Get on the trail

5:10pm Wednesday 20th August 2008

LOVE will be in the air in Walthamstow next month if its artists have anything to do with it.

People involved in the E17 Art Trail this year have chosen a decidedly romantic theme for this year’s event.

From E17 with Love will take place from September 6 to 14 at locations around the borough.

It will have an impressive 138 exhibits in 86 venues by 300 artists, many of which have romance at their heart.

Art Trail organiser, Laura Kerry, said: “The Trail enables an incredible diversity of artists, normally working in isolation to open their doors to Walthamstow.

“The artists find ingenious spaces in which to show their work, and art can be seen in every nook and cranny across the E17 postcode.”

This year the art trail has exploded, with a third more exhibitors than before.

Exhibits this year include an installation of garden gnomes by Della Rees on the site of Elm House, the birthplace of William Morris, founder of the Arts and Crafts movement.

There is a collection of photographs of abandoned umbrellas by Kathryn Kirton, and Carnival Diablo, an exhibition of neon art including a brief history of the invention which revolutionised street advertising across the world.

Performance artist Ruth Calland is hoping to astound with her telepathic matchmaking skills in Walthamstow Town Square As the Countess Euphoria, a romance-loving alien from the planet Euphoria, she will hope to foster love matches between strangers.

And last year’s Art Grows On Trees was so popular it is returning this year, and Art Trailers will be able to pluck an original piece of art direct from a tree in Walthamstow Town Square.

The E17 Art Trail was launched in 2004 by artists Ms Kerry and Cris Thompson who were fed up with not having any space in which to show their work.

They decided to open up their homes and other spaces and transform them into temporary galleries.

Sheds, windows, bridges, hedges and lampposts have all hosted exhibitions in the past.

Around the site