who are your favourite artists?
Musicians - I love and envy their fluidity and grace in delivering art.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
The ability to walk down to Hoe Street and watch a movie on a large screen cinema, and E17 jazz.

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
Affordable studios with rate relief.

WEBSITE

Mandi Bharij

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?
The majority my of work will be framed screen prints which I am hoping to display in the garden of my home- weather permitting.

I am also working on some fabric pieces- cushions, lamp shades, table mats ...some lovely gift ideas for the home.

2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
This is my first time

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
I have based my art on things that I would like on my walls if I had an infinite amount of space. I am inspired by modern and graphic art.

I trained in fashion studies so have a creative background, but spend my working days immersed in spreadsheets!


4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
I have faced lots of challenges in preparing for the trail. Though I started early this year preparing my artwork, the looming deadline has come around quite quick!! Relearning the skill of screen printing and being able to have time in the print studio has been very difficult. My dining room has currently been overtaken with screens, machines, frames and fabrics!

I have had to overcome the obstacles in my way and review on a weekly basis what would be acheivable in the time left before the art trail.

5. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
The community feel and the ease of accessibility into town.

6. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
Better bars and a cinema!


Aug 24, 2010

Do you know any ghosts?

Rachel I'Anson is looking for ghost stories relating to Waltham Forest. Do you have a story or sighting to share?

If the answer to this is YES then you are invited to share your stories at Rachel's Darkroom at Inky Cuttlefish Studios, Blackhorse Lane.  Please come on Saturday September 4th and Sunday September 12th any time from 12.00 - 4.00 pm.

If you don't have a story but would like to hear some, then please come along as well. There are already some stories to tell.....

In this photograph is Mrs Rachel Hargreaves who first showed herself in September 2009 at Vestry House.


Rachel Hargreaves is a Victorian widow who is taking over her late husband's photography buisness. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of her in the next year as she photographs around Walthamstow and beyond!

As part of this project I have also been collecting studio portraits shot in Waltham Forest from 1850- 1950. If there is anyone out there who owns images that could be included in the project you are very welcome to bring them along to my darkroom so I can scan them. This image was photographed at V. Manders studio in Hoe Street, with an approximate date of 1890-1900- do you recognise her?

Julie Caves

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?

I will be participating in the Blackhorse Lane Open Studios on the first weekend.

I am still in the process of cleaning up my studio and hanging the paintings I will be showing. I won't be able to hang all the work I have made in the last year, so I have to decide what makes a good exhibition and leave some out.

The work I will be showing could be put into four groups: large framed paintings on paper, an ongoing series of medium sized oils on canvas called Place, a series of acrylic and oil on wooden panels called Elusive Memories, and the work that is not part of any group but are individual pieces. And I have my back catalogue of bookworks that I will put out.


2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
This will be my second time.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
Most of my paintings are the result of investigating colour. It is my primary motivation for painting.

I build up layers of transparent colour, looking at how colours affect one another and capturing light inside the structure of the paint. I have found that pigment suspended in thick layers of acrylic resin, wax or oil paint refracts light wonderfully. Equally, highly saturated colour vibrates and dances exploring the relationship of the eye with colour; a small shift in hue can strongly change a how a colour influences the colours next to it. I have been told that I have the ability to make unusual colour combinations successful; that I seem to have a remarkable confidence in my use of colour; but it is really curiosity.

I am interested in colour interaction and colour perception as well as how a painter uses colour to communicate. The art is in the process as well as viewing the finished work. The finished paintings become a record and trace of the process of my practice. They have been described as “painterly” and I think this means that the viewer can feel the process of painting as if they had made the marks themselves.


4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
I will have to hang paintings really densely- salon style because of the amount of work and the amount of space. I would rather have each painting have more space around it. Even then I will have to choose to leave out lots of work because of lack of space.

5. Who are your favourite artists?
So many! Peter Doig's early work and Chris Offili's recent work, for their amazing use of colour, Wayne Theibauld and Richard Diebenkorn for their use of paint, it is so thick you can almost feel it swirling around and Jenny Saville because her work is just plain impressive.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
It is great being on the edge of the forest, some days you can smell it even at the train station! I like the diversity, the mix of cultures. (And the Market, the Rose and Crown, and the transport links are pretty good.)

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
A place to show art. (and a cinema, bike lanes, that the 230 bus came more often, a Fresh and Wild and a Marks and Spencer.)

WEBSITE


Duncan Holmes

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?
I've been taking photographs fairly consistently for a while now. The images I've put together for the Art Trail were taken separately without any theme in mind, or at least not this theme. There are things I've looked for over a period of time - silhouettes, the character of buildings, cyclists and those men in yellow hi-viz you see everywhere - and putting them into a collection under the heading 'London' puts things in a new perspective. I'd say it works, it if it does, partly because I didn't go out to take photographs of the city. I've tried that since I decided the theme, and the results are far less interesting - the reject rate is high anyway. So this is much more random than a photo-essay.

2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
I realised last year that it would be an interesting thing to do, so this year I've got to the stage that I'm in the printed guide and have to do something to justify the space.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
I'm inspired to create things but too busy (or too lazy) for anything time-consuming. Photographs are relatively instant so that's what I do most of. Ideally they would just be a starting point for hand-made images of some kind.

4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
I've got plenty of material, the challenge is how to display it without ruining my walls. What I want is large blocks of photos so there is plenty to look at, not just a few framed pictures. I'm still deciding the best way, but hoping A3 prints will stay up with blu-tac. I need to plan out how the display will be arranged, print out the right number of images, and write up some explanation which I think is fairly essential. It is quite common to display photographs without anything other than a title, but I think these will be more interesting as image plus text. Time is running out for all this...

5. Who are your favourite artists?
Whoever I admired last.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
The marshes, and the view of the sunset from outside Blackhorse Road tube station.

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
No need for those spy cars.


The pedestrian crossing half way down the High Street in Walthamstow. I chose this shot for the Abbey Road connotations. The all-black B.A.D. Warehouse had to get into this collection somehow.

Katja Rosenberg

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail.

I often have nights when I lie awake until 2am, suddenly coming up with something for things like the Art Trail for example. The trouble is that I still fancy putting the ideas into practice the next morning and beyond, because the next night I get more ideas, and the night after that etc., and it gets a bit much. Anyway, I will be celebrating clouds on my roof with a few artists aged between 4 and 40 (ish..?) years (Clouds at the Weekend), I will celebrate having replaced my e-piano with a proper upright this year with two piano nights in my lounge (Together in Perfect Harmony), and also, my friend Kitty and I came up with lots of spoonerisms one day, and for some reason we decided we should project them out of my window during the Art Trail (Dafter Ark) - don't ask. Some people have too much time on their hands, and I openly own up to possibly being one of them.

I am also one of the persistent little Arts Club crowd celebrating the Art Grows on Trees tradition. And then there are the "Visitors".

2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
Since 2006 or so? I think so.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
I like asking lots of artists to make something in response to a subject matter I give them, and it has been chrystallising out over the years that my favourite subjects have to do with identity, the subconscious, being a "product" as it were of the culture that you were born into and how different cultures correspond with each other. Therefore, I have got myself into organising group exhibitions over the years. I am also a printmaker by trade but I haven't been in the studio much lately because of organising my group projects.

4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
Not many to be honest. I use the Art Trail as a nice opportunity to do light hearted projects with friends, and to experiment.

5. Who are your favourite artists?
I am a big fan of the prints by my fellow artist-printmaker Katie Jones because they are so gentle and confident and somehow remind me how I want to feel about the world. The Library of Unwritten Books by Caroline Jupp is one of my all time favourite projects in terms of getting other people involved, asking passers-by to tell you what they would write if they were to write a book, and then turning the interviews into little mini books for everyone to read. I like how she values that everyone has a lot to say for themselves and puts it in a golden frame, and that there is not much differentiation between "artists" and "non-artists".

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
1) It's not hip. Taxi drivers often don't know how to get to St James from Central London and I nearly feel like I am showing off when I explain the route.

2) My home.

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
I know exactly what the answer is to that. A nice breakfast cafe near my house which is not a greasy spoon (I like them but not always) and where today's paper lies around and you get a really nice cafe latte and there is nice music in the background. Just imagine...

WEBSITE

Cris Thompson

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?

As one of the organisers of the trail, I forget each year how much work there is for us to do - lots. So exactly why I am preparing for 4 listings this year is still a mystery to me. (two down, two to go)

I have two main pieces with my own work; a painting and a website.


I'm having a painting, err, painted in China. As a web designer, I keep getting offers of design services from China, but when one came to the trail offering oil painting, it knew it was time to try my hand at painting. It's a Gainsborough inspired piece about influence and ownership using my self portrait marionette in Aveling Park. In the background are the studios we are getting kicked out of.


As a web designer, I have been obsessed for ages with the idea of 3D websites - desperately hoping that a client would request me to do one. Everyone I mention it to thinks I'm mad, so I thought I would get it out of my system by turning my business website into a temporary gallery of my artwork, with a 3D menu. You will be able to download a 3D glasses template from the site, or pick up a pair at the trail information hub in the town square.

2.How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
This is the third time I have exhibited on the trail.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
Mostly, it just pops into my head. I remember while I was at university I needed to prepare careful context and reasons for everything I made; 'I want to see what it looks like' was never a good enough reason. But that's about it, something pops into my head, fully formed, and then I have a burning desire to make it. Because of time, most of the time I resist the urge.

4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
Not enough time, too many websites to build, and international shipping!

5. Who are your favourite artists?
Locally it has to by Martin Adams and Anna Alcock.
They are both involved with loads of projects, and still manage to make lots of their own work.
Outside E17, my new favourite artist is Makoto Tojiki.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
I love the amazing community of artists and arts interested folk. Oh, and another, errr... The Rose and Crown.

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
Better support for artists, and a 3 story Primark.

The Return of Dr Knit and the Knitting Laboratory

Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?

As with last year, I will be demonstrating a variety of arts and crafts techniques with an emphasis on knitting. As the Dr. Knit project has evolved I’ve been placing slightly more emphasis on the stories that accompany each of the knitted creatures, as well as developing new characters and histories to add to the ones I’d created last year.

On this occasion, people who visit the Laboratory will have an opportunity to meet some old friends from last year, for example, Dean and Martin the Sea-Horses and the Wobblies, as well as new additions, for example, Snowflake the White Rabbit and Dotty the Ladybird. This year there will also be a small section of things that went wrong(!) in the Laboratory.

All the characters can be read about, touched and experienced in the exhibit.


How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
Last year was the first time I’d participated in the Art Trail, and after the overwhelmingly positive reception I received I knew I had to return.

What kind of things inspire you to create art?
I draw great inspiration from children and the art they create. For me it is free, unspoilt and spontaneous. For the childlike imagination, which I try to access when developing my own work, I find I am less restricted in terms of what I can create. I also find everyday life inspiring, drawing ideas from objects around the house, an image in a magazine, a sound, the garden or something I see on the street.

What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
As with last year, my biggest challenge is always time, as I have a full-time job. Even so, I find the work relaxing – it’s a good way to unwind, and I’m in the process of trying to find ways to concentrate more on my art.

Who are your favourite artists?
As I said before, my favourite artists are children, and for this reason I admire those adult artists who are in touch with this aspect of themselves, for example, Picasso, Miro, as well as contemporary artists like Jeff Koons and Tracey Emin. I also like illustrators including: Quentin Blake, Lauren Child, David Roberts. Also the folk artists, Julie Arkell and Rob Ryan and many more too numerous to mention here.

Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
I like the wonderful Art Trail of course! I also like to spend time in Walthamstow Village and often visit the Market as a rich source of bric-a-brac.

Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
An arts and crafts market on a Sunday.

Blackhorse Lane Open Studios and Art in the Corridor

Several of the Blackhorse Lane Studios artists have already contributed to the blog with details of their own work in the Trail but here is a description of the three day Open Studios event and the Art in the Corridor exhibition and sale. There also a jazz band on the opening night.....


As part of the E17 Art Trail the artists at Blackhorse Lane Studios will open their private studios to the public for three days: September 3-5 2010

The event will feature painting, drawing, printmaking, graphic design, sculpture, installation, ceramics, animation, video, photography and book arts.

This is your chance to meet 30 international artists in their work environments, get insights into how and what they create, and even take home a work of art. Engage in one of the most exciting aspects of contemporary art by discussing art with the artists themselves. Stop by and enjoy, be inspired and perhaps challenged at this friendly, relaxed event.

Visitors will have the chance to buy artwork by a Blackhorse Lane artist at low prices in the ‘Art in the Corridor’ sale, with 15% going to the Barbican Arts Group Trust, that manages the studios, for the ArtWorks Public Programme. Details are available on the Blackhorse Lane Studios website.

For kids there will be an Art Quiz with prizes donated by Jackson's Art Supplies. In the same building The Artworks Project Space will have an exhibition showing the results of workshops with the community run by the artist in residence Natuka Honrubia. There will be a hop on, hop off bus service on Sunday run by the E17 Art Trail as there is a lot more art to see while you are in the area.

Blackhorse Lane Open Studios

Preview Evening: Thurs. Sept 2nd 6-9pm with a 3-piece jazz band

Dates: September 3rd-5th 2010
Artists: 30 international artists
Opening Times: 12.00 - 6.00pm each day

Address: 114 Blackhorse Lane, London E17 6AA
Website: http://www.artworksproject.com/

Tube: Blackhorse Road (Victoria Line)
Admission: Free

Eleanor Bedlow

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?

I’m showing my work at the Blackhorse Lane Open Studios where there will be a range of new drawing. I’m trying to finish a large scale drawing in time for the art trail, which is an aerial view of a city depicted in a drawing called “Lift” I made last year.

2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
This will be my first year in the E17 art trail. I regularly show work in the Leytonstone Arts Trail.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
Intricate maps, looming architecture and unworldly landscapes and amphitheatres to name a few.


4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
Finishing a few new drawings I’ve been working on. I think it’s good to have a deadline though.

5. Who are your favourite artists?
Juan Munoz, Julie Mehuetu, George Seurat, Guillermo Kuitca, Hanneline Visnes

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
The hustle of the Market and the range of atmosphere.

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
A central art centre and gallery for local artists.

WEBSITE

Aug 19, 2010

Michelle Reader

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?

I'm exhibiting at Blackhorse Lane Studios, where I will be working on a couple of large sculptures using reclaimed materials such as paper and venetian blinds. I am also exhibiting two sculptures made from recycled materials in the Common Grounds exhibition at the Hornbeam Centre. One of them is a self-portrait figure sculpture, the second a larger-than-life representation of a dandelion clock made from aluminium drinks cans and other found materials.


2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
This is my third time.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
The materials inspire me - found objects, household waste, scrap wood and metal. The materials are my means of expression, and I never stop looking for new ways to manipulate and combine them. Usually I make work to commission, so the subject matter is negotiated with the client. More often than not I'm working to ridiculous deadlines, so I've learnt to work quickly.

4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
Exhibiting at two venues is a new challenge. I still have work to do on the pieces I'm exhibiting at Hornbeam, and I need to transform my studio into a space suitable to receive visitors. Lots to do!

5. Who are your favourite artists?
Rebecca Horn, Ron Mueck, Jean Tinguely... I also love Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre - mechanical works by Eduard Bersudsky brought to life with light and sound.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
Places like Forest Recycling Project and the reclamation yard at Kings Road in Chingford which make it possible for me to make my work, along with the charity shops and market on the high street.

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
A theatre/performance venue.

WEBSITE

Martin Adams

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?
I am working on a joint show with Anna Alcock in the Rd Room at the Rose and Crown in Hoe street. It is a mixture of prints and relief work and the theme is "Going South, lives and journeys south of the equator.

2.How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
This will be my 5th year, I think, brain not too good.
3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
Life.

4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
Staying sober, moving house burying my mother and my cat.

5. Who are your favourite artists?
Guyasamin, Rivera, William Morris and many others.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
The cultural mix and the urban rural mix.

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
An arts center and cinema or is that two things?

WEBSITE