Penny Berry 

It is with the great sadness that the Suffolk Craft Society has recently lost one of its Honorary Members, Printmaker Penny Berry Patterson. 

Penny joined the Society in 1984 and regularly participated in all its activities right up until Covid 19 impacted us all. 

Penny was also a founder member of 12 Printmakers and active in the Gainsborough's House Print Workshop. 

Penny set up her studio after studying printmaking as a mature student at the Colchester Institute. Through her demonstrations, exhibitions and commissions she established a loyal following for her iconic lino-prints and her work hangs on many walls around the UK and abroad. Many of her larger prints were made for particular public spaces and her original print Christmas cards are eagerly collected. 

Much of Penny’s work was based on folklore drawn from around the UK and her palette reflected this theme reminiscent of the 1950’s. Her images invariably included wild animals in their habitat and people working at traditional activities. Penny developed her images by using several smaller pieces of lino which she overlapped rather like an intricate jigsaw often using the same ‘pieces’ in several of her images. 

The Suffolk Craft Society gave her lino-print Peter Grimes on the Beach to Roger Wright, Chief Executive of the then Aldeburgh Music when he opened our Summer Exhibition in 2018 and this now hangs in their office as a memory of Penny’s special oeuvre. 

Penny had many friends within the Society and art world and will be sadly missed. 

 

Sally Freer