Bucks Open StudiosBy Rebecca Ash
From small beginnings, 24 years ago, the 16-day Bucks Open Studios event has grown to accommodate over 431 exhibiting artists and makers at 161 venues this year – the highest number of entries, venues and participants ever! Over 10,000 visitors are expected.
The aim of the popular two-week event, this year running from Saturday 13th to Sunday 28th June, is to encourage the audience to experience first-hand what makes an artist tick: what inspires them in the first place and how this translates into a finished work, as well as the methods or techniques they use. To this end people can visit, without charge, studios, workshops, homes and galleries, to talk to exhibitors, see work in progress and attend workshops and demonstrations, all designed to open up the behind-the-scenes and mysterious world of the visual artist.
The Bucks Open Studios event organised by VIG (Visual Images Group, an unfunded voluntary organisation) features the work of a wealth of talented artists and makers across Buckinghamshire exhibited in over 100 venues. Most work on display is for sale, with a range of prices to suit all pockets, including those of the serious collector.
Rebecca Ash (whose picture 'Tiger' is featured here) is one of the participating artists and is opening the doors of ‘Orchard Lea’, Lee Common to exhibit a selection of her paintings on the 13th and 14th, 20th and 21st and 27th and 28th June from 10 am until 4 pm. Please feel free to pop in and tell friends and family.
The free full colour 2009 directory, detailing all the exhibitors work, will be available from mid-May on the Bucks Open Studios website and from libraries, galleries and Tourist Information Centres around the county, including The Lee’s Information Centre (The Lee Village Shop) (!) and ‘Orchard Lea’, Lee Common.
More information about the event can be found at the Bucks Open Studios website www.bucks-open-studios.org.uk.