Penny Fielding On The Artists She Will Exhibit For The Trail, The E17 Art Scene & Her Art Trail Highlight

Could you tell us about the work you will be showing during this year's E17 Art Trail?

The gallery is showing the work of Hassan Vawda and Joss Rossiter. Hassan is a painter and film maker, but also a poet. There will be a free reading/poetry evening on 5th June where Hassan will read some of his work. Bren Gosling, who is displaying his short stories in various village shop windows, will also be reading at this event. Joss Rossiter is a painter and is one of the most exuberant artists I have ever met. All her work transmits joy and delight in her subject matter.

Hassan Vawda, Penny

How have you been preparing for this year's trail? 

I asked Hassan several months ago if he would show his work for the trail. This was followed up with a couple of meetings and a studio visit. I like to meet with artists in their own environment

and talk to them about how the work has evolved and where its come from, what inspires it etc. I then write a press release and  the show is promoted through art listings and social media. 

Could you tell us about an an artist/ artwork that  particularly inspires you? 

Photographer Paul Tucker is one of my favourite local artists. He has the extraordinary ability to show the poetry within the everyday. He doesn't fill the work with himself, and this allows space for the viewer to enter the picture alone. His photographs of interiors have a Vemeer like quality where there is a sense of expectation and event. Although his work is quiet, it is endlessly interesting to look at as more and more of the picture is revealed. 

How does inhabiting a community like Walthamstow help your practice?  

Joss Rossiter, Mosaic Spaniel

Walthamstow is full of feisty industrious people, which is an inspiration. The E17 art scene now is gathering momentum, but there was a time when it was a bit of a cultural desert and the artists here were fairly isolated. Now there is a strong and collaborative arts community which builds on its own momentum.

Do you have a personal highlight from the past 9 years of the E17 Art Trail? 

Usually I an tied to the shop for the trail, so i don't get to see much. My favourite exhibition that we had at the shop was Gods Own Junkyard's, (then called Electro Signs), display of vintage neon words, curated by Lynn Harris. We held a three minute dance event (using the neon), viewed from the street through the shop window at night. It jammed up the street and stopped the traffic as passers by were amazed by the neon fairy lighting up the shop. I love events that you just happen upon on the way to somewhere else.

Listing no.121 in the guide: Click the links for more information on the artists Joss Rossiter, Hassan Vawda or Bren Gosling.