Brighton up your day
We went to Brighton for the day on Saturday and had a brilliant time - we went to see the open houses art trail… Now in its 28th year, the annual Artists’ Open Houses (AOH) Festival, which coincides with Brighton Festival, includes work by over 1,000 artists exhibiting in over 200 venues across Brighton, Hove, Saltdean, Rottingdean, Lewes, Newhaven and Ditchling. Spread over four weekends, there are plenty of properties to visit, an abundance of art to see and possibly buy, and countless opportunities to eat cake and drink tea. Aside from the natural intrigue of being allowed to snoop round other people’s houses, viewing an artist’s work in their own living room is a much more intimate and personal experience than observing it a gallery. Many of the houses are organised into trails to make it easier to organise your visit and take in as many as possible and entry is free.
We set off very early with a packed lunch, flask and some jelly bellys to play guess the flavour!
We found a parking space and headed for the open houses and the sun was shining and i was prepared for rain and had all the wrong clothes and foot wear on! I loved this place which was opposite where we parked….
We went around the seven dials artists trail first (as that was my favourite from last year)...
My favourite house again was Ben Allen’s - and alongside his work….
...I also LOVED Jane Fosters screen prints - - -
...and Maria Rivan’s collages - -
Another good house was Sense of Place and we purchased a mug made by Rowena Williams (I decided that I like to collect mugs from places I’ve been)...
Glass House was another great one (with the smell of a massive open fire as well) - and I got a canvas by Kim Class which i LOVE…yes, yes, yes, please!!
And I loved this - also by Kim…
There was some great wooden creations in the house as well - by Helen Sinden…
We had our lunch on the pebbles and it was very windy - but actually quite hot…
We listened to a trombone player’s version of the pink panther which was great!
And then we visited the pier for some deckchair sun…
Mark got asked to be part of a photo competition of the tallest and shortest!
We had spent 60p for a play in the old penny palace…
We went to the Kepmtown artists trail last of all and I LOVED The House of Newts - which had Anna Tilson’s vintage crockery mosaics…
...and Jane Muir’s ceramic sculptures…(which gave me lots of inspiration for my pottery course)...
And after all the walking about we had some beers and Brazilian meal at Bossa Nostra which was great!
ummmmmmmmmmmmmm….ice tea!
