One of my favourite places to snoop around is the food market open on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It's always bustling with crowds so great for people watching. You can get the best of anything here which is why it's hard to resist spending a small fortune.

This beautiful 19thC industrial building is situated in Markfield Park just around the corner from my studio. Once a sewage treatment works serving the whole of Tottenham and now a museum. The fully restored Victorian pump engine is only open to the public on the second Sunday of every month but the outside of the building and surrounding park is a worth a visit regardless.

I love this building and always visit if I’m in the area to look at their great window displays, travel up in the beautiful wood paneled lift and wander down the creaky oak staircase. The exterior and interior woodwork is from two old Men-of-War ships, the flooring made from their deck timbers. I normally head straight to the fabric department to see what new seasonal prints they have in, though only buy a metre’s worth so not quite sure what I’ll ever make from them. My most treasured prints are those designed by Grayson Perry of polluted factories, teddy bears, knuckle-dusters and hand grenades. They also sell oversized gift coins produced by the Royal Mint and packaged beautifully in a velvet pouch, which appeal to my love of all things out-sized.

A small but specialist record shop built around proprietor Jean Claude’s extensive knowledge of 20th and 21st century recorded music. Connoisseurs in vinyl, you can expect to find an eclectic range of new and pre-owned rarities. Based on the 3rd floor of an office block in Noho, it feels like a secret hideout for super vinyl freaks.

Misty mornings on the river beat the rest... this pic was taken in February on the Walthamstow marshes.