Lockdown, for many of us, was a chance to devote more time to our loved but neglected hobbies; the activities which offered us creative solace, but typically took a back seat to our careers, family responsibilities and daily errands. For English teacher and South Norwood resident Jonny Kemp, the months at home led him to spend more time on his art, sketching portraits and creating oil paintings. He found he had a real knack for it and when the world reopened, Jonny took the opportunity to set up a stand at the annual South Norwood Market, where he sold his first works and realised there was demand for his drawings.
This is not your typical side-hustle story, though: with his talent for reproducing faces on paper, Jonny has become a piece in the puzzle of South Norwood’s ongoing regeneration. His most recent project, South Drawood, saw him celebrate his fellow SE25 dwellers by drawing the portraits of local business owners, community workers and faces about town.
Working with his partner Lizzie Walters, who’s currently studying for a PhD in community development, Jonny staged an exhibition of his portraits at local multipurpose arts hub Stanley Arts (formerly Stanley Hall). Lizzie interviewed the subjects about their work in the community and loyalty to the area, and these stories accompanied the sketched faces as part of the show.
“We wanted to do something towards building a sense of community and bringing people together,” explains Jonny. “South Norwood is in the process of regenerating and it’s trying to do so without losing the existing character [or] becoming gentrified. It’s not a big place and it’s often overlooked as it’s between Croydon and Crystal Palace … but it’s got this cool and exciting community who really love it; people move there for the sense of community.”
South Drawood, he says, is primarily about “celebrating the people who run an independent business or the people who volunteer there”, and “showing the real diversity of the area”.
Noting it’s not dissimilar to the work she’s doing as part of her PhD research, Lizzie adds: “I’ve been speaking to the community about what they do and why on a daily basis. There’s people who look after the parks, people who litter pick, people trying to make the area prettier and promote this amazing community and area. They’re all really friendly and passionate about where they live.”
For Jonny, part of the joy in choosing his subjects has been telling the stories which aren’t typically celebrated. “It’s good to hear the stories of the people you wouldn’t expect to hear,” he explains. “We hear a lot about people who open cafés or craft beer places, but less about the person who moved from Brixton and opened a locksmiths,” he points out, in reference to one of his sitters.
Following the exhibition at Stanley Arts, Jonny gave the portraits to his sitters free of charge, but he’s in talks with the council about the possibility of a more permanent, public home for his sketches – potentially the South Norwood Underpass, which is already a walk of art.
With his South Drawood exhibition wrapped up, Jonny is taking paid commissions for his sketches and says it’s a real mix in terms of who requests one. “Sometimes it’s a gift, sometimes it’s a secret present for a partner, or it’s to commemorate a specific event, like a family portrait with a newborn child. Sometimes it’s remembering someone who’s passed away and the family has a nice photo of them they want to individualise or personalise in some way.”
As for any readers who want to give sketching a go themselves, Jonny has some tips. “Drawing is like learning a musical instrument; it’s something you should practise as frequently as you can,” he says. While if you’re painting portraits, “Forget thinking you’re looking at a person, and think of [the face] as a series of shapes. An eye is an oval, for example. Break it down into geometric shapes and angles.”
For more on Jonny Kemp’s portraits and South Drawood, visit: www.jonnykempart.co.uk/
This article was brought to you from The South Londoner
