Two Exhibitions Starting Today

I went to the preview yesterday evening of the Forge Gallery exhibition in Walberton, West Sussex. The exhibition, by members of the Arts in Action network, was curated by Duncan Thrussell and includes work by many local artists and makers - Leona Angus, Una Beavan, Jan Bennett, Fiona Champion, Su Cloud, Gordon Ferrie, David Freud, Des Kilfeather, Nina Mills, Robert Pledger, Lisa Ridger, Sharon Robson, Jacqui Sinclair-Clarke, Valerie Shepherd, Patricia Stefanski, Hilary Stirling, Duncan Thrussell........and me! The exhibition is colourful and varied, and well worth a visit if you're in the area. It's on for the next four weeks until 19th May. Contact the Forge Gallery for more details.

The first Littlehampton Open Art Exhibition also starts today at Littlehampton Museum. It includes work from artists across Sussex and is a great opportunity to see some of the wonderful art being created locally...including some photos by me! The exhibition runs until 8th June. Contact Littlehampton Museum for more details.

Littlehampton Art market at Windmill Studio

Tomorrow, Saturday 14th April, there will be an 'affordable art market' at the Windmill Theatre Studio, just off the seafront in Littlehampton. It's being organised by Arts-in-Action, a local art network, and will be open from 11am until 5pm - lots of local art and crafts to look at and buy, so come along and enjoy a browse.

Littlehampton Open/Bosham/Forge Gallery

All 3 of my photos got accepted in the Littlehampton Open Art Exhibition, which was a lovely surprise. The exhibition starts on 21st April at Littlehampton Museum and runs until June. The theme is 'Spirit of Spring' and I'm looking forward to seeing all the successful pieces.

Went over to Bosham yesterday to top up my shelves at the Arts & Crafts Centre, ready for the Easter rush! It was a gorgeous day despite the gloomy weather forecast - wall-to-wall sunshine most of the day - and the Centre is looking great after it's winter refurb. There is a massive variety of artwork and crafts on display there, really high quality work, and the location is just perfect.

My next deadline is the submission of work for the Forge Gallery exhibition at Walberton, due in next week, so that's my focus for the rest of this week. Back to work part-time after Easter, so time to play now and enjoy this last week of freedom.....happy days!

Disappointing Craft Fair

Thanks to the ridiculous panic-buying of fuel last week, very few people turned up to the craft fair on Saturday, making it a dismal day for those of us selling there. There was a slight improvement on Sunday but visitor numbers for the weekend were much lower than usual. So, what should have been a great weekend, wasn't. Oh well, such is life.....
I now have to decide whether it's worth paying for another weekend in October or not. I'm told it's usually a much busier event and definitely worth trying, but who knows what will happen by October?

The 'Made It-Flaunt It' website includes 2 of my bags in the April showcase, which is great news. It's a good way to promote handmade and hopefully will take a few more people to my website.

Littlehampton Open Exhibition - Submissions Wanted

This week is the week to get any artwork in for the first Littlehampton Open art exhibition. The exhibition is open to all Sussex artists, irrespective of age or medium, amateurs or professionals and is free. Each artist can submit up to 3 pieces of work based on the theme 'Spirit of Spring'. The deadline for submissions is Saturday 31st March at 4.30pm. More details are on the Town Council's website, including full terms & conditions. I'm putting in a couple of new photos which I've just finished mounting and framing - wish me luck!

Other work - still making lots of stock for the craft fair at Lancing College this weekend (fingers crossed it will be a good one!) and to top up my shelves at Bosham Arts & Crafts Centre before the Easter weekend. Anything else available will be added to my Folksy shop. There's plenty to keep me busy, but I also have to make the most of this gorgeous sunny weather - it would be a crime not to - so it's a balancing act this week with a bit of work, a bit of play, and lots of sunshine!

Art & Crafts at Bosham

Oops, just realised I haven't posted on here for more than a week. I had such good intentions of posting regularly but sometimes it just doesn't happen....
Anyway, today I went over to Bosham, to the lovely Crafts Centre there, to see whether I could put some of my bags and accessories in there. Well, I got the go-ahead and tomorrow I'll be stocking a few shelves there with my goodies, ready for the hordes of visitors and holidaymakers. I also have a few pieces of textile art for sale there, which was an unexpected bonus!
On the downside, I now have to replenish my stocks ready for the craft fair in just 2 weeks time...so I know what I'll be doing over the next few days!

Not So Bright or Beautiful Now!

So much for Spring.....what a difference a week makes! Sunday was wet, windy and cold - the RNLI shop (where I occasionally work) was dead, no more than a couple of customers all afternoon. This morning I took my felt goodies out of Jan Bennett's window - thanks again Jan for allowing me to use the space for the past 4 weeks. This evening was the monthly Arts in Action meeting - always good to catch up with the rest of the crowd - so that's another Monday done!
I'm still working on some pieces to submit into two upcoming exhibitions, plus all the stock for various craft fairs, as well as getting my 'studio' ready to use (but to be honest, I've really only thought about that, I haven't actually done anything!). So the rest of the week will be busier than ever - how did I ever find the time to work?