Southwell Artists were able to donate £1000 to SightSavers www.sightsavers.org/, whilst a local charity Southwell Care Project www.southwellcare.org/ also benefitted from the open studios event as their volunteers provided tea and cakes, raising another £1000. What a warm feeling inside. As I couldn’t get to the studios last week I posted keys to a new licensee (who is local). I had gone through h & s and various proceedures so I thought this would be the sensible option. The problem is the post has been badly affected too and the keys only arrived yesterday. Anyway, John Cooke has been v patient and will move in at the weekend. I showed an artist from Long Eaton around the studios this week who had never heard of HMS. He is now on the waiting list. When we set up HMS I didn’t realise how many practioners would be within spitting distance of the studios.
The Supermarket event in Sweden earlier this year has resulted in some exciting exchanges for 2011. We are off to Chicago in the Spring and look forward to welcoming artists from ‘Art on the Armitage’ during Oct 2011 for a 2 week residency. A group from Visby, Gotland will be over in June whilst we will be off to see them on their home territory in August. It is supposed to be very beautful. It’s going to be a full on year!
Fi Burke has been artist in residence at HMS since 29th November. Her white floury landscapes in big custom built trays, mirror the snow scenes outside. We couldn’t have forseen a white November when the show was programmed in. Fi is having 2 openings, one tomorrow from 1pm and the other on Monday after 3pm. Weather permitting, I am planning to be there tomorrow. Me and Alison have just delivered work to the Tarpey Gallery in Castle Donington for their annual Open. The gallery is very chocolate boxy with thatched roofs and timber frame… but the shows are definitely more cutting edge and contemporary. This week I have been marooned and missed a lot of Sideshow happenings :( I have concentrated on drawing … and we have been entertained by skiers on our road and sledging on the fields.
The crate has been collected. Phew! Mick on the groundfloor allowed us to pack the work en situ. Given that it weighed 215 kg we were v grateful. But Mick also helped the courier on Wednesday as I couldn’t be there. I thanked him personally today. On the way to the studios I popped into Oldknows to see the Reunion exhibition – an overview of work by current and previous tenants of the studios, (including me). I missed the opening because I was tied up with SOS at the weekend. The show is a reminder of the great contemporary work being made by established artists in Nottingham. In particular I liked Stephen Craighill’s gruesome textiles constructed using found decorative fabrics and hand sewn tapestries. More Hitchcock than Home Sweet Home!
I am whacked! The builders were still working on Friday afternoon – changing the hinges on the windows before Southwell Open Studios this weekend. I managed to roller 12.5 litres onto the walls and hang work in 3 rooms. (My studio now has a bed in it and there is less wall space for pictures so we decided to spread out a bit). It’s traditional for artists to go on a tour of the studios the night before, with wine and nibbles at each stop. As there were 8 or 9 venues to visit, it meant plenty of booze and a late night. (Though we had plenty of coffe and tea to avoid a headache the next day)All good fun. I don’t know what the numbers were this year, but it felt busier than 2008. I’ll find out tomorrow because it’s a ticketed event. I had a few sales, interest in my books and some people signing up to my children’s book illustration classes.Today was spent packing Lim’s work in a crate to be collected and delivered back to Seoul on Wednesday. Luckily Sarah was around to help, though it still took all morning. Tonight has been catching up on admin and promoting Sooky’s show ‘Core’ at HMS. Her new work is beautifully executed and v original. See www.harringtonmillstudios.co.uk
