Well, Open Studios is more than halfway through, so time to share some initial impressions…

Negatives
I haven’t had many visitors. I wasn’t expecting many… but three out of the six groups of people who have turned up were either fellow artists I arm-twisted into coming, or were turning up anyway to pick up some artwork. I suspect some of the lack of footfall is down to:

• My ongoing inability to handle social media in any form…
• My house being a bit out-of-the-way for getting pass-by trips (though one musician called in who was on the lookout for an audio version of Open Studios – a thought for another year, perhaps!)

So, maybe next time I’ll try to participate as one of a more centrally-located group. Obviously this means I won’t be able to do any demos in my studio, but it also means I won’t have to do any special baking or house-cleaning (always a plus to one as lazy as I).

Also… yes I know, I know… I should get an Instagram account. Perforce, also a tablet / iPad of some sort.

Positives
From the visitors who have visited, I’ve had some interesting feedback – both for specific pieces of work and in general (leading to the rough-draft print pricing here).

Although I’ve been in my studio (nominally) producing artwork during most of Open Studios, I’ve managed to visit a few of the other artists participating in St Albans, with a couple more scheduled. So – lovely work on view at:

• Marks & Tilt (artists Jonathan Emmerson, Jane Bottery and Gail Robins)
• Angela Mellen’s printwork and beautifully decorated house
• Trestle Arts Base cafe (artists Flea Cooke, Jo Stapleton and Linda Brown, plus more specific info on their Open Studios exhibition ‘Glimpses’ here)
• and Hatty De Barnard’s gorgeous Nude Tin Can gallery (artists Dorienne Carmel, Liz Rogers, Emma Boote, Matthew McLeish, Stephanie Littlechild and Hatty herself).

Looking forward to seeing more of the OS artists next week!