SUMMER AND THE OPEN STUDIO
It is mid-April at the time of writing this update, and it is less than one week before the start of the Emsworth Arts Trail, so once again I am opening up my studio and home for the two upcoming weekends. It has been a frantic couple of weeks with lots of projects either finished, progressed or newly started as I try to gather fresh paintings, drawings and prints for visitors to look at. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Emsworth Arts Trail; although I only began taking part in 2021 after the Covid restrictions ended, I have been an annual visitor whenever I could, popping into the various open studios — in part because my in-laws lived in Emsworth, which is how we ended up living here too. This week’s tasks are practical: mow the grass, pick up the fallen flowers from a neighbour’s shrub that hangs over our fence, clear the garden of the grandson’s toys — the bunting is already up, so that’s one thing done. In the studio I have three more easels to unpack and build, a tidy-up to do, and then the same in our kitchen/diner where I display my ‘This Britain’ series of paintings. Oh, and I still have my 9–5 (8–6 in my case) consulting job to keep me honest — one day I hope to be free from those shackles, maybe in a year or two. On the artwork front, I have finally finished the fourth ‘This Britain short’, a row of cows, and in the process of working on it I had some spare paint left over, so I’ve started the fifth and sixth shorts as well.
This Britain Shorts - Cows
On DarkWood (which to me is much more fun) I have mounted and framed a large print from the Market Day in Dingle Bottom ;-) — it sits nicely and brings a bit of that scene into the space. I’ve been busy producing a few more prints and refining them, and I’ve also started work on a few of oil-painted portraits: two small studies to explore form and colour, and one larger version that I’m developing with more detail.
Works in progress
So its all hand on deck with 5 days and counting…..
