An artistic eye on SE16

I was recently made aware of the latest exhibition in Cafe Deli Felice, through a mutual friend of mine and the artist exhibiting, Natalie Webb. Cafe Deli Felice, if you are not already familiar with it, is a small, privately owned Italian cafe on Albion Street that frequently hosts local art exhibitions as well as evenings of music and poetry, run by and for local people. If you haven’t been in, you should definitely pop into this community hub where you always get met with a giant smile.

I wanted to find out more about Natalie and her art and we arranged to meet in the cafe so she could tell me more and show me her latest art installation on display in Deli Felice.

Bad art by Rotherhithe Locals of Natalie studying her art in Cafe Deli Felice.

We are both busy mums roaming around the area and our paths must have crossed many times, but even with mutual friends we had somehow not met properly before. That however, didn’t stop us from chatting over coffee for close to 3 hours!! And that is a new record for me and reflects how warm, chatty, open and enthusiastic Natalie is.  She is very willing to share and a fountain of stories and information. When we finally leave to get on with the day, I find myself dumbfounded as to where time has gone.

Natalie comes from a fashion background and even for an art novice like myself, this is not a surprise when you look at her giant tree installation in Cafe Deli Felice. The piece is full of texture and patterns and upon first impression I actually thought it was painted on silk, though it actually turns out to be very delicate architect’s drafting paper.

Natalie talks about art with lots of enthusiasm and it’s very interesting to hear how she peels back the layers and reveals how she went about creating the piece and the complete jumble of different thoughts and ideas that has been brought together in to this one piece of art. She shows me her sketchbook for the piece and I literally cannot believe how much has gone into the beautiful creation adoring the wall. From local trees around the parks through digital footprints to science and the ageing process; – these are just some of the many different things that have motivated the piece and been brought together into one. For this mega installation she tells me that she spent a lot more time on planning it out than she did to actually paint the final piece. Looking at her sketchbook, I am not surprised at all! Photos, textures, paintings, children’s drawings, sketches, etchings and notes are all collected over dozens of pages and it is very interesting to see how things that I would not at all associate with the end result, slowly get brought into the overall picture and the final piece starts to take shape.

Some random extracts from Natalie’s amazing sketchbooks.

For the tree enthusiasts among you, there is a challenge to recognise the trees that are visible in the piece as they are all from local SE16 parks. Natalie works in the local area and takes a lot of her inspiration from the parks and nature that we are so lucky to have lots of in SE16. With her 2 young children she spends a lot of her time roaming around along the river or through the parks, noticing things that most of us would miss.  She takes pictures of textures and details, she creates little drawings or sketches, adds notes and brings it home to help her create beautiful pieces of art. She says about art that she feels the need to do it and this really shines through in her bountiful sketchbooks.

She loves to do commission work and shows me some of her artworks, which are unbelievably varied in both materials and style. She tells me that she is not precious about which materials she uses, she just loves talking to people about what they want and to help realise their vision and ideas. She works across many different medians to create both true life and abstract artworks.

Natalie doesn’t just limit herself to painting either. She also writes stories, illustrates, writes scripts for, and produces short films, and creates and recites poetry. She can often be found attending the regular Spoken Word events organised by Alison Clayburn in Cafe Deli Felice, and one of her films was actually shot in the cafe which she describes as her ‘home from home’. One of the things Natalie really likes about the area, is the genuine mix of different people, ranging from local families with a history in the docks through to young professionals and families from all over the world. She is attracted to the raw nature of things and loves mixing old and new, history and present.

Having lived in the area for over 25 years, Natalie speaks about SE16 with real enthusiasm and says she cannot imagine living elsewhere. Originally from Norfolk, she has thoroughly embraced the area with it’s river, parks, paths, local cafes and local facilities that we are so lucky to have. As being an artist is a solitary role compared to being in the midst of the fashion industry chaos, she spends a lot of her time working from different local cafes and spaces like Cafe Deli Felice, the Pizza Room and the Lodge.Space. As well as getting involved in many of the events in Cafe Deli Felice, Natalie also recently hosted  stall at a craft fair in the LodgeSpace. Watch this space for more events in the future.

I am slightly bowled over by Natalie’s passion and find myself rejuvenated and energised when we part ways. Her energy is contagious and I make a pledge to make more time to stop and smell the flowers. I also can’t wait to jump into her again and we both agree that we must get together for another coffee, or better still, a drink with our mutual friend. A local drink of course.

The exhibition is on until the 20th of July. There is also a lovely exhibition in the Cafe of another local artist, Judith Walker. Go check it out and get some lovely food  & coffee from Deli Felice whilst you are at it.

You can follow and take a look at Natalie’s art on Facebook and Instagram (@nataliewebbartist). Over the coming weeks Natalie will present some clues as to where the trees in her artwork can be found which could make for a fun treasure hunt for the family, so make sure you follow her Instagram account. Please do also get in touch with Natalie for commission work.