This year, the SEVEN artists’ book collective are diving headfirst into the wild, wonderful world of childhood for Leigh Art Trail 2025.
Our latest project is playful, nostalgic, and deeply personal — each artist is transforming reclaimed children’s books into one-of-a-kind altered books that celebrate and explore the many layers of being young.
By repurposing old storybooks, SEVEN are breathing new life into forgotten pages. These altered books become part memory, part dreamscape—each one a unique visual narrative crafted through a joyful mix of materials and methods.
The creative process has been as diverse as the artists themselves. Expect to see everything from bubble printing and ink experiments to bold sticker play and whimsical collage.
Playing with spirographs
While some SEVEN members have delved into personal photo archives — using family pictures and fragments of childhood memories as a jumping-off point — others have leaned into the surreal, dreamlike quality of those early years.
What unites all the work is a sense of play—both in process and in spirit. Whether recalling real-life moments or conjuring imaginary adventures, each book invites viewers to reconnect with their own sense of wonder and curiosity.
SEVEN will be exhibiting our curious collection of handmade art books at Leigh Road Baptist Church during Leigh Art Trail 2025. It’s the perfect setting for a show that invites reflection, imagination, and a touch of childhood mischief.
Come turn the pages, and remember what it felt like to be small.
Leigh Art Trail Venue 41: Leigh Road Baptist Church
Three of the members of SEVEN, Amanda, Kim and Juliet, are delighted to be part of the “Without Boundaries” exhibition to be hosted at Hadleigh Old Fire Station in June 2025.
This is an exhibition of contemporary mixed media art, with evocative and strong links to themes ofmemory, nature, and the Estuary, exploring both the fragility and depth of the Estuary’s ecosystem.
The artists featured will be working in a variety of media, including textiles, collage, 3D, sound, video, light, ceramics, mosiacs and sounds.
Its on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 June, 10am to 4pm, free entry and free car parking. You also invited to the Private View on Friday 20th, from 6-9pm.
This forms part of the Estuary Anthology, a showcase of independently produced creative activities taking part during the 2025 Estuary Festival – check out estuaryfestival.com for all the details.
In February 2025, the Made in Essex Secret Postcard Sale made a triumphant return—and with it, a powerful reminder of how creativity and community can come together for a greater good.
Hosted at 70 The Broadway, the event showcased 100 beautiful postcards created by a wide range of local talent. Among them were mini masterpieces from SEVEN members, each contributing their unique style and voice to the vibrant exhibition. But there was a twist: each postcard was exhibited anonymously, and the identity of the artist remained a mystery until after purchase.
SEVEN’s postcards (Photo by Becky Noelle)
Art lovers from across Essex eagerly snapped up Golden Tickets for their chance to own one of these tiny works of art. Each ticket guaranteed the buyer a postcard—but not the choice of which one. The random element added a spark of excitement to the sale, with buyers walking away with a surprise piece from a mystery artist.
Every penny raised—£4000 in total—went directly to Metal’s NetPark Wellbeing Project, which delivers transformative art classes for people living with dementia. This innovative programme uses creativity to spark joy, encourage connection, and bring a sense of peace to both participants and their carers.
Project Manager Emma Mills expressed heartfelt gratitude:
“I cannot thank you enough. I see firsthand the joy, fun and sense of peace these sessions bring to carers and participants…”
This event was more than an art sale—it was a testament to the power of community, compassion, and creativity. By turning postcards into purpose, Made in Essex and its generous supporters made a meaningful difference in the lives of those navigating dementia.
100 postcards. 1 great cause. Countless moments of joy.
Our theme for this year’s Leigh Art Trail was Ghosts which we exhibited at Metal Southend. When we were invited to exhibit in the Clifftown Telephone Museum during October, the month of Halloween, the theme of our books was the natural choice.
We have taken images from our books and reimagined them into a new form. The paper dress was inspired by the Regency style of Princess Caroline, wife of the Prince Regent, who stayed in the now renamed Royal Terrace in the early 1800s.
Each artist took inspiration for their ghost-themed book from a wide variety of subject matter. Read on to find out more…
Nicola Watts –Ghosts
The topic of ghosts has been very inspiring for my love of working with colour, texture, found images from old books, newspapers and magazines, and shots I’ve taken on my travels.
It’s also been a chance to explore the idea of what a ghost is. Are ghosts really lost souls, wandering? Sometimes with good intentions? Playful, even? At other times angry with the life and people they left behind?
I wondered if buildings or the natural environment can gather energies and emotions and store them like a recording to be played over and over again, creating the perception of a presence that we can hunt down?
Even where there are rational explanations for ghosts – sleep paralysis, a mouldy room, electromagnetic fields or infrasound – experiences are still undeniably profound, creating a story to be told.
Nicola Watts – artist book page
Jo Bund– Ghostly prints
This quote came from the book Miss Willmott’s Ghosts which initially inspired me…
“The book recalls a world that no longer exists, populated entirely by shadows. A grainy, black and white world in which even major players have become phantoms, sometimes without even a monochrome snapshot to their once famous names.”
Sandra Lawrence (2022)
Miss Willmott loved to take photographs. These now give us a glimpse into her life at Warley Place, where she lived from 1875 until her death in 1934.
Photography began around the 1840s, and during the mid-19th century the Spiritualism movement contributed to the Victorian’s fascination with spirit photography (or ghost photography).
The aim was to capture an impression of someone in the afterlife. Yet, the most likely causes of such ghostly images would likely have been scratches, dust, lens flares, double exposure, and so on, that occurred during the photography process.
Taking inspiration from Miss Willmott’s Ghost, Warley Place, and ghost photography I have created my own ethereal images. Collaging layers of black and white photographs, mono prints, drawings, text and stitch. The resulting artist’s book is composed of seven signatures, bound together with a concertina spine.
Jo Bund – artist book page
Juliet Bryson– Ghosts of Chalkwell Hall
When I found out that Chalkwell Hall was to be our venue for this year’s Art Trail, it seemed an obvious idea to investigate whether there were any ghosts associated with the building.
Using research by writer, artist, and archivist Rachel Lichtenstein* as a starting point, I delved into the history of the Hall.
Chalkwell Hall seems to be unusual. It has been inhabited by a number of different owners and occupiers, as opposed to the “one family” history we often associate with “big houses”.
So my book dips into the lives of the people who are recorded as having once lived or worked in the Hall, as they “talk” to us from the past.
*Rachel’s research is available to download from the Metal Website.
I must confess that this year’s artist’s book has grown in an instinctual way. No one idea has dominated the process of creation, but I have allowed it to develop and suggest to me what my overarching concerns were with the theme ‘Ghosts’.
My first thought was related to the idea of sound waves ‘infrasound’ or the ghost frequency as it has been called — a high-pitched frequency that the human ear does not hear but perceives through a sense of unease, skin pricking, or feeling a cold presence.
How to approach sound in a flat two-dimensional book? Rhythm and repetition seemed to work, something that SEVEN often incorporate in our work.
My second approach was to consider the gothic ghost stories, apparitions in grey, men and women such as ‘The Woman in Black’. Found images often lead the way here and some high gloss fashion shoots stand in for my women in grey and black.
Weaving the workshop produced artwork and the shared art materials we must include, allowed these impressions to build and grow. The result is a book that is a little weird — but then isn’t the idea of ghosts a little out there?!
Amanda Jackson – artist book page
Kim Saunders– A Miscellany of Ghosts
The title “GHOSTS” was suggested by a previous member of the SEVEN Collective. But where to begin with such a prompt?
Well, I began with a list. Thinking about ghosts I wrote down whatever sprang to mind. As the list grew and grew, I realised that we use the word ‘ghost’ to describe a great many diverse things.
My enjoyment of researching subjects of interest to me has led me to integrate this into my art practice, which also often features graphic collaged elements and words.
And that, in short, is how I came to the idea of making my Miscellany of Ghosts.
Kim Saunders – artist book page
Helen Davis– Hauntings
Are you haunted? Some years ago I was reflecting on some deeply embedded beliefs. Beliefs that were holding me back. Where had they come from? A bit of digging and there it was, a clue — the death of my maternal grandmother.
She’d died when I was five. Obviously I hardly knew her. But then, neither had anyone really — apart from her beloved husband, my grandad Last, that is. He idolised her. Wrote poetry to her. Pined for her until the day he died, laying out her nightdress in preparation for some immortal reunion.
In contrast, the woman my mother and her eleven siblings experienced was earthy. Swearing in spoonerisms. A fan of horror legend Boris Karloff. Superstitious — especially about Tutankhamun. Always in the kitchen, a cigarette hanging off her lip. Turned out she was a touch more mysterious, of course.
And, so my book endeavours to honour my grandmother. Piecing together: my own fragmentary impressions; memories and anecdotes told by others; found items; and words. Words written by my grandfather. Even words recorded by mediums consulted following her death.
Yet, ultimately, I think this book is about haunting. How we’re haunted by our pasts. Our choices. Our guilt. Our memories. Haunted by our ancestors, even…
Helen Davis – artist book page
Further information
The exhibition will be on from 21 October until 22 November 2024. The Clifftown Telephone Museum is based at Capel Terrace, Southend-on-Sea SS1 1EX
SEVEN was delighted to be invited to exhibit at Darlinghust Academy, a local primary school, in their “Art Across the Ages 0-99” summer exhibition, which also included work from residents and carers at Admirals Court, Belfairs Academy, the University of South Essex, and other local artists.
We contributed our freestanding “book” that we had previously exhibited at Leigh Community Centre. This was made up of artwork reproduced from our previous projects, printed out, mounted onto board and constructed into an A3 concertina book design. The artwork included pieces from our Estuary sketchbooks and our Railway inspired series that we showed previously at Leigh-on-Sea train station waiting room.
SEVEN exhibition at ‘Art across the ages 0-99’, Darlinghurst Academy
It was wonderful to see the children and parents so engaged with the art and variety of ideas. Thank you to Mrs Buckley and the school for inviting us to participate, and its great to see a school that recognises the importance of creativity.
The exhibition was held on 16 July 2024 at Darlinghurst Academy.
