Open Studios at Springbank Studio
It’s almost time for us to open the doors to Springbank for Lee Green Open Studios and welcome you into our colourful space. For two weekends in November, the 15th & 16th and the 22nd & 23rd, Georgia will be sharing the space this year with two local artists to exhibit their work.
The first artist we are sharing the space with is ceramicist and quilter Sarah Bowring. Sarah makes her functional ceramics from both her home in Blackheath and her Thames side studio, with quietly absorbing colour and pattern which are a pleasure to use and live with.
Sarah’s ceramics
Sarah gets the biggest buzz from starting the making cycle again; after the intensity of glazing and the uncertainty of firing, getting back on the wheel or hand building a piece feels immersive and hopeful. The process of ceramics has many stages, and at each something could go wrong. When she’s throwing a pot she is fully focussed in the moment and if it goes awry, she can reclaim the clay and start again!
Sarah throwing a pot in her studio
Sarah has a range of influences, from her local surroundings and mid-century design, to two of our absolute favourite artists Louise Bourgeois and Ruth Asawa. We can see Bourgeois’s lovingly hand patchworked textiles and Asawa’s generous sculptural form reflected in Sarah’s work. The vibrant glaze colours in Sarah’s work are anchored with special colours that she keeps coming back to. Browns and oatmeals to highlight the texture of the clay and yellow, turquoise and orange which she finds pleasurable and uplifting. We will have a range of Sarah’s ceramics and textiles for sale at the Open Studios.
Sarah’s hand painted ceramics
The second artist who will be exhibiting with us is photographer Annaïck Guitteny. Annaïck is a professional photographer specialising in plant and garden photography. We will be exhibiting prints from a personal series of images exploring the theme of water, from delicate droplets of dew to the raging waves of the sea, and newer works focusing on trees in misty landscapes.
Photo by Annaïck
Annaïck works mostly with a Canon digital SLR camera, changing between a macro lens to focus on minute details and a wide angle zoom lens for her landscape and waterscape images. To carefully compose her images she uses a tripod to help frame the view and keep the camera absolutely still for long exposure waterscapes. Once the image is captured in colour, Annaïck slowly edits the image to replicate the mood of a film photo. Finally she prints each image at home on textured cotton rag paper, which adds depth to the final photo. At the Open Studios we will have a variety of prints of Annaïck’s work for a variety of price points, from gift cards to framed fine art prints.
Photo by Annaïck
Our final artist is textile designer and Springbank Studio founder Georgia Bosson. Georgia trained in embroidery and has since worked across a range of mediums and processes, from screenprinting and patchwork to works on paper. Georgia's work explores heritage craft processes in contemporary design contexts, creating textiles which form an integral part of architectural schemes. Often inspired by architecture itself, Georgia’s most ambitious recent projects include 4 metre drop patchwork curtains. After we close our doors for open studios we will be back to the sewing table working on another set of massive patchwork curtains to deliver before Christmas.
Neptune Flags Autumn Quilt will be available for sale at Open Studios
At the Open Studio this year we will be selling patchwork quilts from the Neptune Collection at an incredible 70% discount! Which means for the first time ever you can get your hands on a handmade quilt of Georgia’s for just over £500. The Neptune Collection is inspired by sail cloths, spinnakers and the coastal landscape, uniquely utilising bold curved shapes not often associated with patchwork. You can read more about the process of making these quilts on our journal here, and view the full range here.
The making of the Carnival quilt
Alongside the textiles, we will be showing a limited selection of Georgia’s original textile designs and prints on paper. Each colourful study, often a collage made with home made papers, has informed the design of a larger textile work and makes a unique artwork in itself.
