Cambridge Open Studios is a flourishing community of artists, craftspeople and designer-makers working throughout Cambridgeshire. Of those artists, five of our members are taking part this year. For obvious reasons, the usual casual wander through participating studios is not possible this year. Our members’ displays…
Helen Clarke has been very productive during lockdown – here is her isolartion story. Somehow having an empty diary has felt very refreshing. I have painted most days and started illustrating a collection of my poems. It also gave me the chance to re-organise my…
At the beginning of lockdown, Astrig Akseralian posted some lively 2 minute landscape sketches in our friends’ and members’ facebook group. They intrigued us, so we asked her to take us for a walk through the work she has been doing and how she approached…
At the beginning of our ISOLartION series, Annie Rice contacted us to let us know what she had been painting, and in passing mentioned that she was doing Facetime art classes with her grandchildren, so we asked her to share the experience. At the request…
Sue Downie has been making books during lockdown – she explains the process Making books I am really taken with making books. No, I don’t mean ‘How to paint bad watercolours in 5 minutes’ but unique artwork in book form. Until I started making books…
Since the beginning of lockdown, Alan Noyes has been amusing himself and the Hawkedon regulars with cartoons that illustrate life in lockdown, real and imagined. On April 24th he sent out a series about laying turf, with this message: It has been a while but…
This painting by Anthony Mashman, was chosen for our Spring Exhibition poster. Sadly, the exhibition was postponed. It is such a lovely image, we have decided to use it for our next exhibition poster as well. Anthony was kind enough to share a bit of…
Vandy Massey has found it hard to tackle large paintings during these uncertain times, but luckily, she has a marathon art project to finish and would like others to join her. VE was poignant for me – it reminded me of my grandparents and their…
Beverly Hughes shared some experimental work she has been doing during lockdown. Here is what she had to say about it: Like most, I love the transparency of watercolours but I also like the vibrancy which can be achieved by layering, thanks especially to David…
Penny Newman is an accomplished plein air painter, and has found being confined to the house during lockdown quite difficult as the countryside is her studio. Here is her story of this painting. I’d like to name this painting something like ‘Where are the elephants?’ It started off…