Delicate and colourful brushstrokes, skips of flora decor, with a nod to rural heritage; if you’ve been following Le Chameau’s most recent boot launch of the Nomade Chelsea, you’ll already be well acquainted with the sensitive and soft illustrative work of Polly Fern. 

We love Polly’s work so much so that we asked her to join the Le Chameau team on our latest Summer Campaign shoot in Norfolk, where we asked Polly to create an artist response to the day, sailing through the picturesque creeks of the north Norfolk coastline. During the day of sailing, we caught up with Polly to hear more about her inspirations as an artist and connection to the local area. 

Polly wears Le Chameau Vierzon style in Iconic Green.

Artistry at an Early Age

Polly is an illustrator and ceramicist, based in Bungay, Suffolk. She lives with her two whippets in a 17th-century cottage situated next to the beautiful River Waveney. 

“As early as I can remember, I’ve always been creative, enjoying the process of creating worlds through drawing and other mediums. I have some quite early core memories from when I was younger, one being at my first school, winning an award for a landscape painting I had done of the local surroundings, and another, where I was collaging some birthday cards with my mum and sister and realising that I was good at assembling paper scraps and putting colours together. So, the artistic side has always been with me from the very start.

“Alongside my passion for art, my love for the rural environment has also been with me from an early age. Before moving to Bungay, Suffolk, I grew up just over the border in Norfolk, where my grandparents farmed a small dairy herd, so I spent many of my early years in and around the sights and sounds of dairy farming. 

“We then moved to a cottage nearby and lived there for many years. It’s also where I went to the local university, Norwich University of the Arts, where I studied illustration. I lived in Norwich for many years before buying my first home in Bungay on the Norfolk/Suffolk border.

“Although Bungay is a market town, you don’t have to travel very far to feel like you are in the countryside. After work, you can just wander and find yourself in the most incredible remote places or even hop on a canoe and head down the river where you spot the most amazing wildlife.”

Establishing a Studio: Cork Brick

Since moving to Bungay, Polly has found her home – alongside many other creatives in the Suffolk town – and her studio and showroom Cork Brick, which, within the Georgian red-brick façade, you will find an impressive exhibition of Polly’s pieces, from ceramics to paintings. 

“I’ve forever been fascinated and besotted with gardens and flowers; this long relationship led me to start creating ceramics. My first ceramic collection, which I created whilst at art school, was based on local garden stories. I created my first ‘Romantic Vase’ in 2017, and I’ve been making collections ever since. Some have found their way into collectors’ homes all around the world! I used to keep canaries and now have two fawn whippets, which are ever-present throughout all my work.

“I’m lucky to be a multidisciplinary artist and work across such a broad range of mediums because it means work never gets boring. I find that the different materials and processes you discover through working can inform one another, which helps me to keep things fresh. Working across these various materials, it means that I appreciate them all so much individually, rather than having a preferred medium.”

From Printing to Pargetting

Polly has designed and produced wallpapers, cushions, lampshades, prints, tiles, vases, plates, we ask her, is there anything she’d love to create which she hasn’t explored yet?

“When restoring my 17th-century studio a few years ago, we repaired lots of the lime plastering and did some pargetted panels in the entrance. Suffolk is home to some very talented generational pargetters with lots of buildings being adorned with their work.

A pargetter or pargeter is a traditional plasterer who specifies in decorative plastering. 

“I would love to learn from these craftspeople to create some lime pargetted panels featuring my whippets. I love learning how to work with new materials and the limitations they can sometimes bring to drawing, which I often find creates stronger image-making.

“Last year, I really enjoyed creating my first festive advent calendar, so much so, that I have just finished working on a second that will be arriving later this year - along with a re-print of the first design as it sold out so quickly! The first advent was a die-cut Dutch gable-ended building, inspired by The Shell Museum in Glandford, Norfolk – coincidentally, just down the road from Wells where we were sailing from! The inside the advent is an interior scene, inspired by my home, but filled with lots of objects and antiques I wish I owned! 

Polly joined us on our Summer Campaign sailing the north Norfolk creeks to produce an artistic response to the day. To discover what Polly has produced for us, subscribe to our newsletter for more news. 

Polly’s work can be found on her website and social media.