This year York is celebrating it’s 10th anniversary of it’s annual York Open Studios. To mark the occasion, the event has been split over two weekends, last weekend and this coming weekend (Friday 8th – Sunday 10th) and a record number of professional artists and makers are opening their houses and studios to the public. Some are exhibiting at Cafe’s and other exhibition spaces. All previous exhibitors have been invited, as well as new up and coming artists. That means there is a total of one hundred and nineteen possibilities open to an excited punter like myself!
Last Sunday, I set off with my mum, husband and daughter in tow. Our only specific intention was to see which studios we passed walking around our local area. We were unlucky at our first two attempts, Holly Terrace and According to McGee (both of which had been recommended to me on Twitter) but it really was our fault for being super-keen early beans.
We decided to treat ourselves to tea in the beautiful new De Clare Cafe on Peter Lane in York (all minimalist white, high design, chandeliers and beautiful cakes) and to our happy surprise found that they were taking part in the Open Studios.
Artist Cathy Denford was sitting in the corner and explained to us a bit about her work; beautiful semi-abstract human and bird paintings in oil and watercolour. Alongside an impromptu breakfast of chorizo and eggs revuelta (I could digress into a review of the lip-smackingly good food, but I won’t) Cathy offered crayons and paper for my fifteen-month old to, err, draw on (if you can call it that) and we chatted about Open Studios and how it helped her communicate the ideas behind her work to visitors.
With our appetites sated (culturally as well as basically) we set off again, dropping in on the Bar Lane Studios in Mickelgate and Andrew Burningham & Marianne Von Tucka (a husband and wife team who had an unusual collection of birdboxes constructed from hardwood and metal as well as some pretty ceramics).
Finally, we visited my favourite studio of the day, Susan Dennis on Wentworth Road. Her figurative oil paintings were full of life and vibrancy, and she let me see her upstairs studio with inspiring views out onto Scarcroft Allotments and beyond. A lot of her paintings had sold already, unsurprisingly.
Onto this weekend, I’m going to check out local sculptur Ben Arnup at The Mount and I would love to make it to see Sally Arnup’s famous bronze sculptures if I can get out to Holtby. I would also recommend a visit to see Mark Hearld’s collections of birds and beasts.If you are planning a visit to York this weekend, it’s a lovely way to see the City.
Full listings are available on the York Open Studios website, or you can pick up comprehensive booklets with detailed maps from lots of locations around York.
Opening times are:
Friday April 8th 6pm-9pm
Saturday April 9th 10am-6pm
Sunday April 10th 11am – 5pm