Artists & Illustrators - UK (2019-12)

COLUMNIST

OurcolumnistLAURABOSWELL onwhyopen

studiosevents areamustforbeginners

I

t is thattimeofyearwhenI am

startingtothinkaboutmyopen

studioseventfornextyear.I’ve

takenpartinmylocalBucksArt

Weekssince2006.Takingpart

helpedlaunchmycareerandit is the

onlyoneofmyearlyexhibition

experimentsthatI stillembracewith

thesameenthusiasmtoday.

Allopenstudioeventshavea

broadlysimilaraimofencouraging

artiststoeitheropentheirworkspace

tothepublicorexhibitartworksina

sharedlocalvenue.Visitorsthenhave

theopportunitytoengagedirectly

withyou,givingthema directinsight

intoyourmethods,alongwiththe

chancetobuywork,bookclassesor

discusscommissions.Thereis often

plentyofsupportfornewcomersand

excellentopportunitiestonetwork

withfellowartists.Whilea fewevents

havea selectionprocess,mostare

opentoanyeligiblelocalartist.

It doestaketimetobuildyour

audience.Inmyfirstyear,I hada

dozenvisitors– andnineofthose

werefamily.Startsmallandgrowyour

eventasyougrowyouraudience.

Thereis nopressure,otherthanto

provideanhonest,friendlyand

enjoyableevent,sosomemayseeit

moreasa socialandnetworking

event,whileothersmaybeintenton

salesorwinningcommissions.

Whateveryouwantfromyourshow,

remembertoenjoyit andseeit asa

steptowardsa long-termgoal,notan

immediatereward.

Openstudiosinvolverelativelylittle

financialoutlayorriskfortheartist,

whilebringingthebenefitofstrength

innumbers.Thismakesit an

excellentopportunityfor

experimentingandtakingrisks,both

inyourworkandthewayyouexhibit

anddemonstrate.I usemyopen

studiosasanannualtestingground

totrialnewideasanddifferentways

ofengagingwithmyvisitors,keeping

it freshforthereturningaudience

whileimprovingtheoverallexperience

fornewcomers.

It is theuniquecombinationof

presentingyourworkonyourterms,

whilebenefitingfrombeingpartofa

largerumbrellaevent,thatmakes

openstudiossomethingtogrowinto

• ratherthangrowoutof– asyou
  develop.Giveit a goandI hopeyou
  willfindit thesameenjoyablelearning
  curveasI stilldo.Justrememberto
  invitethefamily.
  BucksArtWeeksruns6-21June2020.
  http://www.lauraboswell.co.uk

At my first open studios,

I had a dozen visitors – and

nine of those were family

ABOVE Laura
Boswell, Vale
Teasles, Japanese
woodblock/linocut,
29.4x44.5cm

Artists & Illustrators 43