Having had such a great time at the Open Studios back in November, I couldn’t keep away and decided to volunteer again for the May show. It was such a wonderful atmosphere again and all the artists were so welcoming, making it a pleasure to work there. It was lovely to see many of the artists I had met before, but also to see there were a lot of new artists and collections featured. With such a variety of excellent artwork, it is difficult for me to choose which to discuss. However, I will outline the work of a couple of artists that I found particularly interesting, starting with Nick Vivian.

Vivian’s paintings are vast, vibrant and absolutely stunning. With a main focus on nature, the paintings are abstract in a way, as the shapes are left undefined and the hues have no boundaries of realism. It is definitely Vivian’s use of colour and light that make the paintings so beautiful, mesmerising and unique. There is also something about them that just makes you feel elated… The Indigo and Blueprint Series of Rose Long are also quite unique and very absorbing. This series focuses on architecture and each piece makes conscious use of the Golden Ratio in its composition. Perhaps this is one of the reasons Long’s work is engaging and interesting to view, as well as the fact that she highlights impressive and iconic buildings in a simultaneously artistic and technical way.

The next artist I would like to bring to light has an usual method of painting that I found really fascinating. Starting off by writing a short story, Eva Chloe Vazaka then picks out small phrases of the text to use as the titles and subjects for her abstract paintings. I thought this was a wonderful idea as it solves that terrible problem of naming your painting once it’s finished! It also ties the collection together really nicely. Vazaka’s paintings are very expressive, bold and, like all my favourite paintings, have amazing use of colour and textured brush strokes. I had the chance to speak to Vazaka’s husband Jeremy May, who although was not exhibiting at the show, is also an artist and shares the studio with her. May’s art practice took me completely by surprise as I have never come across anything like it before. Taking a book, May will cut out a shape from the pages and laminating these sheets of paper together, he creates a piece of jewellery before placing it back in the empty space in the book. It is difficult to explain so I recommend looking him up to see images of the work. Each piece is entirely unique and beautifully creative. As he usually takes commissions for his work, it is something that becomes very personal to the commissioner as they would typically choose a favourite or sentimental book to create the jewellery from. What an incredible idea!