I had intended to keep a running blog on the Open Studios only it turned out to be too hectic. As soon as the studio closed there were special events and private viewings to go to plus Glasgow School of Art Degree show.
Well, the dust has now settled and it’s Monday. All the feedback is very good apart from a few hitches like council officials taking down our notices (seems it is illegal to put up notices on the road). This was a real pain for one artist because they had decided to close the main road leading to her studio for repairs and the only way she direct people to her studio – was to put up new directions on the road.
I had a fraught couple of hours trying to sort that lot out.
Oh yes another complaint was over opening times. This is a real problem in rural areas where people might have driven a great distance to view work only to find that some of the studios in the area have decided to close that day. We did attempt to persuade artists to co-ordinate with their neighbours on this but it didn’t work so I guess we have got to be a bit firmer next year.
On a personal level I am more than pleased with this years Open Studios because I made a conscious decision not to sell “stuff” and concentrate instead on giving people an experience and something to think about. It worked better than I expected but the downside was that at the end of each day I was totally shattered. Everyone stayed between 1-2 hours and some even came back with their families!
Most popular were the inter-activity sessions where people were given my ipad to draw on and I sent it on email to them so it was waiting when they got home. The teenagers who visited went straight to the electronics – no surprise there. As for my box, which became known as the “old age” box, this proved surprisingly popular too and led to many animated discussions. I asked people to write down on a small piece of paper what growing old meant to them. The only person who refused was a doctor!
Elsie Currie had never heard of an ipad let alone drawn on one. Yet within minutes of seeing mine she was creating her first digital drawing.
Not bad when you happen to be 85 years of age.
Now into our second day of Forth Valley Open Studios I am finding that it is the inter-activity side – drawing on my ipad and taking part in my “Older” project- that gets the most interest.
Yes the visitors are interested in looking at work on the walls but their interest quickly wanes when they get the change to actually participate in something.
Also I am not selling anything this year, a decision I made several weeks ago. Instead I am concentrating on the inter-activity through multi media side of my work.
Oh yes Elsie got a copy of her drawing – sent on email to her grandson for Elsie doesn’t have an email account.
I hesitated at first to see the reaction of visitors to my My “Older” project- ” Time of our Lives “- where I ask people to write a simple statement on what growing old means to them and to put it into a box.
(They get the chance to read others and it is anonymous if they wish).
My favourite so far is ” I am 84 years of age and still dancing “.
With all this activity in the studio I had to leave it to my partner to set up my video installation “The Matriarch” in St Saviors church, Bridge of Allan. Tomorrow morning I will go and check it. I am part of a group called “Font of Art” showing work in the church during Forth Valley Open Studios.
This is the link to my video -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9ePjdkApQY
We are getting good publicity in the Stirling Observer for our Forth Valley Open Studios which starts this weekend . They have given individual artists a half page spread in the four weeks leading up to the event. Geographically our Open Studios covers a vast area of central Scotland and we have not been so lucky with publicity in the Falkirk Herald though the Allloa Advertiser is very supportive along with all the free sheets. We are relying more and more on social media – Twitter and Facebook- to get the message out about the event rather than traditional media. Our opening exhibition last Friday in Delta Studios drew a large crowd though not all artists chose to submit work. We think this is because some were keeping it all for their own open studios.
Steamer Lane, rock group of retired professional men challenging perceptions of growing old.
They are the first to kick off my project “time of Our Lives” with a performance in the streets of Stirling.
With Forth Valley Open Studios less than two weeks away it is a hectic time for us all.
To add to the pressure this Sunday we open our garden to the public , along with several others in our small town of Bridge of Allan under Scotland’s Open Garden scheme.
My interest in gardens dovetails with my artistic work so I was interested to hear a discussion on the radio from this year’s Chelsea Flower Show over whether gardens could be considered “works of art”.
Some gardeners expressed surprise. Well, having experience of both I am under no illusion: gardens are works of art.
During last year”s Open Studios it was a salutary lesson to witness public taste: folk preferred my garden to the works in my studio.
I think it was the sense of discovery they experienced ( it is designed on the principle of outdoor rooms) combined with a sense that they were viewing something organic and living not still images on a wall.
Whatever.
