This year I am opening my studio (for the first time ever) to the public for the farOpen Forest & Rivers Art Trail. According to Wikipedia, an Open Studio is: 

A studio or workroom which is made accessible to allcomers, perhaps just in the short term, during an open studio event, where artistic or creative work can be viewed and created collaboratively. An open studio is intended to foster creativity and encourage experimentation in an atmosphere of cultural exchange, conversation, encouragement, and freedom of expression.

Some open studios have morphed into mini-gallery exhibitions – understandably – due to the lack of places for artists to show their work. My open studio sets out to do what is set out in the final sentence of the definition. Especially encouraging experimentation.

My studio will contain a few framed works – but the majority on show are experimental pieces employing elements – rocks, water, ice, heat. The subject is about landscape and climate change. About shifts in materiality from solid to liquid, material collapse of Triassic cliffs, ice melting due to extreme heat. They are drawings created by elements in their raw state, mixed with earth pigments and graphite powder. Direct drawings and transferred rubbings. Japanese paper and ink and paper litho.

Like the land, they flood, melt, dry out and collapse. They are performative in terms of their making. Some films are made using footage of the process of making.

I invite you into my studio to discuss these things, explore the methods of work, and why they are used. 

Of course you are welcome to buy work too. If you are interested in more figurative works, made in more traditional ways, I can show you some inside my house. They may appear very different, but essentially, they represent different aspects of my research journey that began by exploring opposite banks of the River Severn, and developed into imagining future landscapes, as a result of the imminent (already in process) environmental crisis we are experiencing. 

As humans we resist change, but landscapes and planets change all the time. Their lifespans are far longer than ours, yet we are blinkered by short termism. 

Hills shall become islands. Landscape vistas will change. Some things will be destroyed in the process, and others replace them with new landscapes, new species. We caused these changes, now we must do our best to mitigate the damage. It’s not gloom and doom, it is about getting real. 

A modern-day open studio blurs the boundaries between theory and practice, sparking insights and enabling the discovery of new kinds of meaning. It allows for greater freedom of thought and expression. Its ultimate aim is to pioneer fresh modes of communication and sharing, and produce innovative forms of public engagement.

Let’s talk.

More images on Instagram @SevernsideArtist

catalogue & trail guide