The duck that got stuck, Yanire Sylva Delgado

This is illustrator and engraver Yanire Sylva Delgado’s first E17 Art Trail. Delgado will be reading from her new foldable children’s book, “The duck that got stuck”, which is written in rhyme. There are two versions of the book, one in English and one in Spanish.


1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2011 E17 Art Trail? Did you respond to this year’s theme “On Your Marks”? What impact do you think the Olympics will have on E17?
I am publishing a children’s book called “The duck that got stuck”. We live in Walthamstow next to Lloyds Park and spend a lot of time there with my seven year old son. Last summer we stopped next to the pond and it was a note on the fence saying “wet paint” and my son wanted to know what it said. The ducks were curious too and came closer. This gave me the idea for the story, which I told my son and he loved.


I have a degree in Fine Arts with specialization in Engraving from the University Complutense, Madrid and this year, after a local Illustration course, I decided to use my story about the duck in a foldable book. I will start an MA in Art, Design and the Book in September and this is my first book so let’s say that I’m “on my marks” of a new development in my career.

2. What challenges (if any) did you face in realising this work?
It has been very difficult to find a publishing company that I can afford. I have been trawling the internet for months. My book is a small publication and not in ordinary format, as it is foldable. Anything that is a bit out of ordinary is a double challenge that not many companies are willing to accept. I have had to go abroad to find an affordable company that can take the challenge, so my book is printed in Ecuador.


3. What do you like about E17 and why? Is there anything you would change about the area?
I like the sense of community. Recognising people in the street is lovely and something I haven’t experienced anywhere else in London.
As an artist I feel really engaged in the area. There are so many creative activities and movements in Walthamstow, which makes me feel this is the right place for me and my family to be.


I think the market can be improved. It’s famously “one of the largest in London” but has too many stalls with the same products. I think a good market needs diversity and quality.

4. Who and/or what inspires you?

The creativity in Walthamstow, people encourage me to share my ideas.


5. What advice would you give to aspiring artists?

Get your idea out, no matter how small you think it is, set a deadline for it and get involved, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE.


See “The duck that got stuck” on 1 September at Walthamstow Central Library. 

Walthamstow Unofficial Tourist Board, by Warpdog

 

Mattresses of Walthamstow, Warpdog's latest work, with music by This Sporting Life

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2011 E17 Art Trail. Did you respond to this year’s theme “On Your Marks”? What impact do you think the Olympics will have on E17?
I will be showing a collection of photos taken of Walthamstow over the past year. I don’t think the Olympics will have a huge effect on E17 but hopefully people will watch some sport on the big screen outside the Mall, which I hear has cost E17 residents in excess of £200,000 so far.


2. What challenges (if any) did you face in realising this work?  
You really have to have your camera on you all the time because you never know what you’re going to see out and about the streets of "the 'Stow".


3. What do you like about E17 and why? Is there anything you would change about the area?
E17 has a wonderful community spirit and offers an eclectic mix of cultures. It has a strong art scene and regular events which bring people together. These simple things make an area nice to live in. I’ve lived in six different London boroughs over the past 14 years and Walthamstow really is the best! Plus you can get three aubergines for £1.


4. Who and/or what inspires you?
Random stuff, people, and misreading things.


5. What advice would you give to aspiring artists?
Don’t do it. Get an admin job in a soulless office with polyester carpets.


Warpdog presents a photographic exhibition called "Walthamstow Unofficial Tourist Board" as part of the Lusty Ladybird Collective, 95 Howard Road, 10.30 – 18.30, both weekends of the Trail.

Gerald O'Connell, Flux Aeterna

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2011 E17 Art Trail. Did you respond to this year’s theme “On Your Marks”? What impact do you think the Olympics will have on E17?
Flux Aeterna is an ongoing artwork that currently comprises 98 abstract acrylic ink drawings each 20 inches by 16 inches. That's 217 square feet and growing. I started work on it in 1990, and I'm still adding to it. The very first drawing in the series suggested several avenues for further development, and every time I've explored one of these avenues the resulting drawings have each suggested several more. It's like walking through a garden of forking paths, exploring the tracks, retracing my steps and then taking a different route. The further I travel the larger the garden becomes. The journey is endless.


Sadly, I don't think the impact of the Olympics will be as strong as it should have been. Given our proximity to the Olympic site, our elected representatives have not lobbied effectively enough to derive the benefits that could have been obtained. I hope that local people will be inspired to see what can be done in East London and will want to ask a lot of questions about why E17 hasn't got more out of it.

2. What challenges (if any) did you face in realising this work?

The major challenge is always in deciding which aspect of the work to develop next. Every completed drawing suggests many new paths and I have to make a choice about which one to follow. 

3. What do you like about E17 and why? Is there anything you would change about the area?

I was born here and I've always lived here, so I tend not to think in terms of liking or disliking it. E17 is just background normality for me.

If I could change one thing I would restore the rail link to Stratford from the Chingford-Liverpool St line. The basic engineering work was done long ago - you can see the bank taking the spur in a curve across Walthamstow Marshes. It would give E17 a fast link to Docklands and the whole area that is being regenerated as part of the Olympic development. Given the transport problems posed by the Olympics, it's hard to see why this simple step wasn't one of the major priorities from day one.  

4. Who and/or what inspires you?

Drawing and painting.

5. What advice would you give to aspiring artists? 

Draw, draw, draw. And when you think you are finished, draw some more.

Flux Aeterna will be exhibited at 15 St Mary Road, on both weekends of the Trail. To see more Flux Aeterna drawings, click here.

The Forest Painters

Ancient House from St Mary's Graveyard, Alison Brown

The Forest Painters, Shirley Watson, Linda Smith and Alison Brown, enjoy painting Walthamstow's varied local landscapes in Lisa Ivory’s art classes. Over the past two summers they have spent every Wednesday morning painting with Lisa in different beautiful sites in and around Walthamstow. In the winter , Lisa's classes are held weekly in Church Hill Baptist Church, where they try out a variety of landscape techniques and ideas, stolen from the great artists, and practice these using sketches or photos, to be ready to apply them when painting outside in summer.

The Garden, Shirley Watson

The Hollow Ponds, Linda Smith

Inspired by the views, while sitting outside in both the warm and cold, the painters experience the atmosphere of the Walthamstow landscape - ducks, moorhens, swans , herons, geese, goslings, and ducklings, splashing about, mostly in sparkling water, whether in Hollow Ponds or on the Walthamstow reservoirs, with the view of Canary Wharf in the distance. Strange tree shapes rise up in the dark woods. A herd of curious cattle wandering about, staring at the painters in the forest. The bitter wind, hot sun, raindrops and insects are incorporated into paintings. Mossy green and yellow tinged gravestones sit amid the tall waving grasses, cow parsley or bluebells in St Mary's churchyard. The delights of painting sessions!

The Forest Painters' pictures will be exhibited at Pictorem Gallery, 383 Hoe Street (at the Bakers Arms opposite Hornbeam Cafe), Friday 2 - Saturday 3 and Tuesday 5 - Saturday 10 September.

The pictures will be sold in aid of local charities - either Thuso (a Waltham Forest charity to support orphans with food and education at a specific school in South Africa) or Cat and Kitten Care (which rehomes local felines) . 

New members are welcome, anyone wanting to join the classes should contact Lisa.

ArtWorks Open, deadline for submissions 30 July!

This year’s ArtWorks Open has been scheduled to run throughout the E17 Art Trail. The show, now in it’s third year, is growing in reputation as a showcase for painters, printmakers and photographers. The exhibition is selected by artists who have proven track records both as practicing artists, in the field of education and as cultural innovators. This year’s panel is Graham Crowley, former Professor of Painting, Royal College of Art and Kiera Bennett , a founder member of the Rockwell Project. 

Painting by Graham Crowley

Submissions this year have come form far and wide – Norway, Italy, Eire, Scotland, France, USA and in England - Newcastle, Bristol, Cambridge, Falmouth, Billericay, Hastings, Swanage, Colchester, Liverpool, Manchester........... and, Walthamstow!
ArtWorks Open 2011 runs from 26th August to 11th September.

The opening of the exhibition is on Thursday 25th August from 6 – 9pm, a fantastic chance to see the show and meet the selected artists.

Kiera Bennett, Bed Window (Zig Zag)

Two prizes will be awarded on the opening night by the selection panel.

1st prize,  £1,000 and a solo show at ArtWorks Project Space.

2nd prize, £500 and a solo show at ArtWorks Project Space.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS  is 30 JULY 2011. For a submission form click here.

Sandie M Sutton

Eagle, Sandie M Sutton

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2011 E17 Art Trail. Did you respond to this year’s theme “On Your Marks”? What impact do you think the Olympics will have on E17?

The work I'm showing this year is part of my Art For Wildlife series. I've made a number of sculptures using reclaimed materials, picked up locally, creating art pieces that local wildlife can interact with and that benefit the environment. I have enjoyed seeing how the building for 2012 is being developed sensitively taking into account the local surroundings and enhancing them. 

2. What challenges (if any) did you face in realising this work?

The challenges I face in realising my work are practical. Time and knowing when a work is complete are always a challenge.

 

3. What do you like about E17 and why? Is there anything you would change about the area?

 

What I like about E17 is the contrast between multi-cultural, edgy city living,and Lea Valley's open space, only a stroll away. I enjoy exploring the area on my bike. 

 

4. Who and/or what inspires you?

 

I am inspired by my surroundings, natural history. Frustration can also be inspiring. I admire the work of Grayson Perry and really enjoy mixing with the local artistic community.

 

5. What advice would you give to aspiring artists? 

Spend time with other artists, use London's wealth of galleries and get out to see shows. Open your eyes and work hard.  

Sandie's work will be exhibited at Blackhorse Lane Open Studios, Friday 9 - Sunday 11 September. You can see more of her work here. 

Really Amazing Women (RAW)

A painting by Shirley, one of the Really Amazing Women exhibiting at the Rio Cafe

Really Amazing Women (RAW) are a group of committed amateur artists, who meet once a week to paint, explore and support each other. Six very different people, united by art, RAW artists paint together. Whilst being very experienced, the name RAW evokes ideas of instinctiveness and responding to emotion and the environment. 

Many members of the group have been painting together for three years and were inspired originally by a visual poetry class, which used music and poetry to spark emotions, which they responded to with colour and form. Because they enjoyed this way of expressing themselves, they have continued to meet and to paint even though they no longer have a tutor: “We paint together, inspiring each other with our very different individual styles to ensure we keep developing.” 

RAW are exhibiting in Rio Cafe and Bar, 292 Hoe Street, near Walthamstow Central station, Friday 2 - Sunday 11 September

Tam Joseph

"Mr. Frog has the last laugh", Oil paint on gesso and MDF, Tam Joseph, 2011. Photographer: Hal Satterthwaite

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2011 E17 Art Trail.
 
I will be showing my painting "Mr. Frog has the last laugh". It is a painting in oils inspired by Lucas Cranach and call girls' cards.
 
2. What challenges (if any) did you face in realising this work?
 
It had to to look right.
 
3. What do you like about E17 and why? Is there anything you would change about the area?

More cinemas!
 
4. Who and/or what inspires you?
 
Existence itself.

5. What advice would you give to aspiring artists?

Stay in there !

Mr. Frog has the last laugh will be exhibited at Blackhorse Lane Open Studios, Friday 9 - Sunday 11 September. 
See more of Tam's work here

Welcome to the E17 Art Trail 2011 blog!

Hello, my name is Susannah and I am delighted to welcome you to the official blog of the E17 Art Trail 2011.

2011 marks the 7th anniversary of the Trail and this year there will be a grand total of 300 free exhibitions and events in 160 venues all across Walthamstow. This blog hopes to document the art trail and guide you through it. Here you will find previews, interviews, artist diaries and images. You can read about the preparations for the trail and see the processes involved in creating some of the artwork. It is also here for you to share your own art trail experiences and contribute your own reviews, likes and dislikes, photos, sketches or videos. Send in your contributions and ideas about what you would like to see on the blog to E17ArtTrail@gmail.com or leave a comment below. 

Excitingly, for the first time this year there will be a special mini-commission here on the blog for the Children’s E17 Art Trail. So, younger visitors, send in your thoughts on the trail, as well as your drawings and photos to the email address above and they may be selected to go up on the blog!

Calling all artists participating in the E17 Art Trail

This blog would like to give a taster of what to expect from the trail with previews and interviews that create a sense of the preparation of artwork, projects and events before they are presented in their final form in September. In order to do this it would be great if artists participating in this year’s Trail could answer the short questionnaire below and send in a few images of work in progress, sketches, notes or inspirations to E17arttrail@gmail.com. 

Thank you very much!

Here are the questions: 

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2011 E17 Art Trail? Did you respond to this year’s theme “On Your Marks”? What impact do you think the Olympics will have on E17?  

2. What challenges (if any) did you face in realising this work? 

3. What do you like about E17 and why? Is there anything you would change about the area?  

4. Who and/or what inspires you?  

5. What advice would you give to aspiring artists?

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who applied to take over the blog this year. There were some great ideas in your applications and several we very much hope will take off as new E17 projects in their own right. As soon as any of you are up and running let us know at E17ArtTrail@gmail.com and we will link you to the blog. We would also LOVE IT if you could write guest posts about your projects for the blog as well as guest reviews about your Trail highlights.

The official blogger for the Art Trail 2011 will introduce herself soon but in the meantime I would just like to extend our deepest thanks to Shelagh Farrell who is this year's Art Trail Blog sponsor. Hope you enjoy the blog Shelagh and THANK YOU!!! XXXX