At Hahnemühle, we are honoured to collaborate with artists whose work captures the quiet power of everyday beauty. This month, we spoke with Penny of @pennychooiart, a London-based painter who works primarily with watercolour, gouache, acrylic, pencil, and ink on paper. Her practice explores architecture, landscape, memory, and the emotional resonance of place. Penny paints what she sees, like her daily life in London, moments from Southwest France, and scenes collected from her travels, rendering them in both intense colour and soft, watery washes.
Back To London Nottinghill – 9.04.2024 by Penny Chooi
Back to London: A Personal Journey
Her most recent work, Back to London, reflects a personal return to the flat where she lived when her children were born. After more than twenty years, she finds herself surrounded by the same walls that once held the joys and challenges of early motherhood. The painting captures the view from each of the four windows, the communal gardens, and the building’s facade. For Penny, this piece is about more than location; it is a quiet meditation on time, family, and memory. While she often begins her paintings with a plan, Penny allows the work to unfold organically in the studio. Her sketching, by contrast, is spontaneous and unstructured. In both cases, her aim is to reflect a sense of joy, to capture fleeting moments of beauty, and to convey the layered emotions of a particular memory, often happiness tinged with melancholy. Inspiration comes from life itself: a conversation overheard, a view glimpsed from a window, the light at a particular hour. Through her paintings, she invites the viewer to pause, reflect, and find something meaningful in the ordinary.
From Architecture to Art
Route des Cretes Ladeveze Ville – 11.2023 – By Penny Chooi
Penny began her artistic journey through architecture. While studying, for architecture, at the AA in Bedford Square, a tutor encouraged her to keep painting after noticing her use of small artworks to express site analysis. That encouragement planted a seed that grew into a lifelong practice. Her first exhibitions in the early 1990s in Pottery Lane and Kensington led to her first sale, a pivotal moment that gave her confidence to pursue art more seriously. Since then, she has worked on commissions, exhibited intermittently, and in 2023 became part of an artist collective in Mirande, France, where she now shows her work in a shared gallery space. She is currently preparing for her next move, seeking a venue in London to continue sharing her work.
Penny’s practice spans two distinct visual languages: small, precise watercolour-gouache paintings arranged in bright squares, and looser, more fluid pencil and watercolour sketches. Over time, these two approaches have begun to converge. The small squares are growing larger and more expressive, while the sketches have become increasingly saturated in colour. Lately, she finds herself returning to a persistent artistic question of “how to find the perfect blue”. For this exploration, she turns to her current favourite surface: Hahnemühle Agave Watercolour paper. “It’s thick, smooth, and lovely to work on,” she says, noting that she tends to prefer smooth papers for the way they interact with watercolour layering. Agave offers a balance of strength and elegance that matches her evolving style.
What Inspires Penny
Her artistic influences include Paul Klee, David Hockney, Henri Matisse, Edgar Degas, and Pierre Bonnard. More recently, she has been inspired by the work of Spanish painter Sanchez Zabaleta. Music is another important part of her process, and if her work had a soundtrack, it would feature thoughtful, atmospheric pieces like “Full Circle” by Half Moon Run, “Spring” and “Eden” by Hania Rani, “Youth” by Daughter, “Una Mattina” by Ludovico Einaudi, “Your Reflection” by Max Richter, and “Particles” by Ólafur Arnalds and Nanna.
Framed Delicious and 50 Reasons Why – By Penny Chooi
Among her body of work, one series she will never part with is The Delicious Series, painted 25–27 years ago. These pieces commemorate meals and moments shared with her husband around the world. Their sentimental value is too profound to let go. Looking ahead, Penny’s dream project would be a long-term solo exhibition painted on location in a beautiful place, an immersive, reflective project that combines travel, time, and creative freedom.
When asked what advice she would give to her younger self, she answers simply: “Just keep working.” It’s advice that reflects the quiet discipline and steady optimism of an artist who continues to find wonder in the ordinary and beauty in every brushstroke.
Follow Penny’s Artistic Journey
To see more of Penny’s work and stay updated on her latest projects, be sure to follow her on Instagram at @pennychooiart. Dive into her vibrant world of art and creativity!
