Weekend escape to Bath

You: "What's all this then? A post about a non art weeks event in the middle of Somerset Art Weeks!"

Me: Yes.

Perhaps if I was a person who didn't think about/do art all the time then I would have been more than satisfied with last weeks prolific tour of arts weeks venues. Was 26 venues in one week not enough?! Maybe I just don't know when to say, enough art is enough for one week, but then if I started doing any of those things then I wouldn't be me and there would be no point in writing this blog.

So for whatever madness or reasons, I decided to board the train this weekend to see, yet more art. This time a visit to 'Bath artists' studios' where they had an open studios event over the 24th and 25th of September. Forgive me for bringing this to your attention right in the middle of art weeks, but it was such an inspiring visit I couldn't resist to tell you about it.

Click on this link for more info: http://www.bathartistsstudios.co.uk/home.html
This was my first visit to Bath Artits' studios and I was pleased that it was a lot easier to find than I thought it would be (at around twenty minutes walk from the train station). Prior to going I wondered if it was going to be a similar set up to the 'Jamaica Street' and 'BV' Open studios and when I arrived my assumptions were quickly confirmed that it was the same format of a main gallery space for exhibiting work with a labyrinthine set of corridors and rooms making up the artists studios alongside the working spaces for 3D sculpture. Brilliant! With 59 artists work and spaces to see, I armed myself with a map and set out to explore. The following images are just a few of the artists I met and spoke to during my visit.

Carole Tonge-print maker http://www.bathartistsstudios.co.uk/carole-tonge.html

Carole has an excellent print studio with a brand new press! Her current work is uses historic maps for reference and the landscape which she uses as inspiration for her prints. Over the weekend she was running dry point and collagraph workshops which are ongoing, for more details click on the link above.

Mary Jane Evans -ceramics http://www.mjmceramics.co.uk/index.html

These ceramics are delicious (am I allowed to say that?) They're not actually edible, but its the surfaces and textures in Mary Jane Evan's pieces that got me excited.

Alice Shields - http://alice-shields.co.uk/

Alice is a kind-of hybrid artist as she makes ceramics as well as illustrating them with images of all sorts from bicycles to bees and moustaches. She also makes fanatstic badges!

Photo of the 3D sculpture area. Not sure whose work this is, but it certainly photographs very well.

John Gooch -painting http://www.bathartistsstudios.co.uk/john-gooch.html

What would an open studios be without its share of painters? I'm pleased to say there are plenty here.

Felicity Roma Bowers-printmaking http://www.felicityromabowers.co.uk/

The image above is a close-up of what was a huge print that can be very basically described as being a print of a human figure (whose hand you can see here) made up of leaves and layered with images from science/alchemy/mysticism books. They're excellent prints and the thinking behind the imagery used in them is really interesting (reminds me of Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings for example) and reminded me of several of my peers who I know would be interested in this work very much. Please check out her website which displays and explains the work in greater detail.

Charlotte Moore -painting http://www.charlottemoore.org.uk/

These paintings are made of wire mesh layered, cut and assembled to create compositions or scenes (if you look on her website you'll see what I mean).

Brian Elwell- painting http://www.bathartistsstudios.co.uk/brian-elwell.html

And in case you were wondering there was a graphic designer in there to: http://www.beninternational.org/ if you fancy a look.

Excellent stuff all round, and there's more to come soon from another exhibition I stumbled across on my visit to Bath, but that can wait until next time. Looks like Bath Artists' Studios will be another annual visit I will look forward to visiting again next year.