November 23 2003, Sunday, 11am-6pm
WIMBLEDON ART STUDIOS OPEN AGAIN - WITH OVER 60 ARTISTS, FROM ENGLAND, RUSSIA & USA - EXHIBITING CARDS, CERAMICS, JEWELLERY, PHOTOGRAPHY, SCULPTURES AS WELL AS VARIETY OF DRAWN & PAINTED ART THAT FEATURES SCENES OF CRETE, INDIA, ITALY, SCANDINAVIA, SICILY & TURKEY PLUS FIGURES FROM CHINESE, GERMAN & RUSSIAN HISTORY AS WELL AS INFLUENCES FROM AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, PSYCHOLOGY AND, QUITE POSSIBLY, JAPAN
Today is the last day of a three-day exhibition of the twice-yearly, Open Studio exhibition at Wimbledon Art Studios. And, yet again, it is a real coming-together of talents with a multitude of experiences and influences. Also, talking from my own experience, this type of Open Studio - where ALL the artists are under the same roof, has a much greater chance of lots of people turning up (especially in winter months), than Open Studios' where artists are based in outlying houses/studios around a particular area. It is so much quicker and easier to see everything! So, with only an hour to spare, the first studio we entered - with pen and paper in hand, was that of the very friendly, young artist, Julia Dagger. Julia has six mixed media sculptures on show, each entitled "Talisman 2003" (63.5cm x 88cm) and priced at £375. Next - keeping an eye on the time - we visited the studio of Pat Paxson, an artist born in Pennsylvania, who is currently doing an art-related PhD. In addition to art she is interested in psychology, and strands of this scientific profession can be seen in the five figurative works that she has on show. Psychologists, we all know, are able to see through the actions of others and you - too, will be able to "see through" the figures Pat has placed on a selection of coloured backgrounds. Prices range from £950 up to £2,500. Our favourite is the series of figures on the yellow background. What does that mean? Well, for me I do not know but, having seen everything - and with other viewers coming into her studio, I guessed it meant moving onto the next studio alongside - that of Alla Tkachok. Alla is an artist from Russia who has already received a fair amount of publicity in the national press for her large, full-body portraits of Prince Charles. Alongside the successor to the throne were several characters from Chinese, German and Russian history - with some in a variety of "original" poses. Before moving on, Alla had taught me the Russian for good-bye - well, good-bye until we write about her again, on these pages. Next, down one of the studios' narrow corridors, was the studio of Emma Mason. Now, Emma had a selection of original jewellery on show as well as, dotted on the walls, several acrylics including at least two of Italy... namely, Tuscany (£250) and Venice (£200). Not only scenes from warm countries are on show. Freya Douglas-Morris has eight paintings, all influenced by her visits to Scandinavia and the Baltic States. Prices range in from three paintings at £360 up to three at £1,200 (which includes our favourite, "Valley" - a snowy scene of a row of pine trees, running across a valley). In the same corridor as Freya's studio is located are many other interesting studios, including those of Paul Emmerson and Suzanne Freeman. We viewed Paul's paintings and photography and Suzanne's fine stretched abstracts before landing in amongst two ceramicists, Lucy Clarke and David Grifford - each with a separate studio.
Lucy and David specialise in distinct areas of
ceramics. Lucy - who also has another job, in a tile shop - can put whatever design or
subject matter (e.g. London buses, London taxis, cats, dogs, etc.) you would like on a
wide variety of framed or unframed ceramic tiles whilst David - for many years an art
teacher, has discovered that the Japanese are enthusiastic about his original ceramic
vases, namely for the Japanese art of flower arranging/displaying. Why? Well, you will
have to go along and see. Maybe it is because of the swirling shapes or because they
contain some Japanese influences or simply look good for displaying flowers. Indeed, with
or without flowers, any of his vases would look wonderful on anyones mantelpiece at home
or desk in the office. With our time running out, it was on to the next studio, that of
Susie Scott. Susie - the artist who kindly invited us to this exhibition, in the first
place - had to be on out list of studios to visit. The colour brochure we picked up, when
we arrived, listed many of the exhibiting artists but it should be noted that there are
additional studios open besides the 60 that are listed. Susie has 25 works on show, which
range in price from five at £60, up to three at £650. They comprise acrylics (paint or
ink) on either canvas or paper. Our favourites were two of her acrylics on canvas...
Namely, the yellow circle on red background entitled, "Bright Yellow Circular
Form" (24' x 24') and the red circle on a darker red background entitled, "Red
Circular Form 4" (24' x 24'). Susie also has various other paintings, mounted work
and cards on show, all individually priced. The last studio we visited was that of
Clarissa Parish - an artist who is half-Italian, and who specialises in murals,
commissioned paintings and specialist decoration. This travel enthusiast (a sea voyage to
Barbados - to raise money for charity - is planned, for early next year!) has several
interesting watercolours and pencil works on show. We noted scenes of Crete, India and
Sicily plus one notable drawing of a landscape in southern Turkey. Prices for these visual
treats of European scenes range from a reasonable £250, up to £530. Another studio we
visited, whilst we remember, was that of Kate Woodley. Kate's works are influenced by
journeys in southern hemisphere, namely to Australia and New Zealand. Will her future
works be influenced by her trips to other southern domains - like South Africa, for
example? We will just have to wait and see - or maybe you could ask her, yourself, when
you visit! We had another venue to visit before it closed, this time in central London. Go
along, make sure you give yourself plenty of time, and enjoy. If you cannot make it, just
mark June 17th-20th 2004 in your diary for their next Open Studio event at Wimbledon Art
Studios. Admission: only £2. Telephone 020 8947 1183 for more information, if required.
We went away happy at having seen so much - but unfortunately, not everything - but also
wondering why so many artists with studios had not yet got around to establishing and/or
publicising their own websites! Location: Wimbledon Art Studios, Holman & Williams
House, Riverside Yard, Riverside Road, London, SW17.
http://www.clarissaparish.com/
http://www.lucyclarkeceramics.com/
http://www.wimbledonartstudios.co.uk/
