Anneli Fleming-Brown is a Suffolk-based artist also known as Scofinn. She chats with Harry about mothers, grandmothers and domestic memories, having just returned to live in the county of her childhood
Harry: You’re a textile designer and illustrator with an unusual pseudonym. How did ‘Scofinn’ come about?
Anneli: My dad was Scottish and my mother was Finnish, so my Scottish grandmother used to call us her little ‘scofinns’. A lot of my work is based around themes of food or kitchen objects, so I like that it can also be read as ‘scoffing’ (though having said that I actually pronounce it ‘Sco-finn’).
Harry: What inspires your work?
Anneli: I’d say everyday objects and mid-century shapes. Also the fact that I love food and cooking. I draw things like kitchenware and food from memory, so the results are really emotional reinterpretations of familiar things. It’s like life drawing but from my imagination, so it’s a bit of this, a bit of that and a bit of me. I also tend to simplify, which I think stems from my background as a textile designer.
For me it all boils down to simplicity of line, so my influences include people like the painter William Scott and the sculptor Barbara Hepworth.
I also have a passion for colour and simple form which manifests itself in a mid-century, Scandinavian and Nordic style. My inspiration comes mainly from nature, in particular fruit and vegetables, but also from my ever-growing collection of retro and Scandinavian pots, pans and ceramics.
My Finnish grandmother was a weaver and my mother was a nutritionist and a great cook and their general approach to colour and life has influenced me a lot. As I’ve got older my connection to my Finnish side seems to have become stronger, and I find all these memories of time spent in my grandmother’s kitchen popping back up – a nice place to find myself.
Harry: How long have you been based in Suffolk?
Anneli: We moved to Ipswich from Glasgow when I was five for my dad’s work. After my mum died, I did a two-year foundation at Ipswich School of Art but I was then off to London and later to Brighton. I returned recently after 44 years and now live with my husband in a 1970s bungalow just outside Bury St Edmunds, where he’s originally from. One of the great things about being back is being closer to my sister in Woodbridge.
Harry: What will you be supplying to Harry CJ Wix?
Anneli: To start with, I’m doing some of my Retro Kitchen tea towels and notecards, all manufactured from biodegradable materials here in the UK. Maybe later on some of my Giclée prints, which are in editions of 75 or 100. The Retro Kitchen series includes a set of designs around familiar mid-century kitchen paraphernalia, like Pyrex casseroles, spice jars, utensils and coffee pots. Apart from my commissioned work for major brands, I only sell my work via a dozen or so small independents across the UK, and Harry CJ Wix will be the first in East Anglia.
Harry: Can you tell me about your recent work for Woodbridge Museum?
Anneli:I was commissioned to do some prints for the gift shop, so I created an illustration based on the kind of worn-down old glass bottles that tend to wash up around Woodbridge Haven and the River Deben. There’s an example on display in the museum, so I based it on that.
Harry: What do you most associate with Suffolk?
Anneli: I think the woodlands and forests and also being able to see the horizon. I know everybody says that, but having come from a city I can’t tell you how much I’m appreciating it. We now live on the edge of woodland and that has definitely ignited my desire to paint again.
Harry: What’s your favourite spot in Suffolk?
Anneli: I have very fond memories of Snape. I had my wedding reception there in memory of my mother. She loved music and it was one of her favourite places, overlooking the reeds. There’s a boardwalk through the marshes and you can dedicate an oak tread to a person, so her name’s there among all the reeds. There’s also a little place up the road that I love called Iken, which is all reedy and river-y with a beautiful treeline. It’s all quite Scandinavian, come to think of it.
