St Michael's Xmas Open Studios this coming weekend

St Michael's Xmas Art Open Studios, Sat 4 & Sun 5 December 2010

Explore the studios and galleries of a dozen artists at St Michael's Studios in Bridport, for an Open Studios exhibition on Sat 4 & Sun 5 December, 10am to 5pm. The open event offers art lovers and collectors an inspiring taste of this remarkable community of award-winning painters and illustrators at the forefront of the growing Bridport art scene.

A dozen artists are taking part including Kit Glaisyer, Caroline Ireland, David Brooke, Paul Blow, Prue Heward-Morgan, Jan Zajac, John Boyd, Philomena Harmsworth, Marion Taylor, Annalisa Renee, Sally Davies and Marion Irons. (More details about all these artists can be found at www.bridport.org)


Kit Glaisyer will be showing his latest commission, "Lewesdon Tree" that he has been working on since the summer. It is part of a series of paintings of views across the Marshwood Vale that each take from 6 to 12 months to complete. He works in a large scale with oil on canvas, using multiple glazes and a highly refined technique to create powerful evocations of light, space and mood. www.kitglaisyer.com


Marion Irons has recently moved into a bigger studio, and is inspired by the beauty of the Dorset coast and landscape, exploring the textures, forms and surface qualities of the natural landscape. She says "I paint the way light and the force of the natural elements affect the landscape, and I use mixed media to interpret what I see in a more expressive and tactile way."


Annalisa Renee is the most recent artist to join St Michael's Studios. She has just started a new body of work based on the horse, following the magnificent tradition of horse painters from the past, such as Rosa Bonheur, Landseer and Degas. She says "I've drawn horses since childhood, but never spent time painting them. They have such strength and wonderfully fluid shapes and a also such a rich mythology."


Philomena Harmsworth has been working on a painting of the well-known local potter Katkin Tremaynet making her 'salmon” pottery', which explores the conflict between the imprisonment of routines, and the need to create. Philomena says "I have been considering how people can make a journey in their heads. Children make it quite naturally, slipping easily into play and imagination. Adults have to work more consciously to achieve it, by being creative." www.philomenaharmsworth.com


Caroline Ireland has been working on a series of still life paintings using pastel on black paper. She says "this really makes a gorgeous and vibrant combination, I try to reduce everything I see to a map of patterns and lines and blocks of colour. I think composition is really important, but for me this is more instinctive than organised. I paint lots of pots of flowers as I love the contract between natural forms and human artefacts."


David Brooke is a former president of the Society of Graphic Artists, and will be showing his acrylic paintings, including "Growth", a painting loosely based on the theme of the Green Man, which is a symbol of regeneration, but can also appear as strange and confusing.


Marion Taylor will be showing a series of landscapes depicting Dorset's ancient hills. She says "I am fascinated by variations in the landscape bought about by changing seasons and I strive to portray the lyrical and sensual spirit of the landscape bought about by thousands of years of use by man & beast."


Jan Zajac comes from a family of Belgian artists; his uncle was a leading painter of the Ostend school based at Marienkerke. These painters tended to paint maritime subjects, often with a knife, and Jan has started to do the same, also painting portraits and nudes.


Sally Davies is an artist who likes to push boundaries with her work. She says "I'm interested in Art Deco and Art Nouveau, and my themes vary from nature to spiritual. It may be trees in the shape of a cathedral or a Green Man somewhere in the sky behind a tree with magical light coming through."


St Michael's Studios is located in Bridport's Art & Vintage Quarter, on the St Michael's Trading Estate, in a red brick building with a tower, visible from the Waitrose car park.

The Xmas Open Studio will run from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th December 2010. Visit www.stmichaelsstudios.com for more information.

Tweets from Bridport

Right, LOTS going on in Bridport (of course). First up, I've been enjoying opening my studios to the public from 10-3pm every Saturday. I spend most of my time painting on my own, which I love, but it really doesn't mean anything unless I share my work with others. I also love that people can come and see my work progress and get a taste of an artist's life.

Also, Bridport's Saturday market just seems to get busier every week, and more & more people are discovering the Art & Vintage Quarter down on the old St Michael's Trading Estate.

The new Red Brick Cafe is just 50 yards down from my studio, and serves the most delicious food I've ever eaten (made with love), all for under £10 ! It's truly remarkable, and yet another example of the unique quality that makes Bridport stand out as an example, not just to the West Country, but to the rest of the UK.

It's all very well talking about 'Big Society' and 'empowering local communities', but we all know most of it is just political spin and hot air. The fact is that Bridport is a real example of 'big society' in action, where the community has come together naturally. If politicians really want to encourage community initiatives, then they should visit and learn from the people of Bridport, where it's already happening.

With Christmas approaching, there are several exhibitions opening, and I've also been to 3 Private Views in the last 3 days.

Thursday evening was an opening of an exhibition of George Wright's photos at the upstairs of Beach & Barnicott, South Street Bridport.

On Friday evening I went to an opening of paintings by Gerry Dudgeon, in his studio near Melplash.

Then on Saturday evening I went to the opening of "Sea" at Sladers Yard, West Bay, where I met artists Alex Lowery and my old London studio colleague Rufus Knightwebb.

I've also started 'Twittering', mainly in order to keep the front page of Bridport.org up-to-date. I'm going to be covering exhibition openings, interesting events, inspiring links, as well as the development of my own work, so click on the link below to follow my thread...


I'd put off signing up to Twitter for ages, because I didn't really appreciate what it means... but now I'm doing it, I'm beginning to realise it could be quite revolutionary. I think all of these new 'social networking' tools are going to have a profound effect on the way we communicate, share ideas and do business in the future.

Obviously I'm already familiar with Blogging, and I maintain a Facebook page... But what I like about Twitter is that it offers an intimate taste of the thoughts and ideas of anyone we choose to follow. We don't have to apply to be their 'Friend', and while it's possible to follow 'fan' pages on Facebook, it all seems rather complicated compared to the simple efficiency of Twitter, and if someones tweets are uninspiring, you can simply 'unfollow' them.

So, next up for me is my next Saturday Open Studio this coming 20 Dec, and the following Sat 27 Dec. Please pop in if you're in town on a Saturday, you can see the exciting (and rather intense) progress of "Lewesdon Tree", my current commission...

Then we've got our annual St Michael's Xmas Open, on Sat 4 and Sun 5 December, with a dozen artists taking part. More details on that in the coming weeks...