Stormy Weather With Some Rays of Sunshine

As anyone who's ever hosted an Open House will tell you, the hardest part is setting up the house to start with. So much to sort out and so much to rearrange. But in the midst of all this chaos, a few rays of sunshine are starting to shine through. One of the things I love most is the opportunity to have some beautiful works of art in my house for the next month and it's beginning to take shape.

Leonor Berdichevsky (watercolours), Margaret McGregor Betts (watercolours, etchings and collagraphs), Alexis Rayner (painting and crafts) and Del Thorpe (illustration) are all set up and my photographs are on the walls. Margaret's work is bringing some welcome colour to these grey autumn days

and Alexis's flower pictures are a beautiful reminder of summer.

Amongst Del's new work are a couple of film posters - I don't have a picture yet of "A Passage to India" to share with you with its gorgeous shades of orange but I love the detail of his "Brazil" poster which you can see below.

Before my summer went a bit pear-shaped (and I don't just mean the weather), I managed to get some new photos with the intense colours we need to get us through these gloomy weeks.

And here's one of Vicky Scott's new prints.

Three days to we open - look forward to seeing you soon.

That Time Of Year Again

Yes, it is that time of year again - the run up to the Christmas Open Houses except this year the lucky visitors get an extra weekend to visit and I have one fewer weeks to try and get the house ready for inspection.

This Christmas, I am happy to welcome a new artist to the house - Georgia Elliott. Georgia is an illustrator who was shortlisted for The AOI Illustration Awards 2013: (Books, New Talent Category). She will be displaying her books along with a selection of prints and greeting cards, including Christmas cards.

I will also be welcoming back most of the artists who were with me last Christmas although we all have new work so there will always be something you haven't seen before. I'll be posting sneak previews over the next couple of weeks but in the meantime here's one of Vicky Scott's new card designs

and one of Ruth Mullan's new fused glass pieces

So... make a date in your diary and come along and meet the artists at 45 Westbourne Gardens, Hove, BN3 5PN. We are open 11am-5pm each weekend from 21st November until 13th December.

Bank Holiday Monday

After five years of only opening on Saturdays and Sundays, today we are experimenting with opening on Bank Holiday Monday. I usually have visitors calling by on the off chance so we'll see what happens when we're officially open.

Yesterday was a lovely day at the Open House. The rain stopped just in time for opening and held off all day. Today is looking bright and sunny with no rain forest until this evening.

Although most of my artists are the same as Christmas and last May, there is plenty of new work to be viewed. Margaret McGregor Betts has new watercolours, etchings and collagraphs for sale.

Ruth Mullan has some new pieces of her exquisite stained and fused glass, including these fish diamonds.

I have a selection of new photographs including some almost abstract ones of black swans and the bizarre neck of the Greylag goose. I don't know why I take so many pictures of birds given my bird phobia - maybe it's some kind of aversion therapy for me.

Leonor Berdichevsky is back with her beautiful, detailed watercolours. This one, The Wish, sold yesterday but she will be bringing a replacement soon and it can be ordered in the meantime.

Start of the May Open Houses

Here we go again with the start of the May Open Houses in Brighton. I'm happy to say I have six of the same artists who were with me at Christmas with the welcome addition of Araboushikha, a stone sculptor, who has brought along two stunning, wonderfully tactile pieces which are in the garden as well as some smaller ones. "Harold" is a limestone hare and "Fire In the Belly" is a piece in serpentine.

Vicky Scott has brought along one of her original pieces to show the process that is carried out before her prints are made. "Alice in Wonderland" is a collage of detailed card pieces cut by hand (even the whiskers on the mice and cats) which is pieced together to make the finished article.

In addition to his detailed postcard sized original works, Del Thorpe has for sale some larger size prints. Theseus and the Minotaur is a recent work, the original of which was created for a charity auction raising money for Chestnut Tree House Children's Hospice. Having missed out on the auction for the original work, I'm thrilled to see the prints here.

Why not come along and see what we have? You can find us at 45 Westbourne Gardens, Hove, BN3 5PN. We are open the weekends (including Bank Holiday Monday) until 24th May from 11am till 5pm.