On Friday 17th June and Saturday 18th June the artists at the Fenners Building will be welcoming visitors to our annual open studios. Several new artists have joined us recently and the open studios are a unique opportunity to explore this usually hidden creative corner of Letchworth. 

You will be able to meet and buy work direct from some of the artists and gain an insight into the various artistic practices in the studios; ranging from painting, ceramics, photography, print-making and sculpture. An exhibition of the artists work will also be on show in the gallery. The Fenners Open Studios are part of the Letchworth Festival’s Art Trail. For more information and to see the other venues taking part visit: www.letchworthfestival.org/arttrail The Fenners Open Studios promises to be a wonderful event in this very special summer of celebrations! 

Please join us anytime on Friday 17th June 6pm – 9pm and Saturday 18th June 10am – 4pm.

If you have any questions regarding accessibility at this venue or event or would like to make us aware of any access requirements that you have in advance of visiting, please email info@digswellarts.org

Beth Horner is an artist whose small-scaled paintings, suburban settings are transformed into sinister, uncanny dwellings blanketed in mystery and quiet possibility. Often drawing on the lminal in-between time of twlight, glowing windows and apertures allude to hidden narratives. Personal imagery is complied, paintined, torn and pieced back togerther – physically and virtually – in these composed, claustrophic documentations of domestic life. Intricately rendered fragments lead into areas suggestive of decay and fragility as representation sits on top of bulging texture, warping and abstracting spaces once familiar. 

Maria Merridan‘s fine art work frequently combines a range of media, including print, collage, drawing and watercolour painting. Surfaces tend to be built up gradaully creating multi-layered artworks. Recurring themes of migration, meterology, mpas, astronomy, natural history and science can be observed. 

Jaime Freestone is an artist who since 2013 has been working on perfecting his own unique style of art, inspired by the pursuit of transforming old materials into something new, often creating sculptural pieces made from unconventional materials and including techniques such as taxidermy to create artowrks. Jaime also paints both abstract and figurative compostions on canvas. On occasion Jaime uses second hand garments as a canvas with the intention of creating wearable art pieces. This is to highlight the problems of waste and its affects on the planet and to challenge the percieved idea of what is ‘art’.

Cash Cashman is a contemporary artist who creates stunning, vibrant geometric-based optical art. Some of Carl’s art is painted using UV reactive paint, which adds further visual element to the pieces when seen in the right environment. Influenced by music and moments in his daily life, Carl depicts striking patterns generally with a neon based palette and refers to this as ‘Neometry’ or Neometric Art. Carl’s artworks are hypnotic, at times bordering on the hallucinatory, and blur the distinction between digital and analogue forms; while the works are executed entirely by hand, the paintings are crisp, precise and graphically decisive, giving the impression that these are digital creations.

Fiona Booy is a ceramic artist whose work is inspired by mountains and valleys, erosion and craters; and the inconceivable force and time required in their formation – and the dramatic results.  Having travelled extensively and fascinated by the power and majesty of the physcial world around us, Fiona’s work is informed by the feeling of standing next to mountains and emersed in the valleys, which reminds her that we are “tiny little humans” who “scream and shout and fret and scurry adn argue and stress and worry”. In addition to making and selling her ceramic art, Fiona also runs a variety of classes, workshops and demonstrations for special occasions. 

Stuart Jone‘s work is informed by the urban and rural landscape and ideas of utopia, dystopia and the sublime. The environment and howhumans experience the landscape interests Stuart and informs his practice. Stuart’s work explores the human relationship with the landscape and how this is in flux; becoming increasingly disconnected from the environment due to technological advancement. Alongisde the themes of utopia, dystopia, heterotopia and the sublime, the Anthropocene and the climate crisis, plus current social and political issues feed into Stuart’s work. The human figure is missing from his paintings, enabling the viewer to become the missing human presence within the work: the spaces becoming portals that the viewer has to negotiate into an alternative world, space or time.

Muna Zuberi‘s practice is centred around creating contempoary art pieces using, and revitalising, the old-school art fom of stained glass. Muna’s work always starts with drawing and develops over many iterations to fully formed colour visualisations. These are then built into either 2D or 3D pieces in glass; created using techniques including mosaic, glass fusing and glass painting. Muna is inspired by the process of Dalle de verre, a popular technique used in the 50-60s, which is why she often works in mosaic. This technique is more accessible than dalle de verre in size, portability and cost and also allows a freer and more dynamic approach than other traditional glass techniques. The ‘race’ issue has been a persistent presence in Muna’s life and this has led her to think more about what makes other people tick. Her practice focuses on understanding the ‘person’ – their influences and crucially, what has led them to their thinking and understanding of the world.

Liz Harrington is a photographic artist working primarily with analogue, alternative photographic processes and camera-less techniques. Her practice focuses on transience and traces of the past, finding beauty in the often unseen or overlooked. Recent subject matter includes the natural landscape, built environment and archival/found materials. The photograph as an object is also an important feature of her work, along with the production of handmade artist books. 

Sarah Rooms Heaphy‘s ceramic work is primarily porcelain based for its true white canvas to take strong colours and textures. The work has evolved over the years, but its identity lies in texture, pattern, colour combined with the coastal landscape. In recent years, Sarah’s work has progressed to explore emotional responses to the coast; the hypnotic repetition of the waves, to capture the wildness of the elements, texture of the beach, and the marks of nature as it totally surrounds her, a form of escape from this everyday life. To play with the idea of being absorbed, immersed, surrounded, in nature’s power. And to recognise the elemental power of nature over manmade structures.

Kate Windibank’s practice involves an exploration of form and surface encompassing ceramic materials, fragmentation and natural processes. Drawing inspiration from the structure and textures of nature, she uses concepts of geological formation and erosion to suggest the transformational nature of time on the foundations of human experience and identity. Kate’s ceramic artworks are objects that can be investigated and reappraised, as each viewing reveals new juxtapositions of detail, process, form and event.