Open Studios Notts, the county’s craft extravaganza, is running throughout the county this month.
Around 250 artists are showing their work at 64 venues from May to early June in the event which has been running since 2012.
The work on show includes a range of textile, jewellery, ceramic, sculpture, painting, photography, print and mixed media and visitors also have a chance to talk to designers in person and buy a unique piece of handicraft from the event.
Tina Bettison, spokesperson for the event (right), said some of the artists present their work in groups, such as the Lady Bay Art Festival and the Gedling Artists, while others open their own studios to the public.
“Last year, around 6,000 people attended across Nottinghamshire and we hope we can get more people coming through this year,” she said.
Tina said Open studios was a good way for people to see the artists’ work and see how the artist works. People can come along to join in and have a go to do something they haven’t tried before, she added.
“It is more than just selling business works. The main aim of Open Studios is to get artists’ works seen and get the public interacting with the artists,” she said. “It is a great opportunity for people to see many different types of art, and we hope people could either to be inspired to buy or inspired to do something by themselves.
“When you love art, you will know you want to be involved in the event and keep doing it, learn a bit more and make it better every year, in the hope that more people can know about Open Studio,” she added.
Meet with The Gedling Artists
Sarah Sewell from Wildgoose Designs has been involved in the event since 2015. She said that she really enjoys the event, to be part of the group, and to work with other artists to help each other.
“It is nice for people to come to the event and see my work, because a lot of people may not have an idea of how things are made by the special embroidery machine that I use,” Sarah said. “It will be nice for people to meet the artist who are actually made the work and have some talks with them.”
Suzanne Hough from Knitten who is taking part for the fourth year, said it was a great event where she can share her love of knitting.
“We have a good variety of crafts here this year, and it’s lovely to for people to come and see everybody’s work and craft,” Suzanne said. “One part of what Open Studios is about is passing on skills to people, showing people what to do, and sharing all the knowledge to them.”
Christine Oakley from Twisting Silver said it’s been her fifth year of being in this event, and she think it’s fascinating to look at what everyone else does and learn a bit more about what they do and how they do it.
“My inspiration for making the jewellery mostly comes from the nature – the trees and from my own experience of diving – the bubbles and seahorses. I just love playing it around and forming them into different shapes,” Christine said.
For Lisa Robinson from The Silver Forager, it is her first time at the event.
“It is a good opportunity for people to see what artists are actually doing and realise the work they do is not as easy to make as they think,” she said. “I really enjoy making jewellery by using the sea glass that I pick up from a variety of coastlines myself.”
The Open Studio Notts craft events are mostly free and are open until Sunday 9 June 2019. Seize the last two weeks to join the event and meet artists, makers and designers!
*Open Studio Notts is a volunteer based initiative which enables artists, makers and designers to present their works and let more people appreciate art and craft in their community. It runs until June 9.