CHELTENHAM OPEN STUDIOS AT the yard:ARTspace

While I was trapped in my house running venue 34 as part of Cheltenham Open Studios, just up the road at the yard:ARTspace was our sister show in venue 35

Our guide entries sat beautifully along side each other.

We had matching bunting, thank you Carole for doing that.

And for once the sun shone on the event.

the yard:ARTspace is usually full of excited people on creative workshops and courses.

But last week it turned into a gallery space with wonderful  Claire Baker ceramics, Susan Wilkinson jewellery and Carole Bury stitched works on paper.

On the Wednesday my printmakers came to class as usual, but under the expert eye of a celebrity printmaker Frans Wesselman who came to visit us. Thank you for coming and I look forward to returning the visit for Worcester Open Studios in August. 

While printmaking continued, Susan was working on her jewellery and visitors came to watch. The atmosphere was so creative.

Iris tried hard to market the yard:ARTspace while stealing the show in venue 34.

It was a a thrill to have all this lovely work at the yard.

Can you guess why I like this piece from Claire? 

It was fascinating to see Susan creating her pieces with exquisite tools and

making gorgeous work.

Carole set up her workshop in the press room

I am sure giving away the secrets of her beautiful stitched paper techniques, but the skill and imagination can only be hers.

I have to say what a dream team they made, everyone who came on to our venue said what a warm welcome they had received at the yard. Thank you so much Susan, Claire and Carole, I have not laughed so much and I will miss our regular and rather surreal whatsap communications.

Venue 34 & 35 would not have had so many visitors without the support of Dodwells our local stationers and art suppliers. They created the most amazing window for Cheltenham Open Studios. Handed out hundreds of guides. Gave up retail space to promote the artists in their area and were still giving out walking maps with leaflet holders on their shop window while closed on Sunday. So it's a really big thank you from the 6 artists at venue 34 &35.

Look out for COS in 2019 when hopefully the dream team will be back.

STEADY...

It is 2 days before the preview evening and 3 days before Cheltenham Open Studios starts in earnest. Commercial Street, venue 34 and the yard:ARTspace, venue 35, are beginning to take shape...but why is it taking us so long to set up?

The 6 of us all have other things going on in our lives and it is a real luxury to be able to take time to set up an exhibition and gently place and tweek.

There has been several weeks of planning for the Dodwells window. My local stationers and art material suppliers have offered their support to their 'arty' customers and have put a promotional window in to advertise the Naunton Park and Suffolks artists, they have guides and venue walking maps to make life easier for the determined Open Studio tourist.

My shed at venue 34 is now done, come and watch me drawing and experimenting over the 9 open days.

You will also find a bargain or two as I have cleared out my print and enamel drawers to make space for new work.

The main room in Commercial Street is really turning into a gallery and will be showing my latest work (before the galleries get it),

both collagraphs and my new textile /prints. But I have left significant gaps for Caroline's automata and Sharon's jewellery and metal work.

Meanwhile back at the yard:ARTspace I have tidied up the notice board and the website. Create for Christmas and the 2018 program is being launched during Open Studio's so pop over to venue

35 and check out the details and see where you could take a create workshop.

So far Carole and Claire have begun to place work

around the Workroom and the 

Space Inbetween. The cabinets are waiting for Susan to display her jewellery.

So we are all on the home straight, pricing and the final move around yet to come, oh and signage, mixing Pimms for Thursday night and of course constant dead heading what is left of the garden after all this rain!!

READY...

One week today is the preview evening for my Cheltenham Open Studio exhibition!

My home, studio and garden will be open to the public for 9 days. It is a really positive experience and I get lovely visitors. This will be my 5th Open studio event and I started this blog with the 2009 exhibition at Hampen. So much of my artistic life has been documented during the last 9 years here.

But I am not looking back, I have 7 days to get things ship shape. So this is all about how I prepare for Cheltenham Open Studios.

The lovely Mr Brown and I started with the garden over a month ago, unlike dusting the house or painting a wall, gardens take a little more time to recover from tweeking.

Unlike the Chelsea flower show I seem to have no control over when things flower, so you will have missed my peonies, oriental poppy and may get a last glimpse of the bearded iris. I watch helplessly as prize blooms flower a week too early or get munched by snails.

With the garden tidied and bedding filling in gaps my tidy mode turns to the shed...

You don't want to see it too tidy, you want to believe that I am inspired by my surroundings and can find what I need at any moment, on the whole I am and I do. Now the shed is ready for you to find a print or enamel bargain. I am ready for technical discussions and point you to the right yard:ARTspace workshop to get your creative juices flowing.

So two down, only the lounge to go.

The lounge is more of a responsibility as I have invited two other artists to join me, Sharon McSwiney is back and Caroline McCatty exhibited with us both at Hampen 9 years ago. Talk about coming full circle!

I have cleared my eclectic collection to all corners of the house, filled and painted a wall and cleaned, yes you heard me, cleaned!!

Just trying a few things out before properly hanging work this weekend. In fact I will be collecting framing today.

Then there is the signage, pricing and labeling.

Caroline will help me put the show together on Sunday and

Sharon will race up from Cornwall and place her gorgeous work on Wednesday. 

Then the fun will begin.

This year I have made a couple of prints especially for Open Studios. Both etchings as part of my print a month...I know there are 2.

So that is me putting together the Cheltenham Open Studio event, I am sure you will believe me when I say I may not have mentioned everything, the sourcing artists for the yard event happened last year, meetings and marketing talks and of course the drip feeding of information to social media for weeks. And I am not alone, Cheltenham will be awash with artists opening their homes and studios from 10-18 June, we have so much talent here and it comes out ever two years to delight you. There is a parallel exhibition at the yard:ARTspace with Claire Baker, Carole Bury and Susan Wilkinson showing their work and giving people a chance to look around the yard.

I will keep you up dated with the Open Studio progress if you can't get to sunny Cheltenham but hopefully...

look forward to seeing you next week, I will be calmer by then!?

IT'S MATERIAL

Last weekend saw me rolling out my signature technique, gum arabic transfer with a textile twist at the yard:ARTspace.

Since the successful workshop at Hope & Elvis  earlier in the year, I have been experimenting with more gum arabic transfer prints onto fabric...I am becoming obsessed!

This photo shows the start and finish of the transfer process, spreading gum arabic on to a photocopy on the left and printing the inked copy onto a substrate on the right.

Inbetween those two stages is the inking and the

spraying off with water.

I was thrilled with the work everyone

produced on paper in the morning.

But the day was all about the fabric really. Here I encouraged everyone to put together a fabric collage. I could not believe that I supplied needle and thread to tack the pieces together 

There was lots of decision making and

beautiful results appeared.

The planning really paid off

and the work room was filled with prints, copies and fabric snippets.

And here are some of the results...

All gum arabic transferred images onto collaged, pre-embroidered fabric or just using textile as a replacement for paper.

Lots of experimentation took place, this is transfers on cynotype pieces.

Finished projects, resources for future projects and experiments emerged, I am really hoping that I will be sent some images of progressed work. Thank you everyone for your creative energy, it was an exciting day. 

This is proving to be a popular workshop so I have planned an extra day this year, which is booking up quickly. Check www.theyardartspace.com for the October 6 gum arabic transfer on fabric workshop.