Dorset Art Weeks

The two week window to view artists work, usually in their own home or open studio is eagerly anticipated each year. I don't have a system of trying to get to as many as I can, but just take in what takes my fancy. The glorious guide to accompany the Dorset Art Weeks event is huge and the whole festival is so well organised, signposted and promoted you just cannot fail to see it is going on.

Merrily Harpur

I can do no better than quote from the splendid guide introduction, it really does sum it all up for me - DAW brings artists and visitors together in ways that are often remarkable and profoundly different from entering a gallery. Artists relinquish the privacy of home or workplace. To paraphrase David Hockney, this is part of the generosity of artists.

The Rookery Gate - Merrily Harpur

What mustn't be lost to the austerity economy is the importance of the handmade in our lives: the bespoke, the unique. the object that becomes treasured and acquires more meaning the longer it remains with us, or the image that challenges us to think or reflect differently each time we consider it. Innovative materials, processes and contemporary ideas are as much a part of this equation as any reference to tradition. 

Eggardon Drop - Liz Somerville

The two open studios that have given me most pleasure so far have to be those of Merrily Harpur and Liz Somerville - both of Cattistock. Liz Somerville's studio next to the village church was a perfect setting for her hand coloured linocuts. They hit the spot for me and mirror why I love some of those vistas so much. A short stroll down Duck Street to Merrily Harpur's splendid display. It was almost too much to take in as each familiar scene both local and afar were so pleasing on the eye. 

Valley of Brothers - Liz Somerville

The good news is there is another week to go!