Buckinghamshire Open Studios
Bucks Art Weeks 2018
17 June 2018
How did it get to be Bucks Art Weeks again so quickly? This is an annual event and it seems like only yesterday that we were packing up after Open Studios 2017 - for Bucks Art Weeks is Bucks Open Studios re-branded.
If you have been with me on the blogging and art journey for a while you may remember that my first foray into Open Studios was back in 2015 when I was living in Winslow. Sadly, that was also the year my Dad died so it was, overall, a strange experience.
However, it was an adventure, and reading the blog post back I remember what hard work it was to get the space organised. For that first venture into Open Studios my lovely friends Rob and Andy (of Rob Turner China) came to help us set up.
I should probably explain at this point, that the Us is Mix3d Stitch - because there are 3 of us and we all use stitch in our work. My Mix3d Stitch colleagues are Jane Charles (sometimes known as Smallbeans or Smallstitches) and Yvonne Elliott. (Jane is on the right in the picture below, Yvonne is on the left and I am in the middle).
Back to Open Studios - for the following two years we were at Christ the Cornerstone Church in Central Milton Keynes. You can read a bit about our adventures here. A fabulous space, but two years on we were ready to downsize again and make it a bit more 'domestic'.
Yvonne kindly volunteered her space (I have long since left Winslow, our first venue), so we set too to organise her work space into a display area.
This area is predominantly Jane's work, with one of my lampshades at the back.
We did not have big wall space so I only displayed smaller works, and of course a selection of lampshades.
We also took over the lounge - somewhere nice to sit and drink tea but also more wall space. Some of Yvonne's work and one of my lampshades.
Another corner in the main room. This is all Yvonne's work.
I took a selection of handmade cards over.
And my hearts - cut from my abstract paintings.
Buck Art Weeks runs from the 9th to the 24th June. As I type this there is one more week to go and we will be open again next weekend.
If you are reading this and you are anywhere near MK then our venue is 19, Kenchester, Bancroft, Milton Keynes. We open at11 am next Saturday and Sunday - the 23rd and 24th June. If you are reading this and you are in MK do pop in. There is tea and cake, as well as lovely arty stuff.
If you have been with me on the blogging and art journey for a while you may remember that my first foray into Open Studios was back in 2015 when I was living in Winslow. Sadly, that was also the year my Dad died so it was, overall, a strange experience.
However, it was an adventure, and reading the blog post back I remember what hard work it was to get the space organised. For that first venture into Open Studios my lovely friends Rob and Andy (of Rob Turner China) came to help us set up.
I should probably explain at this point, that the Us is Mix3d Stitch - because there are 3 of us and we all use stitch in our work. My Mix3d Stitch colleagues are Jane Charles (sometimes known as Smallbeans or Smallstitches) and Yvonne Elliott. (Jane is on the right in the picture below, Yvonne is on the left and I am in the middle).
Back to Open Studios - for the following two years we were at Christ the Cornerstone Church in Central Milton Keynes. You can read a bit about our adventures here. A fabulous space, but two years on we were ready to downsize again and make it a bit more 'domestic'.
Yvonne kindly volunteered her space (I have long since left Winslow, our first venue), so we set too to organise her work space into a display area.
This area is predominantly Jane's work, with one of my lampshades at the back.
We did not have big wall space so I only displayed smaller works, and of course a selection of lampshades.
We also took over the lounge - somewhere nice to sit and drink tea but also more wall space. Some of Yvonne's work and one of my lampshades.
Another corner in the main room. This is all Yvonne's work.
I took a selection of handmade cards over.
My new stitched mono-prints.
Buck Art Weeks runs from the 9th to the 24th June. As I type this there is one more week to go and we will be open again next weekend.
If you are reading this and you are anywhere near MK then our venue is 19, Kenchester, Bancroft, Milton Keynes. We open at11 am next Saturday and Sunday - the 23rd and 24th June. If you are reading this and you are in MK do pop in. There is tea and cake, as well as lovely arty stuff.
Bucks Open Studios 2017 - a review
30 June 2017
Friends - it has been a little while!
Then a little bit if the stuffing was knocked out if me!
Transformation - Time and Landscape I (above) and II (below) had another outing.
They looked beautiful this time. I did not hang them on hanging rods but rather attached them directly to the wall. Much better.
Stunning batik by Jane Sharp (teeny hand stitching!)
Yvonne Elliot had a wonderful display in an alcove in the first floor cloister gallery.
And Jane Charles made a beautiful display of quirky birds and trees ...
... and colourful mixed media prints.
And, while I am sure you did not really miss me - there are other fab blogs out there after all - I should explain.
I think last time we met I had finished the handmade artists book.
It was a labour of love - made for Bucks Open Studios.
Here are a few pics. I ought to try to do a little video.
The binding.
Then a little bit if the stuffing was knocked out if me!
I lost my old dog. He was elderly, it was coming, he'd had a great innings but it still somewhat took the wind out of my sails. Dogs - they're not with us long enough. And they take a bit of your heart.
Here he is from a couple of years ago looking out over the Solent. If you have read this blog from the start you may have seen him pop up from time to time. He was a character and not fond of other dogs he met out - yet as soft as butter when you got to know him.
And here he is, basking in the May sunshine shortly before he died.
But must press on - this blog is not about dogs.
So then we had a holiday - fabulous! Romania - a bit of vampire hunting ( well, you have to don't you!).
I will come back to Romania another time. I will just tempt you with this. (Yes - its Dracula's castle! Actually it isn't at all, but that is another story!)
And then back to a hectic time in the day job, and hanging Open Studios.
We - and by 'we' I mean Mix3d Stitch, the informal little group that first got together for Open Studios in 2015 - were back at Christ The Cornerstone Church in central Milton Keynes ( opposite Marks and Spencer - prime location!)
This year we totalled 11 artists including a proper quilter - Alison Pearson
Then yours truly.
Transformation - Time and Landscape I (above) and II (below) had another outing.
They looked beautiful this time. I did not hang them on hanging rods but rather attached them directly to the wall. Much better.
Stunning batik by Jane Sharp (teeny hand stitching!)
Yvonne Elliot had a wonderful display in an alcove in the first floor cloister gallery.
And Jane Charles made a beautiful display of quirky birds and trees ...
... and colourful mixed media prints.
Beautiful paintings by Sheila Ward.
Detailed drawings by Nicola Saunderson.
Paintings, many portraits and self portraits by Catherine Smith (including this interactive cube).
Prints by Helen Taylor.
And stained glass.
Bucks Open Studios 2016
11 June 2016
And we are ready to go! Ready to welcome the admiring crowds.
Last year I hosted our first venture into Open Studios -and we had a blast.
This year Mix3d Stitch (that is myself and textile friends Jane and Yvonne) had to think on our feet and at speed because there was no guarantee that I would be in the same house. And, if you read this blog regularly, you will know that much of this year has been taken up with moving house and boxes!
So, Jane is a lady of many contacts. She is a very big wig at Arts Central and in turn runs the gallery space at Christ the Cornerstone, the big ecumenical church in the centre of MK.
So, we booked out the Gallery for BOS - and because the gallery is on two floors we then found 6 other MK artists to share the space. And two days of hard work (my feet are sore, and we had to clean and titivate etc.) we opened the doors last night.
My work is predominantly on the ground floor.
Hanging on a curved wall can be a bit of a challenge. Abscission I - on the left in the picture below - fell off during the hanging process. Emergency reframing required!
And down stairs we have space for Jane's monster of a quilt - the New Bradwell Quilt which she completed with the children of New Bradwell School in 2013 to celebrate it's centenary.
The kids each did a panel. It is a joy and so nice to see it getting another outing.
Upstairs is a little section for some of my jewellery and cards. Filling a little hole and looking rather lovely.
Upstairs Yvonne is showing her beautiful stitched landscapes and silk paintings.
And a cabinet full of little treasures.
And a shelf full of stitched wonders.
And Jane Charles her experimental stitched pieces.
And we have been joined by Lily Glover Wright - another painter
Elaine McKenzie and her amazing characters
And Nicola Saunderson's graphic illustrations
Do pop in if you are in the area. We are in central MK opposite Marks and Spencer.
Someone will be manning the gallery Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am and Wednesday afternoons. But the gallery will be open on other days - actually when ever the church is open - so do pop in to have a browse.
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