Penny Fielding's Gallery & Interiors

Penny Fielding’s shop always produces a glowing vibe when mentioned amongst the creative community of Walthamstow, or it might be just the mention of Penny herself, well she and her shop are pretty much one. Located in Walthamstow's village, she and her shop have a been a real tall platform over the last 8 years for local artists to exhibit, get noticed and even sell work to an ever growing clientèle. When she first opened, there was hardly anywhere in Walthamstow to vent all the artwork in its pavements so it just so happens that the shop became a stage for many hidden, local artists to establish themselves for the first time.

Penny has run her shop in a very organic way, housing vintage swagger alongside the local artists and designer,  keeping it always welcoming and relaxed. This reflects in her approach to curating, where exhibit spaces are really tailored to each artist, it is a vibe that has been perfect in creating what is now firmly established as one of the hubs of E17 Art, and it is now going to have an even bigger emphasis on exhibiting art. Penny is expanding the gallery space in the shop and will bring in bigger exhibitions for local artists and also bring exhibitions to Walthamstow. Even with this greater focus on exhibiting, it will be still run with the organic charm that it has always which should make Penny Fielding’s Gallery and Interiors a fantastic place to see exhibitions and still walk away dead cool gift (or piece of local art!).

The gallery space will be extended by the time of the trail, so as you can imagine there will be lots to see here. Hanging from the walls will be an exhibition from Alke Schmidt; paintings on newsprint and fabric of women labouring, resting and fighting in various ways in life. Penny has actually been closely involved with Alke Shmidt’s project, fine tuning all the details of the exhibition to create a really fitting display for the space. Those won’t be the only paintings that will be on display either. Christopher Winter will have up a series of illustrations on the lucky lives of our feline friends and Jason Hawkridge will have up his floral and philosophical paintings up as well.

Keeping to the organic feel of the gallery, the exhibitions hanging on the walls will be complimented with experimental installations and interactive exhibits, all running alongside each other. 'Loom' a short, performance film by Ruth Calland and Roan Allen will be on screen, mysterious and mythical and about alchemy. There will be pop up shops of hand made jewellery in Bo's Jeweled Trilogy, unique furniture, toys and boxes from Artisticwood or hand-made, made-measure restoration and repairs of all things leather by Mia Sabel. After seeing everything in the shop, stroll out into the lovely garden to be greeted with tea, cakes and a big, charming and handsome...fig tree. On the first and last weekend of the trail, if you visit you will be able to see the secret lives of the trees inhabitants...

There are two very exciting events going on here too, on the 9th September (6-8pm) you can combine both the poetry and art trails by attending intimate and striking readings by established London poets Cheryl Moskowitz and Jacqueline Saphra. On the 13th September (7-9pm) there will be mysterious 'Sensorium' set up by Auntie Maureen to burst your perceptions by candle light - it sounds magical.

Penny Fielding Gallery and Interiors will be open every day of the week during the trail, so you can't have an excuse to miss any of the exhibitions. It will also be worth coming along for the preview evening on the 30th of August (6:30-9pm)...being an established hub for local artist it will mos def have a great crowd and a great vibe. I can see myself visiting this venue definitely more than once or even twice during the trail!

34 Orford Road, Walthamstow Village, E17 9NJ

www.pennyfielding.com