Wrapping up SAW

I am in danger of giving away secrets with the writing of this blog...

Christmas approaches and it's time to start wrapping presents. I am hoping that many of you like me, are maybe, just maybe wrapping some art, more specifically art that you bought during SAW 2013.

It's a tricky one buying an object based so strongly on personal taste to give as a gift. Perhaps it was made easier by the recipient dropping big hints when you visited a particular exhibition or you just got that instinctive gut feeling that they would love the print, painting or sculpture the second you saw it - as if it was commissioned unwittingly for them. 

As a family we have always bought presents whilst on our holidays or special days out and wrapping a gift I purchased back in September is like wrapping up a little piece of that early Autumn sunshine and even some of that rain we had during this year's festival. The memories are so intrinsic to the gift given.

Christmas is a time when we all naturally look back over the past year, remember and plan ahead. Maybe this is the year that you, inspired by the artists that you visited in 2013, take the bold step of actually opening your studio in 2014. September maybe a way off but now is the perfect opportunity to become a member of SAW in time to register your open studio before the deadline on the 31st March. You can find all the details that you require here.

During this year's festival artist Fiona Winning captured sound snippets of visitors experiences at varying venues. Have a listen, see if you can guess the venue or the artist, do they portray your memory, evoke others or prompt you to be more involved?

I have some wonderful, creative memories of the past year, I hope you have too. We are so busy living in the now that we often tend to forget all too quickly and are constantly looking to what has to be achieved next and ticked off. I like to think that Artweek helps us slow down a little, look deeper and see the artists' shared vision with our own eyes - that a creative connection is made, remembered and planned to be part our future year.

Here's wishing you a wonderful Christmas that surprises you with...

Teasing Tag harvested from the Apple Tree at Westcott farm at the end of SAW 2013