Oxfordshire Artweeks is the UK’s oldest and biggest open studios and pop-up exhibition event, and this spring it will be blooming with colour as the county’s artists, designers and makers present their annual festival for free, in 350 locations between 2 – 26 May. You’ll have the chance to see, touch and talk about thousands of pieces of art and craft– from the tiniest earrings to towering sculpture created from metal, wood, clay and glass, from iconic Oxford views to art inspired by the birds, beasts, blossoms and buildings of exotic destinations. Full information at https://www.artweeks.org
As hundreds of painters, potters, photographers, silversmiths, glass workers, textile artists, furniture-makers across the county, more than 60 in and within five miles of Stonesfield will welcome you in during the second week of the festival, from 9 -17 May.
In Stonesfield itself, Hannelore Meinhold-Morgan’s Boot Barn Pottery, with its decorative, functional and often surprising pottery inspired by life’s natural wonders, is one of two perennially-popular open studios. The other is the home gallery of Claire Fyfe Jackson whose delicate mixed media paintings and prints and stylised recycled metal flowers, in warm and coloured tones with touches of text, and perfect for vintage bottles, are all inspired by the Oxfordshire countryside and her Stonesfield garden.
For treats further afield, head North, perhaps, to Kiddington where a brand new venue, Kingfisher Studios, promises a large ad varied exhibition with art and creations by 9 artists and makers from large mixed media paintings and homely pottery to silver jewellery and designs in contemporary stitch.
Here, for example, Sarah Roche uses the process of wet felting to ‘paint’ the beauty around her. Using hanks of Merino dyed wool tops and wisps of wool, which she tames with soap, water and bubble wrap, she slowly layers “the gentle rolling Cotswolds and the bright patchwork fields, the yellow rapeseed, purple linseed and swathes of poppies” before adding additional texture with silk, Blue Faced Leicester curls and Wensleydales (the names of sheep varieties which, we laugh, sound like Northern cheeses.) Alongside Natalia Podpora creates delicate intricate papercuts of curving leaves, organic shapes, and hints of human faces and figures. Working intuitively, Natalia simply lets the lines grow into soft organic curves and natural structures inspired by branches, leaves and petals. “I love the abstraction of the unpredictable shapes and their apparent minimalism,” she continues. Often drawn in a royal blue ink, her illustrations have a similar aesthetic.
In Wootton-near-Woodstock, visit Tabitha Grove in a studio in the heart of this pretty hamlet, where, drawing on her background as a costumier and a performer, she tells complex, human stories in collaged snapshots composed from re-used papers laden with texture and pattern and, this year, is now also producing hand printed fabrics and homewares that tell equally intriguing stories.
In Woodstock itself, the church will be packed with artists and an extensive range of artworks across diverse media, including photography that shows local views in intriguing light and colour, bold collage, ceramics inspired by ammonites, and much more. Directly opposite, in the Oxfordshire Museum, Oxford Textile Artists are presenting ‘Reflections’ – an exciting variety of very different works all created with fabrics and stitching whilst in the neighbouring SOFO Museum artists and Anita Joice and Pippa Hetherington explore ‘The River Boundary’ – as a site of memory, imagination, and shifting perspectives from the Thames to the Great Fish River in the Eastern Cape of South Africa – and the stories in the landscape, some well-known, some silenced, and some still emerging, through photography, painting, performance, and material investigation.
Heading south, Katie Hellon is an Artweeks first timer in North Leigh who is exhibiting drawing and an installation in her newly-designed and built garden studio. She’s primarily interested is in the process of making, and her drawings are determined by the throw of the dice.
To our west, in Wilcote Riding, you’ll find 16 artists, ceramics, painting, sculpture, jewellery and a contemporary textile installation in a lovely rural gallery venue with open studios too, and in the neighbouring workshop, woodworker Rob Furlong presents his bespoke furniture created with a love of natural materials, including renewable English, European and American hardwoods, and inspired by travel and architecture. Expect elegant modern cabinets, tables, chairs, stools, lamps, boxes & more.
And then to the north, Charlbury will burst into bloom with an enviable array of artists along a short walking tray. These include printmaker Jon Mackay who, in his home studio, creates handmade screenprint art including posters for some of the world’s best-known artists and festivals: it’s amazing to think that the posters made just a few miles from here travel the world to promote global acts and events including Gary Barlow to The Vaccines, from the Latitude festival to Download, and even made it into the Whoniverse! S0, whether you are an enthusiastic day-tripper or an experienced art collector, there’s plenty to discover: you’ll find yourself intrigued and inspired whatever your interests!