More happenings in Bridport...

("Sunburst", 72"x48", oil on canvas, work in progress)

Lots to catch up on this week...

The Bridport Open Studios launch at the Bull Hotel was a great success, and set the tone for our busiest Open event so far. We had over 700 visitors to St Michael's Studios over the August Bank Holiday weekend, which makes me wonder if we should extend the Open event over a whole week next year...?

I've been having a well-deserved break from helping with BOS, and I've had a great week painting in the studio, getting on with commissions, and a whole series of new works based on Lewesdon Hill and the Marshwood Vale.

I've also been invited to exhibit my recent West Dorset paintings at the Gala launch event for the new Tamara Drewe film at the Electric Palace on Friday 17th September. I'm looking forward to putting on a really great exhibition & I'll have more information about that in my next blog.



"As Tamara Drewe was filmed in the nearby locations of Salwayash, Dorchester, Beaminster and Yeovil, the Gala screening at the Electric Palace will make the evening even more special with the director, writer and cast collectively returning to Dorset for a final time.

Stephen Frears came to international attention in 1985 with his production of ‘My Beautiful Launderette’ for channel 4. The film received theatrical acclaim and received a nomination for an Academy Award and two nominations for BAFTA awards. Frears went on to make films of great acclaim including Dangerous Liasons (1988), High Fidelity (2000), Dirty Pretty Things (2003), Mrs Henderson Presents starring Dame Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins and The Queen (2006) for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The film stars Gemma Arterton (Prince of Persia, Disappearance of Alice Creed) as the eponymous Tamara, British star Dominic Cooper (An Education, Mamma Mia!), Tamsin Greig (Cuckoo, Sean of the Dead) and Roger Allam (The Queen, The Wind that Shakes the Barley)."

The Palace will also be hosting a Gala screening of Julian Fellowes new film "From Time to Time" on Friday 24 September.

"This will be Julian Fellowes’ second Gala screening at the Electric Palace in Bridport. The Premiere of The Young Victoria was held at the Electric Palace in March 2009 which attracted a full house audience and went on to win an Oscar for Best Costume Design."

The Palace is also going to be hosting a number of live Video performances over the next few months, including several by the National Theatre and also Operas, as disclosed by Real West Dorset. A full list of events is available on the Electric Palace website. They are also continuing to host a number of high calibre gigs by the likes of Courtney Pine, Reg Meuross and Neville Staple.

Meanwhile, great things have been happening down the road on the St Michael's Trading Estate, now known as the Art & Vintage Quarter.

The trading estate was absolutely packed with hundreds of visitors on the Sunday of the August Bank Holiday weekend, with both the Open Studios event on and the latest Vintage Market (held on the last Sunday of the month).

It seems that word of the Vintage Market is spreading quickly by word-of-mouth, and I think it embodies what makes Bridport so unique, with a vibrant mix of enterprise and our eclectic community, experienced in the lovely laid-back surroundings of the historic rope & net making estate. There's also the excellent Jalopy Pizza van and an amazing new Cafe, serving wonderful food at very reasonable prices.

The couple behind the Vintage Market are Sharon and Michael from the Old Albion store. Like so many Bridport folk, they fell in love with the town when on holiday here, and have been instrumental in bringing about the vintage Renaissance on the trading estate.

They had the imagination to see the potential in the Vintage Quarter, following on from the Cornucopia stores started by Nigel and Kate, and the subsquent influx of antiques stores in the former Top Gear workshop, led by Bob of Les Allees. You can see a list of these traders at Bridport Antiques.

On Friday night Old Albion hosted a promotional event called "No Country for Old Albion", with several bands playing for the entertainment of the public. It was a remarkable evening, and my favorite band were "Audioporn", playing a brilliant 3/4 hour set with a full version of their classic 1st album "Tank". You can watch my short video of their performance here, watch them perform it at the Brighton Festival here and visit their Myspace page.

You've probably gathered by now that something quite amazing is going on in Bridport, and just to prove the point, next up is the Bridport Hat Festival, set to run between Friday 17 and Sun 19 September, at venues throughout the town. (We'll be having an Open Studio at St Michael's).


As far as art goes, one exhibition I'm hoping to visit is the "Artists of the Jurassic Coast" at Eype Church Centre for the Arts. Here's a review from Bridport Radio (it's NOT actually a radio station, but I guess is named as such because it aims to provide a service as if it was a local radio station?)

Meanwhile the Artwave West Summer Exhibition continues until 11 Sept, and the "Voyages" exhibition continues at Sladers Yard, West Bay, until 12 Sept.