Last chance for Open Studios

Several meetings this week but far more intersting is the annual Site 07 visual art festival, involving 250 local, national and international artists, runs until June 30 here in Stroud and the surrounding valleys. As I've noted already on this blog (see 2nd and 11th June - click 'Art' Label below for more) the heart of the festival is the Open Studios weekends: the last of these is this weekend (16-17th) - don't miss it.

Photo: Grizelda pastel - bought a card of this one.

I mentioned that one of my favorite artists this year was Grizelda Holderness - yesterday I managed to get out to see her paintings at a barn in Frampton and her wonderful studio crammed full of works in progress and books and more books. In the garden their are tents with more works. Well worth the visit this weekend - although the barn exhibition closed today - a great pity as another artist worth seeing was Gillian Keightley - she was exhibiting some great landscapes and I don't think she has opened her studio this year.

I heard mention of Grizelda's father, Hardwicke Holderness who had died recently - it was only after leaving that I realised he was one of the greats in Rhodesia who stood up to Ian Smith's racist regime - and was a decorated pilot.