Penny Evans

I am a textile artist and maker living in the ‘Brecks’, Norfolk. My daily walks with my dog in Thetford Forest is the source of most of my inspiration in my textile works. I usually return with a pocketful of ‘finds’, that I use either directly in my work or study at close up to inform texture, form and colour choices.

My particular passion is wet felting. My love of felt making began in 2019. Felt won’t be hurried, the alchemy of water, heat and soap bind the patiently laid out wool fibres whilst gentle agitation creates a new textile which is both soft and strong. It is a highly versatile textile and one of the most ancient forms of textile making. For me, felt making is an intensely mindful process, gently unwinding my mind, as I lay out the fibres, materials and other surface embellishments.

Qualifications

Festival of Quilts 2024 - Winner in the Quilted Creations Category
Advanced Stitch Textiles (2020 - 2022) - Recipient of the Advanced Stitched Textiles Award for outstanding work
Creative Stitch Textiles (2018-2020) - Recipient of the Creative Stitched Textiles Award for oustanding work
BSc(Hons) Geography, Leicester University, UK

International Feltmakers Association (from 2020)
Out of the Fold (Bury St Edmunds Textile group)
Links & Layers (Norfolk Contemporary Textile group)

Publications

Fiber Art Now

Exhibitions

2024
9th - 10th Nov, Art Unequalled, The Maltings, Ship Lane, Ely, Cambs, CB7 4BB
18th Oct - 23rd Oct ‘A Splash of Colour’, OoTF, Pond Gallery, Snape Maltings, IP17 1SP
25th Sep - 5th Oct ‘Continuum’, L&L, The Crypt Gallery, Norwich, NR4 1DD
10th Aug - 18th Aug, Suffolk Open Studios Summer Exhibition, The Old Goods Shed, Clare, CO10 8NW
2nd Aug - 1st Sept, Babylon Art Gallery Summer Exhibition, Waterside, Ely, Cambs, CB7 4AU
15/16 June & 22/23 June, Suffolk Open Studios, The Old Goods Shed, Clare, CO10 8NW

2023
3rd Oct - 8th Oct ‘Unfolding’, OoTF, Bury St Edmunds Guild Hall, IP33 1PR
8th Sep -29th Oct ‘Suspended in Time//Autumn’, West Acre Gallery
26th Jun - 9th July ‘Interpretations’, L&L, The Maltings, Wells Next Sea, NR23 1AU

2022
30th Sep - 5th Oct ‘Monochrome’ Pond Gallery, Snape Maltings, IP17 1SP
23rd - 24th July ‘Creative Stitch Graduate Show 2022’, Needham Market, IP6 8BB