What's On: Open Studios becomes Open Windows

Next month more than 100 artists from Cambridge Open Studios will be displaying their treasured pieces in their front windows and gardens as part of #OpenWindows2020. Louise Cummings takes a peek

Though there won’t be the usual opportunity to venture inside the hallowed spaces of the county’s painters, potters, sculptors and artists – with Cambridge Open Studios cancelled owing to Coronavirus restrictions - thanks to the nationwide project #OpenWindows2020, we can still enjoy seeing original art, but from a safe distance. More than 100 Cambridgeshire artists are taking part in the paired-back event, which will see art on display in windows and front gardens for all four weekends of July. Organisers have created a map of locations that will be accessible, which can be downloaded from their website from 1 June, with artists decorating their homes with the COS yellow flag, creating an art treasure hunt for those in their neighbourhood. To whet your appetite, here are five members who’ll be proudly displaying their pieces. . .

Maureen Mace

Cambridge painter and printmaker Maureen is a master of the magical and surreal. Her exquisite dreamlike paintings in oil and acrylic on canvas - inspired by medieval art and mythology - depict trees, people and Cambridge, incorporating rich night skies and a shining moon.

Visit maureenmace.co.uk

Clive Dawson

Based in Histon, Clive works in acrylics and takes inspiration from the tapestry of nature unfolding outside his door. This vibrant Round Church image, pictured, was painted before Lockdown, at an unusually quiet time.

Visit clivedawsonart.wordpress.com

Marion Curtis

Trained textile designer Marion specialises in modern quilts designed in eye-catching colours, with striking geometric patterns, which explore positive and negative space. The Cambridge-based artist also creates beautiful silver jewellery, featuring pearls, crystals and semi-precious gems.

Visit marioncurtis.blogspot.co.uk

Eric Marland

Originally located on the stunning River Waveney Sculpture Trail in Suffolk, you’ll find this ponderous piece located in Eric’s garden in Cambridge. An accomplished letter carver, Eric works mainly in stone, wood and glass, his commissions spanning plaques, headstones and house names, often bearing poems or pithy sayings.

Visit camopenstudios.co.uk/user/445/summary

Jonny Church

Growing up in the Forest of Dean and studying in Wales, surrounded by mountains and wild landscapes has certainly influenced Jonny’s paintings. Now settled in Cambridge, lines and forms in the environment emerge as abstract and semi-abstract constructs, conveying both the conspicuous and the intangible in his surroundings.

Visit instagram.com/_jonnychurch

Anthony Hopkinson

Now in his 80s, Anthony is one of the older members of Cambridge Open Studios, but credits art as ‘keeping him going’. He has been making prints for more than 20 years, though latterly works in the medium of collage at his Cambridge studio. Yuan Bird, pictured, was inspired by the work of the English china makers Wood & Co.

Visit anthonyhopkinson.co.uk

Emily Jolley

An abstract artist, Emily’s main focus is painting incorporating emulsion paints. Her work is influenced by Modernism, including Abstract Expressionism, as well as artists that reference minimalism such as Eva Hesse. Recent work includes references to natural forms from the Cambridgeshire landscape.

Visit emilyjolley.co.uk

* Find out more about those taking part at camopenstudios.co.uk/window-art, where you’ll find instructions and maps to locate participating artists

* See July’s Velvet Magazine to read about more artists taking part in #OpenWindows2020