S.A.W Open Studio event

24 Sep S.A.W Open Studio event

Melanie Thompson

For Somerset Art Weeks we have created an Open Studio style event to span the 2 week period with a variety of artists working in house at the gallery on a daily basis. This is a great opportunity to witness the creative process, watch the magic happen and meet & talk to our artists.

Jon has been painting a large portrait in the window here on Glastonbury high street. Its been fascinating to watch his Japanese goddess of beauty emerge out of the canvas and seeing how many people stop to take a look at the progress through he window. Sara has been working on some watercolour and ink pieces based on sketches from her recent travels, completing 3 or 4 new artworks this week. Ruary has been in the garden working on his monster music inspired masterpiece with over 100 musical references included in the painting, its almost a history or story of modern music in the eyes of the artist. Kim has been screen printing using an open screen and paper stencils, Will I om has been painting with coffee, working on his light hearted playful creatures that you can’t help but fall in love with. We’ve had Shelley in, working on her giant new Lino that features an array of native birds in flight, both drawing and designing and carving the Lino. Melanie has created a thought provoking installation about Loss and what it means to us, which you are invited to respond to in the form of writing your thoughts on the wall in chalk after having a discussion with the artist. And Olga has now joined us for the last few days of the event and will be painting her enigmatic and moody cloud, mountain and sea scapes with her giant fluffy brushes, sometimes working on multiple canvases at once. There has been a really exciting atmosphere here over the last 2 weeks and we have enjoyed the buzz of meeting and talking to people and were looking forward to the last few days of activity which include a free art talk by Jim Pilston on Saturday and a workshop on Sunday as well as Gail doing her 20 minute portraits and several other artists working in and around the gallery.

Participating Artists:

Shelley Dyer-Gibbins – Linocut printing | Jon Minshull – Painting | Melanie Thompson – Interactive Installation/performance art | Olga Pietruszka – Painting | Kim von Coels – Screenprinting | Sara Trenchard – Painting | Wil I Om – Coffee Art | Ruary Allan – Painting | Gail Reid – 20 Minute portraits – drawing – please book in advance. £25 per session | Jim Pilston – Talk & Workshop