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...