Where We Sip

An exhibition of new work by artist Vanessa Stone will open at Broadway Gallery, Letchworth Garden City, in October 2025. Where We Sip brings together a series of observational drawings that celebrate the everyday interiors of Letchworth’s cafés, bars, and museums - familiar public spaces that reflect the rhythms of daily life in the world’s first Garden City.

Stone, who is well known for her detailed paper cuts capturing the architecture and landscape of Letchworth, returns to drawing in this new body of work. The exhibition marks a shift in both material and subject matter. Working on discarded cardboard packaging, Stone uses the textured, worn surfaces as a backdrop for drawings that are quiet, considered, and deeply rooted in place.

The exhibition features twelve new works, each depicting a recognisable Letchworth interior. These are not grand or staged spaces, but real rooms that feel lived in, used, and loved. Through her use of recycled materials, Stone gives new value to what is often thrown away. The cardboard surfaces, with their creases and stains, carry a sense of history that enhances the atmosphere of each piece.

Stone’s work also reflects broader themes of sustainability and care. The reuse of packaging grounds the exhibition in a spirit of environmental responsibility, while her choice of subject invites viewers to appreciate the quiet significance of the spaces we inhabit every day. These interiors are shaped by people, design, and light - and Stone captures all three with sensitivity and attention to detail.

Stone’s work echoes with the Camden Town Group, artists like Harold Gilman, William Ratcliffe, and Spencer Gore, who were themselves connected to Letchworth and shared an interest in the quiet poetry of domestic life. Like them, Stone draws meaning from the modest and the familiar.

Where We Sip is both a portrait of Letchworth today and a reflection on the role of communal spaces in our lives. Through simple materials and careful observation, Vanessa Stone reminds us of the beauty in the everyday, and the importance of looking closely.