ART CONNECTIONS: Visit two Artists Studios linked by Forest Walk

Join us for a forest walk connecting two Artists Studios on the margins of Epping Forest.

Meet three artists - Sharon Drew, Hugh Hamshaw Thomas, and Alison Chaplin for a chat about their work and find out about each of their different processes and practices and how Epping Forest has inspired their creative pursuits. A rare opportunity to see behind the scenes, works on view will include abstract and landscape paintings and digital prints plus sketchbooks and small studies. A range of artworks will also be on sale.

Notes about the day:

• Your booking will give you access to all the content of the day. You also have the flexibility to attend specific sections that you are interested in.
• You may wish to bring your snacks or drinks. We will stop for a break at the Cafe at St Peter's in the Forest, a local church nearby, where you can also purchase refreshments if you wish.
• This event will not end at the starting point.

Getting there:

Studio 1

• Overground: Wood Street Station (5mins walk)
• Buses: 230 & W16 (5mins walk)
• Tube: Walthamstow Central Victoria Line (15 mins walk or change to Overground)
• Car - Free street parking at weekends

Studio 2

• Bus: 123 (1min walk)
• Car - Free street parking at weekends

Featured profile images:

1. Upper Walthamstow Studio © Sharon Drew
2. Epping Forest © Epping Forest Heritage Trust
3. Hugh at work in the Forest © Hugh Hamshaw Thomas
4. Alison's work in her studio © Alison Chaplin

About the artists

© Sharon Drew - Conceal-Reveal 1 acrylic on canvas 105 x 135cm

Sharon Drew

Sharon Drew is a London-based artist whose process-based abstract paintings respond to her experience of the natural world. The works show a confident use of colour, are often large-scale and employ a range of approaches. From diluted sweeping gestural brush strokes to smooth rubbed back surfaces revealing older detailed layers, she seeks visual metaphors for the sensation of immersion in an environment rather than depicting a particular place. Drew aims to work in the moment treading the fine line between risk and control.

Drew’s paintings have been embraced by the world of fashion and interiors, used in shoots for Vogue, Stella McCartney, Gucci Flora, Soho Home, purchases include Locke am Platz Hotel, Zurich and Jigsaw St Pancras International and published in Wallpaper, The World of Interiors and Elle Decoration magazines. Drew completed her Fine Art MA at UAL Central Saint Martins in 2003 where she is now Mentor to Fine Art MA and BA students.

Instagram: @drew_sharon

Website: www.sharondrew.com

© Hugh Hamshaw Thomas. High Beech (Blue) 2024. Archival Digital Print. Print: 105 x 140cm / 120 x 160cm

Hugh Hamshaw Thomas

Hugh is a locally based artist whose work primarily responds to the surroundings of Epping Forest.

Hamshaw Thomas makes large-scale digital prints that beg questions as to how landscape is seen and represented.

The photographs present as objects pre-dating the birth of photography, inverting the seemingly empirical gaze of the camera to question ideas of memory, nostalgia and loss.

The layering of historical pictorial styles and associations with the Decorative Arts both question and expose our readings and construction of the natural world through lenes of idealisation and representation.

Hamshaw Thomas explored these ideas further in a commission in Boston, Massachusetts, USA responding to The Emerald Necklace, the work of Frederick Law Olmsted 1822–1903, the godfather of American Archetectural Landscape and co-designer of Central Park in New York City.

Hamshaw Thomas’ work is represented by GBS Fine Art and is frequently shown at Print and Art Fairs. He currently has work on show at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Watson Farley & Williams and work in the collections of Raffles Hotel, London, The Hoxton, Southwalk and many private collectors.

He has recently been awarded The Ushaw Residency and Acquisition Prize for 2024.

Instagram: @hughhamshawthomas

Website: hughhamshawthomas.com

© Alison Chaplin. Forest Meander 2024. (61x76 cm)

Alison Chaplin

Alison did her training at Walthamstow School of Art. After a few years teaching art she became a full-time artist in 2002.

Epping Forest has always been a feature in Alison’s life and has given her comfort, joy, solace and excitement. The Forest has offered her the vocabulary to express her relationships across a whole range of encounters. Some of these are formal; her use of colour, contrast, scale and mark-making and some ore personal; family, friendship, the passing of time. When she is in the Forest she engages with its changing moods and seasons, fully immersed, always with a sketchbook and pen or pencil in hand.

Alison frequently walks in the Forest, often with a companion. As their conversation meanders they may find themselves lost. The familiar becomes strange. This is what Alison attempts to convey, most especially in her present work which combines a shifting viewpoint, a mobile horizon, dark long spaces and sunlit spots. These are large scale works on paper employing torn paper collage and graphite. The torn paper conveys flat planes, shadow forms or actual objects which together disrupt any continuity of space. She uses the graphite tonal and texturally creating areas of dark and light with a variety of mark-making using an eraser to make a lively surface. These drawings form a basis for large oil paintings.

Alison exhibits regularly both locally to her studio and in central s London.

She has had solo exhibitions in The Barbican, EC2 8DS, the Ice House Gallery, Holland Park, W8 6LU, The View Gallery, E4 7QH, the Stone Space Gallery, E11 1HG, The Artefact Gallery, W1T 2JT and Gallery 27, W1S 3NG.

She sells her work through Saatchiart, and Riseart, two excellent on-line platforms. Her work is in private collections in USA, Australia and Britain.

Instagram: @alison.chaplin

Website: Alison Chaplin Artworks | Saatchi Art

© Hugh Hamshaw Thomas

Wildlife Garden at Upper Walthamstow Studio © Sharon Drew