Vidya Wolton

Open Studios - Jubilee Stores

The past two weekends have seen Open Studios taking place here on the Isle of Wight. I was able to cover a bit of ground and here at the Jubilee Stores caught up with artist Lisa Traxler in her new studio space, after what had been a hectic weekend of visitors. Lisa is just coming to the end of a studio residency at Artspace in Portsmouth and will be getting to grips with the dedicated space at the Jubilee Stores in Newport to continue her journey through photography, stitch and mixed media which have formed an important part of recent work.

Every artist I visited had interpreted the brief for Open Studios slightly differently. Some were particularly geared up for sales or for showing the latest work and what was really important for me was the conversations had as ideas were exchanged and a greater understanding of the work achieved. I look forward to next year’s event and may actually put myself on the trail for it, having been conspicuous by my absence for the past couple of years!

Well what can one actually fit into an A3 envelope and send off to the Farnham Maltings to get shown in their cafe and exhibition spaces?  Here are a few Island entries. The ‘umbrella’ mobile is a memory piece by Island-based artist Lisa Traxler. Lisa is perhaps better known for her painting but has a background in fashion photography, with current work using old photographs in new and inventive ways. Check out Lisa’s website at www.lisatraxler.com . My own piece is actually on the cafe wall at the Maltings and isn’t quite in the intended envelope-form as shown here. However, if there are any readers local to Farnham who happen to look at my blog (always hopeful), then check out this piece on the wall, together with its envelope which also has a fair wack of paint and collage. Great to see there is still snow in Farnham. The Isle of Wight has it’s own adventure at the moment with local flooding. Negotiating the roads around Ryde was quite hazardous and in my local town of East Cowes the fire service is at work even as we speak pumping water out from the town centre. Freaky isn’t it?