Cambridge Open Studios, July 2021

Cambridge Open Studios, July 2021

In July 2021 I participated in Cambridge Open Studios — an annual event that opens artists' studios to the public across the Cambridge area. Open Studios is one of the most direct forms of engagement between artists and their audience: visitors come to the studio, see the work in the context in which it was made, and have the opportunity to talk with the artist about the process and the ideas behind the paintings.

The Studio

The studio is the place where the work is made, and showing it to visitors introduces a dimension of transparency that is different from the experience of seeing work in a gallery. In a gallery, the paintings are presented as finished objects, separated from the process that produced them. In the studio, the process is visible: the works in progress, the materials, the tools, the evidence of decisions made and revised. This context changes the way the work is seen and understood.

The paintings I showed during Cambridge Open Studios 2021 were drawn from my recent work in oil and cold wax — landscapes that explore the Fenland and forest subjects that have been central to my practice for many years. The response from visitors was engaged and thoughtful, and the conversations that took place around the paintings were, as always, one of the most rewarding aspects of the event.

Cambridge Open Studios

Cambridge Open Studios is one of the largest open studios events in the UK, bringing together hundreds of artists from across the Cambridge area and attracting thousands of visitors over several weekends in July. It is an important event in the local art calendar, and it provides an opportunity for artists to connect directly with an audience that is genuinely interested in the process and practice of making art.