A Passage of Time - an exhibition by Millie Wood Swanepoel

I've said it before, but Stroud is such a great place to be if you are an artist or an art lover! We have the wonderful Site Festival and Open Studios to look forward to every May as well as regular art exhibitions in the Subscription rooms, Museum in the Park  and Lansdown art gallery.  Several local cafes and art shops also host exhibitions on their walls!
Currently showing  at Lansdown Art Gallery until 26th April is Millie Wood Swanepoel's, "Passage of Time".

It's an  exhibition of a wonderful collection of objects in a variety of media, including ceramics and found materials; an expression of her childhood in Zimbabwe.

If you don't manage to get there before it finishes, you can visit Millie's studio which is listed on Page 22 of the Open Studios Brochure (Venue 28). Unit G4 of The Old Convent, Stroud GL5 4BJ www.milliewoodswanepoel.com

The Amazing Crystalline Ceramics of Wendy Fontaine - Stroud Open Studios

This morning I visited Wendy Fontaine whose work is displayed to wonderful effect in her beautiful home near Stroud, and which will be open again this week-end as part of the Open Studios festival.  See the Brochure which you can download from www.sitefestival.org.uk  - page 10 Venue No.4 of Route 02:Golden valley.

Wendy works in her garden studio to produce bowls, bottles and ornamental items which are painstakingly decorated with crystalline glazes in a variety of attractive shades. All are unique. The glaze is created using a particular recipe and the pieces are then fired through a long process of repeatedly raising (up to 1255 degrees C), and lowering and changing temperatures over different periods of time, during which time the crystals are shaped.   I couldn't resist buying a small bowl for myself in gorgeous shades of malachite with crystals randomly formed within the glaze.

Detail of crystalline glaze