What is your perception of an Art Show? A village hall display of somewhat amateur art? A pompous display of pretentious work?
I've just been to Leamington's Art In The Park Festival and had the opportunity to see it through fresh eyes. I've exhibited there and know the effort and expense that is involved from the artist's perspective but this time it was nice to go with a friend who paints but who had not really been o something similar before - it gave me a chance to discuss his observations alongside my own.
Art In The Park is free to visit and takes place in two areas of the beautiful Jephson Gardens in the heart of Leamington Spa. It is run by a group of volunteers and its a quite colossal task to get the exhibitors and caterers set up, and welcome thousands of visitors to the park. Well done to them. There is an application process for artists with some scrutiny before acceptance but the cost for those accepted is reasonable. There is a real commitment from those exhibiting.
The first thing to note was the ferocious heat - well in the 30s over the two days. For the artists there - especially those facing into the sun - it must have been an incredibly challenging event. There was very little respite. With the weather I think there seemed to be a pretty good footfall and so there were always customers to talk to.
Friendly. It is a very friendly event and I think this comes across strongly. Artists generally are very open and happy to talk about what they do. It's nice to buy art from a real person rather than the impersonal connection through a gallery. For artists there is always something to talk about - technique, inspiration, materials and suppliers. Without fail the exhibitors were welcoming and generous with their time. It would be difficult to leave without some fresh ideas and approaches to try.
Variety. there is something for everyone - watercolours, acrylics, oils, felt, linocut, graphite, digital, photography, glass woodwork, pottery, jewellery, upcycling, clothing, printers, and household furnishings. There is a surprising range whatever you are interested in and still some surprises. This Subbarteo selling custom Subbuteo pitches depicting famous goals and Ben Cowan's Art That Makes You Think. He has a variety of mainly digital art, cleverly linking traditional themes with modern day events and issues. From a distance they look like familiar images but when you lean in there are jokes, comment and biting satire to make a talking point our of decorative art. We bought what looks like a standard Coffee House menu board with pictures of different coffee-based drink but up close it is littered with puns and barbs. There is variety too in art as you would expect from such an event. There were stalls such as Brumhaus - with local Midlands scenes and landscapes given a Bauhaus nod and palette. There were modern takes on Cubism, impressionism, and contemporary abstract.
Local. Many of the artists are local and our own Kenilworth Artists were well represented - Jo Ricketts glassware including the geodes I really admire. Kevin Alexander with his abstracts - making it even more local with his paintings based on the blue bridge in Leamington and Kenilworth scenes, Jacqui Smithson doing workshops as well as showing her feltwork and delicate paintings in the Warwickshire Open Studios tent, Paula Perry with some lovely vivid deep blue and rust abstracts, and Leanne Simmons with her seascapes and wildlife paintings looking fresh in the sunshine. Nicky Bagga was there too with her line drawings with beautiful strong blacks of wash against them. The point about local is that there is a hole economy here which thrives and keeps the money within our local community. Its a great place to buy art.
Live. There was much more work in progress at this year's show. Paintings progressed over the hours and this really added to the show. Of course there were the scheduled workshops and activity tents - for children as well as the adults. The music is always of a good standard and so sitting on a deckchair watching the two stages was a popular choice for some - while eating from the many food and drink stalls dotted around
Heart. Maybe because its local, maybe because I know a few of the people exhibiting but this is real grassroots art being supported by their local community. Cassie Leedham's painting at the top of this blog was my highlight of the Festival. I find her work very direct and raw. It was great to be able to get to know more about her work from her after seeing it on Instagram. Her images were the ones that my friend and I discussed the most after the event.
Ken Hurd was another who epitomised what makes this accessible and personal. I've seen Ken at a number of events and bought one of his distinctive prints at Warwick Market quite a long time ago. His work features simple Welsh countryside compositions using pen and ink and Strong pigments. He has a very strong approach to his work (particularly colour) and he had his sketchbooks on display (always a favourite of mine). He also makes his art accessible by creating prints which fit directly into affordable Hobbycraft frames.
He is one of those artists that makes you think about your own approach and how you could make stronger, more impactful images with some simple changes.
Affordable. It goes without saying that a Festival of this quality which is free to enter and subsidised by sponsors and the stallholders is value for money but the there is so much more to like about it. There are items for all pockets - plenty of cards, table mats and small items as well as the original works of art. Because it is very local the chances are that the raw materials will have been purchased locally and that the money spent will stay in our local communities. In these challenging times I think a gift of art makes a nice change from the usual - it can be personal and unique in a way many other things couldn't be. I saw great gifts for the usual celebrations but also graduations, hobbyists, house warmings, commemorations of visits to particular places and tributes to a home town.
And what did my friend make of it? Firstly he really enjoyed spending a day not painting but immersed in art. Like me, within the first half an hour of talking to stallholders we'd visited, he had taken some pretty fundamental practical ideas away. He had enjoyed the conversations about technique and the use of multi media in works and learned some new ways of using traditional materials. He had also learned about some new products that he wasn't aware of. Of course not everything there was to his taste but he was highly appreciative of the overall quality of artwork on display. Interestingly I got to learn quite a bit more about him through listening to the conversations he had with the artists and the conversations we had about them during the day. I learned a lot about how to set up a stall and what catches the eye. We spent over three hours just browsing and it was only the heat and fatigue that ended our day (I was able to go back on Sunday and mop up).
Highly recommended!
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