Norfolk Open Studios returns tomorrow. Meet some of the hundreds of artists from across Norfolk who are set to open their studios to visitors over the next 16 days.
Hundreds of makers and creators will be opening their studio doors across the county to share their creative processes, during Norfolk Open Studios. The well-loved annual event will take place across 16 days, starting tomorrow, with more than 290 artists taking part across 218 venues. Artists will be at work in their studios, garages, spare rooms, garden rooms, community spaces and schools sharing how they work.
Artists at all stages of their careers will be taking part, from school and college students through to emerging artists and established and professional creators and makers.
Visitors will find painters, sculptors, weavers, ceramicists, furniture makers, wood workers, jewellery makers, pyrographers, textile artists and lots more throughout the varied landscapes of Norfolk.
Ben Alden has a studio in Norwich, located at the bottom of the garden, nestled amongst the plants and apple trees:
‘I’ve only been working in the space a year, but in that time, it has become a very beautiful and peaceful place to work. This is my first year taking part in Norfolk Open Studios, and I’m looking forward to inviting visitors to see where I create my paintings and experience the processes I go through; from building and stretching the canvas, seeing works in progress and the final framing.
My interest in art began at a young age, my father was a photographer and my mother painted. Later I went on to study painting at Norwich University of the Arts.
In my figurative paintings I create snapshot compositions of subjects and explore ideas of interaction and a sense of place, searching for interesting moments within these photos. I began using watercolour and gouache during the pandemic when my previous studio closed.
I had nowhere to work on my oil paintings and I turned to water-based mediums which were more forgiving to my living space. Since then, they have become an important part of my practice.’
Dan Meek and his wife, the artist Nat Lang, moved to South Lopham, Breckland, two years ago:
‘Not knowing many people in the area, we decided to take part in this year’s Norfolk Open Studios. The majority of my work is hand carved limestone and sandstone one-off memorials, garden sculpture and public art commissions.
I’m really excited to be part of Norfolk Open Studios and hopefully I’ll pick up a few commissions. I share my studio with my wife. It’s an old, corrugated metal cart shed, which we converted into our studio last year.
I carve in one-side and my wife paints in the other. It’s only small but is perfectly adequate for us. Any large-scale work I do outside. The only issue is keeping the stone dust out of Nat’s area!’
Nick White is taking part in The Bacton-On-Sea Art Trail, North Norfolk:
‘As an artist locked away in my studio up on the hill surrounded by fields, I tend to become quite isolated and feedback is generally limited to social media, so Norfolk Open Studios offers a tremendous opportunity to meet people who share my passion for image-making.
The conversations and discussions generated through these interactions with visitors helps me flesh out my own understanding of the work. I can see what resonates and, consequently, where it succeeds and where it fails.
‘This will be the fourth Norfolk Open Studios that I have participated in and the second in the studio barn that my partner, Patti, and I spent lockdown completing. It is a beautiful building set in our sprawling vegetable garden and allows ample space to show a large amount of work along with smaller limited-edition prints that are available for people to buy.
Technically, I am categorised as a photographer since that is the medium where most of my images start, but I have always been interested in manipulating imagery even back in the analogue days of darkroom photography. So now I tend to cast myself as an image-maker and call upon a large number of digital and 3D CGI techniques to engender new perspectives and re-interpretations of the raw material.
The five core members of the Bacton Art Trail offer a diversity of skills and media. Being on the coast, our trail tends to attract people from further afield, but it also represents a way of rooting us artists within our community.
Although it is early days, we are particularly interested in developing these links by reaching out to the local school and other community groups to use Norfolk Open Studios to celebrate creativity in as wide a manner as possible. Ideally emphasising the way that art can heighten our appreciation of our surroundings and make us more receptive to new ways of viewing the world.’
Annie Tempest, based in Stibbard, North Norfolk, is a cartoonist for Country Life (visit www.tottering.com). She has been an artist for 35 years and has been doing sculptural work for 14 years:
‘I am taking part in Norfolk Open Studios because I feel it is important as a Norfolk artist to open my studio for people to visit and see what I get up to creatively. I don’t do it every year, in fact the last time I did it was in 2013 when I was just beginning to add sculpture to my art practice that had formerly been only cartoon illustration.
I am very excited to be able to show maquettes of the conductors and dancers that made up my recent solo London sculpture show with Messum’s. The bronzes are still out on tour but there is plenty of terracotta and experimental glasscast work to see as well as the animal sculptures I made during lockdown.
Norfolk Open Studios gives the artist an opportunity to offer experimental works in less expensive mediums for sale at affordable prices and I will also be showing some of my recent Norfolk oil paintings.
Obviously, people will be able to see Tottering by Gently work which I continue to do weekly for Country Life Magazine, but Norfolk Open Studios gives people the opportunity to see all the creative practices I embrace as a full-time working artist.
I will open during weekends as advertised and I welcome questions about the bronze process, sculpting generally, illustration and cartoon work. There is a two-acre garden here which also has several pieces of my sculpture in it to wander around. I have been a cartoonist for 35 odd years and a sculptor for 14 years. I have worked full time as an artist for 35 years.’
Sara Edwards is based in Framingham Pigot, South Norfolk:
‘I am very excited to be taking part in this year’s Norfolk Open Studios as it is a wonderful opportunity to engage with so many people who are interested in art. Last year was my first Open Studio and it exceeded my expectations, both in terms of numbers of visitors and sales of paintings, prints, cards, and commissions.
This year is particularly significant as it will be the first time the public can view my ‘Beautiful Beaches’ series of paintings. I have set myself the challenge of painting all of Norfolk’s beaches in my signature style and some of these will be available to see and buy.
Traditional beach paintings usually take a viewpoint from standing on the beach, whereas most of mine are depicted from the sea. I am interested in the distinctive features of each beach and the recognisable landmarks close to it. For example, Happisburgh beach is shown with its lighthouse, Cromer with its pier and Weybourne with its windmill. Beach huts and cheeky seagulls also make regular appearances in the paintings.
In total I would expect to complete around 26 different Norfolk beaches, being those adjacent to main towns or villages and with their own access.
As well as beaches, I will be showing paintings of the Norfolk Broads and countryside, farming and the seasons. These are contemporary landscapes in a vibrant, geometric style, which are composite scenes representative of far-reaching Norfolk views.
Norfolk Open Studios is a brilliant opportunity to talk about art, sell art, and encourage people to have a go at art, all in an informal studio setting. It also gives me the chance to share my skills and I am hosting two workshops during the event which are for those of any ability who want to spend a relaxing day painting or drawing.’
Nelson Academy, Downham Market, West Norfolk:
Nelson Academy is taking part in Norfolk Open Studios once again, having taken part as a school for quite a few years now. Being part of such an event creates a real arty buzz throughout the school; the children love seeing their work valued and celebrated by the local community too.
This year the theme is ‘Escape’. Children from Nursery through to Year 6 will be producing work within this remit. The work will, once again, fill the ‘Creative Corridor’ of the school immersing visitors to school in the spectacle. There will also be a chance for families and friends to pop in to take part in hands-on art activities on the Saturday.
At the end of the exhibition this year, some examples of work will be taken to a trust collaborative Norfolk Open Studios exhibition to be hosted by King’s Lynn Academy.
Norfolk Open Studios will take place between September 24 and October 9, 2022. For more information, and to find out individual artist dates, visit norfolkstudios.org.uk; Facebook; Instagram and Twitter.
Featured image of Ben Alden – picture credit: Benjamin C Beauchamp
Leave a Reply