Turnaround at Wood Street Market and theFourth Plinth

I went down to Wood Street market, to put out a few more cards at our Arts Club gallery Turnaround yesterday. It was good to meet Pauline Evans and Nicolette Murin who have Turnaround 6. Turnaround website here

Their private view is on Thursday 6-8pm. It is good to see all the vibrant new units and have all that creative energy around. I hope people will support these new ventures.
Nicolette has a sound installation running so great music is happening there too.


While I was there I met up with Catherine of Significant Seams her website here.

Catherine has some great workshops running and projects, as well as quirky items for sale and materials. She is really enthusiastic about sewing and crafting and sharing her skills. Which I've noticed is a feature of lots of crafts people I recommend a visit.

Shirley Pountney was in her gallery/studio too and it was great to catch up with her, as she has not been well and not able to get to Wood Street as often as she would like. I really like a lot of her mystical paintings. Shirley usually has her front room open in Walthamstow village for the E17 Art trail each year.

I had gone over to Trafalgar Square a few days earlier to see the new sculpture on the Fourth Plinth. The latest commission is Elmgreen and Dragset's Powerless Structures, Fig. 101
Which is a bronze coloured gold of a child on a rocking horse. It is meant to celebrate the heroism of growing up and not glorify the past.
I can see the contrast with the usual generals on horseback, and I like the rocking horse for that reason. Though the rocking horse is rather a cypher than a well worn child's toy, which would have worked to give more feeling I think. But the face of the child seems to have too much of the Roman warrior about it to engage me emotionally with the idea of a child growing up or a sense of vulnerability.

Jewels of the Imagination exhibition Wood Street.

Saturday saw the start of our week long exhibition, Jewels of the Imagination at Wood Street Market. 98-100 Wood Street, Walthamstow, E17 3HX Website for Turnaround exhibitions here

Sanyukta is showing 3 of his beautiful and intricate paintings, using ancient Nepalese Buddhist and Hindu iconography, Sanyukta is researching and exploring these traditions and is producing work using modern and traditional forms. Sanyukta's website here



Ellen is showing 3 frames filled with sparkling jewellery and a display of more jewellery to buy inside the unit.Ellen's etsy shop here

I have several Buddhist themed paintings and four of my recent symbolic landscapes exploring the world of myth and shamanic imagery. I also have a range of my photographic and art cards and prints on show.

The exhibition is open to view from outside on Monday and Tuesday and is open to look around inside 10am till 5pm Wednesday 22nd and on Friday 20th February, the last day of the show.

On Saturday the exhibition changes again and their will be an exhibition of printmaking and installation art from Helen Porter and guests.

Turnaround exhibitions in Wood Street Market

The opening of Turnaround exhibitions and the other art and craft stalls seemed to go well on Saturday. At Turnaround we had great poetry and music and masks to wear.


The market was busier than I'd ever seen it,hundreds of people came along which was great to see. There was a good sense of energy and dynamism in the market that all the units seemed to be benefitting from.

Quite a number of new busineses have taken up the indoor stands including the East London Craft Guerrilla, their site here Significant Seams have a shop, workspace and exhibition space in one. Their facebook page here

The Wood Street market blog has photos from the launch day here


I hope it continues to be busy, there doesn't seem like a lot of passing trade along Wood street, though quite a lot of new housing has been and still is being built just back from the street. It is known that quirky and unusual shops and art and designer craft busineses can draw people into an area. There aree so many similar high streets that we are all on the look out for something different. There is also a growing appreciation of the hand made again, though I am still surprised by the high cost mass produced objects can fetch, compared with designer hand made products.

I wonder what has lead us to value the factory produced over the artist/craftsperson?

Capture Waltham Forest Exhibition and Turnaround Gallery show

I am pleased to have had one of my photographs exhibited in the Capture Waltham Forest Exhibition. The selected photographs from the competition will be on show at the vestry House Museum 1st June till the 30th September. I'm still waiting to hear the details of the private view.

Website for the exhibition is here

Waltham Forest Arts Club has been chosen to have one of the market units in Wood Street, there will be a re-launch of the market on February 11th where more art and craft makers will also be opening their units. Wood Street Market site here Website for Turnaround The arts club unit/gallery here




The arts club has a group show to open Turnaround which is the programme of exhibitions running till April. I've put in a small painting in for the group show. The launch day on Saturday 11th February is from 12 till 3pm and there will be live art, poetry and music sessions.

I'm also showing work in the second exhibition Jewels of Imagination, with another artist Sanyukta and Ellen a jeweler
Link to our exhibition page here