Art in the Making Festival
to launch this year’s Rutland Artists Open Studios 2013
Local artists demonstrate the county’s talents throughout June
This year’s annual Rutland Open Studios was launched with a very special Art In The Making Festival over the weekend of 1st & 2nd June in Morcott, Rutland. The festival celebrated the original concept of Open Studios, where artists from Rutland and surrounding counties were seen working on their craft alongside an exhibition of their work. Artists will still be opening their studios or sharing exhibition space throughout the month, but the festival also brought many of them together in one place for the first weekend, to demonstrate a spectacular array of disciplines: from on-site raku firing with Debbie Barber and potters Dawn Isaac and Pat Armstrong; stone carving with Mo Gardner and John Nicholls, and pen and watercolour animal portraiture with Sarah Watson; felt-making with Liz Emery and oil painting with Suzanne Harry and Ken Forrest; lino-cutting and printing with Pip Rawlings … and lots more!
The main activities of the Art In The Making Festival took place in tented venues in the grounds of the White Horse Pub in Morcott, Rutland, housing not only visual artists, but also wonderful live musical entertainment from classical to folk to jazz including folk group Fait Accompli, psychedelic blues duo Watson and Wigmore, and students from Oakham School, rounded off on the Sunday afternoon with a lively set from The Happy Jazz Quartet.
A group exhibition of paintings and 3D work was on display and for sale throughout the weekend at Morcott Village Hall, with tea and cakes courtesy of the Morcott Village Ladies Club. Art was also on display inside the White Horse Pub.
Thanks to a generous grant from Arts For Rutland, entry to the Art In The Making Festival was absolutely free for all visitors!
Rutland Open Studios 2013 is an opportunity for artists across Rutland to showcase their work – there will be open studios, exhibitions and workshops covering a wide range of media including painting, printmaking, pottery & ceramics, sculpture, textiles, mixed media, glass, jewellery and decoupage. You can visit the studios on the weekends of 8/9, 15/16, 22/23 & 29/30 June.
This is the 7th annual Rutland Open Studios, which has now become a highlight in Rutland’s rich cultural calendar. ROS was started in 2007 by husband and wife team, painter Roy Holley and sculptor Mo Gardner from Morcott and its reputation has grown to such a point that artists from neighbouring counties such as Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire have joined in on the action, drawing crowds from all over the country.
Keep up with news of the festival and all the Rutland Open Studios Artists’ exhibitions throughout June at www.rutlandopenstudios.co.uk or at www.facebook.com/RutlandOpenStudio (no s!). You can also pick up a full colour brochure which will be widely distributed or download a pdf copy here, or call Mo Gardner on 01572 747639.
Free entry to all exhibitions.
Click here for a full listing of all Open Studios or click on the locations below to see those in particular parts of the county or just outside. To find a particular artist, find the name under ‘Tags’ on the What’s On page, or use the search box at the top of the page.
