The Nunhead Art Trail is an annual local arts festival that takes place across Peckham and Nunhead in South-East London. In 2018, we supported the festival’s marketing efforts by interviewing previous exhibitors, publishing the interviews on Medium, creating a visual identity for their Instagram account, and scheduling regular social media posts across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Q & A with Stephen Hardingham Shaw
“The studio where I meet Stephen Hardingham Shaw is buried down a little road behind the Southwark Registry Office. Out the back, there’s a gorgeous little paved garden where we sit and talk. It’s a haven from the bustling streets of Peckham only a road away.
These idyllic surroundings suit Stephen and suit our conversation. His love for nature, so central to his art, makes a green spot like this the perfect backdrop to his work. He tells me about the natural processes he observes and loves in nature that inspire the spontaneous, instinctive processes he employs in his art.
We talk on a long, hot July day about the wonders of the Nunhead community, the importance of slowing down in the overwhelm of this day and age, and how nature figures importantly in both for him.”
Q & A with Edori Fertig
“Edori Fertig is a previous participant in the Nunhead Art Trail. We meet on a Thursday evening in her beautiful East Dulwich home, where she’s lived for 30 years with her partner. She tells me it’s changed very little since then — their only “renovation” was installing a new unit in the kitchen. It’s perfect just the way it is. It’s had 30 years of character permeating its floors and ceilings and staircases and walls.
Edori’s art is as characterful as her home, as magical as her name (invented by her parents), and as colourful as she is. We talk over a cup of tea about the fantastic jackets she’s designed for her band, the importance of recycling in art, and the way South East London continually inspires her and her artwork.”
Q & A with Sian Therese
“I meet Sian in her home in Peckham and I have to edge my way carefully around a parked truck to approach her front door. She pulls a face when she opens the door — there are a few men out front, loudly chopping a tree. There’s also, coincidentally, work happening in the neighbours’ garden out the back. The noise is deafening both front and back of her home.
Although the timing is unfortunate, it doesn’t stop us sitting down for a cup of tea and enjoying a lovely conversation about mixed media, the fascinating fluidity of watercolour, and how Sian feels led by her ideas rather than the other way around. Her work is dotted everywhere in the house: hanging on the walls, leaning against the windows, propped up on the sofas. She also shows me her studio, a bright, long, narrow space down the side of the house, which she’ll open to the public during the Nunhead Art Trail.”
Q & A with Rafael Klein
“Rafael Klein has taken part in the Nunhead Art Trail since its conception five years ago. He’s a wonderfully warm and enthusiastic artist who takes me on a journey through his busy and dizzying life — starting in New York, moving through Holland, then Italy, then England, then back to New York, and then finally back to London to roost.
When we meet for our interview, he shows me the studio where he works in the back garden, surrounded by his impressive steel sculptures that are as tall as him. He talks about the transformative power of art, the beauty of London’s lush green landscapes, and his love of metals, while I cuddle his lovely rescue pooch from the Dogs Trust.”
Q & A with Nick Cobb
“Nick Cobb is one of the brains behind the Nunhead Art Trail. On a sunny evening in May, we meet in his Nunhead home — where he’s lived with his partner, Caroline, for nearly 30 years — to discuss his art, South East London, and the stories that have inspired his work. So much of his art is closely linked to his home here and the stories this place has to offer, that it’s impossible not to weave these three things together. One example: in 2015/2016, he crafted an incredible, 21-feet long model of Rye Lane. Read about his imaginative take on the local high street here.
I also meet their cat, Shelly (who scales and settles inside his latest artwork, currently being exhibited in the Dulwich Artists’ Open House festival), and the three chickens in the back garden, a recent addition to the household.”
Q & A with Eddie Smith
“Eddie’s house is just on the edge of Nunhead Cemetery. I walk along Brockley Footpath to get there and forget I’m in London, just for a minute — the tall trees of the Cemetery leaning up and over me, a blanket of leaves underneath my feet.
A participant for the past four years, Eddie is part of a group exhibition in Rye Hill Tenants’ Hall. What started out as a handful of artists exhibiting together has spiralled into a huge group of 16 individuals exhibiting during the Nunhead Art Trail. It promises to be an exciting spot to visit — a huge range of artwork for everyone to enjoy.
Eddie chats to me about how this group exhibit came about, his own artwork, and the way the texture of the trees in the Cemetery next door have been an inspiration for him.”