Eleanor Crow’s ‘Step Inside’

A few places are available for my last-ever course HOW TO WRITE A BLOG THAT PEOPLE WILL WANT TO READ on November 20th & 21st. This is your final chance to come to Spitalfields and spend a weekend with me in an eighteenth century weaver’s house in Fournier St, enjoy delicious lunches from Leila’s Cafe, eat cakes baked to historic recipes by Townhouse and learn how to write your own blog. Email spitalfieldslife@gmail.com to book a place.

Portrait of Eleanor Crow at E. Pellicci by Colin O’Brien

I am delighted to present this preview of Eleanor Crow‘s exhibition A Step Inside opening at Townhouse, Spitalfields, next Saturday 20th November. Readers will be familiar with Eleanor’s illustrations that we published in a book as Shopfronts of London, but now she has turned her hand to paintings of interiors and still lifes.

‘I became interested in the play of light across the interiors of shops, kitchens and domestic settings, and this forms the basis of my new work,’ Eleanor admitted to me. ‘I am fascinated by the way light falls from windows across chairs and tables, over pots, brushes and baskets, across lines of bottles and jars – as well as the particular quality of a room. I am attracted to views through doors, a glimpse, a step inside.’

Kitchen at the George Tavern, Stepney

‘I was struck by the asymmetric shape of the kitchen and the huge window casting a soft light across the interior. I love the cream panelled walls and array of pots on the dresser, as well as the blues of the utilitarian plates, bowls and teapot, and the hanging shirts.’

Leila’s Shop, Calvert Avenue

‘The display of wares, backlit by light falling on the ranks of containers and the wedges of cheeses, the pats of butter, the upended bottles, and the arrivals of new produce still in their boxes, exude a calm, quiet beauty. I want to convey how it feels to enter this shop, with its sense of timelessness. I have always admired Dutch interior paintings, and to me this place embodies some of these qualities.’

Straw, Columbia Rd

‘This is a small shop that sells baskets, pots, brushes, candles – items of utility and beauty, new and old. Each basket has its individual form. The daylight is subdued, with a glancing light coming from the west, catching the shapes in the window display. The edges of the room and the baskets frame the composition.’

Berry Brothers Rudd, St James

‘I was delighted to visit the historic rooms at Berry Bros. & Rudd, the family-run wine and spirit merchant founded in the seventeenth century. This interior at No.3 St. James’s St, lit by huge arched windows, is little changed since it opened in 1698. The array of antique wine bottles above the waiting table and chairs, and the wide bench, all attest to the history.’

Courtyard at the Lacquer Chest, Kensington Church St

‘This antique shop opened in the fifties, put on the map by customers including David Hockney, Ossie Clarke, Alan Bennett and Jean Shrimpton. I first encountered it when seeking items for a photograph for a book cover, and have returned to buy pots and vases. I am particularly drawn to this yellow-painted hallway, looking through to the courtyard. Antique shops lure us in with the promise of serendipitous discoveries and this place never disappoints.’

At the George Tavern

‘I am interested in natural light and I liked the brightness of the yellow couch and stool against the soft greys of the room, and the pots not quite symmetrically placed on the mantelpiece. This is a house filled with life and people.’

Kitchen at Sutton House

‘This is the view from the Tudor kitchen of the five hundred-year-old manor house in Hackney. I chose to depict a domestic setting, looking through to a courtyard beyond, and only the face mask and trainers on the woman standing there indicate the modern era.’

Bethnal Green Library

‘Only one door into the library from the entrance hall was open and the library’s future was hanging in the balance of council decision-making. During the pandemic, the library became a vaccine trial centre, causing concern locally whether it would ever reopen. This beautiful building has served the East End for nearly a hundred years, offering the opportunity of reading to countless children and adults, including through the Blitz.’

Kitchen at Townhouse, Spitalfields

‘This basement kitchen is a warm and inviting place, with wooden walls and ceiling painted in muted greys, and copper pans and jelly moulds catching the light. I like the mixture of beauty and utility – the cakes under their glass cloches, the oranges on the counter top and the dark shapes of the cake mixer, coffee grinder and coffee machine, crowned by a pile of white cups.’

Sweetings, City of London

‘This is London’s oldest fish and oyster restaurant, which opened in 1830. The beautiful corner site on Queen Victoria St has been little changed for over one hundred years and is a much-loved institution in the City. I chose this corner because of the light cast from the frosted windows with their blue roller blinds, reflected in the tall mirrored wall panel and bouncing off the rows of glasses and cutlery.’

Bowl of Lemons

‘I like the acidic yellow of the lemons against the blue and white glaze of the bowl, and the imperfections of both.’