Artists Open Houses Now on at Our Hove Store
Words by Michaela Quinn
May 20, 2019
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Each weekend in May, Artists Open Houses is offering a chance to view an array of artwork by local artists in their own homes, or in other spaces across Brighton and Hove. The free event is perfect for art lovers who want to explore their surroundings, with 1500 artists spread across the city.
This year, Barker and Stonehouse jumped at the chance to get involved with the local community. We teamed up with national arts charity Creative Future and local artist sisters Two Faced Twins to exhibit their work inside our Hove store.
Artists Open Houses launched to a crowd of guests on Saturday 4th May. Located inside the Queensbury coffee house, the exhibition provides the perfect spot for people to view the artwork on display while enjoying the cafes stylish surroundings (and delicious cake!)
The event was attended by members of the public as well as Two Faced Twins and the Creative Future artists, who were on hand to chat about their work.
Find out more about the artists and artwork on display below.
Two Faced Twins
Two Faced Twins are Gem and Stella, identical twins from Brighton. They specialise in striking art for contemporary homes, such as their most famous piece Stanley the Stag. Also on display in Hove is their Scenes collection, a series of prints that depict their local area.
Two Faced Twins
Stanley the Stag
Yvonne J Foster, ‘Choc Ices with Paul’
Yvonne J Foster return to art in 2001 after training as a designer and silversmith earlier in life. Her Ice Cream Artworks are inspired by the illustrative style of the 1930s, combining the golden age of the cinema with a childlike innocence. The collection features pieces such as ‘Choc Ices with Paul’ featuring Paul Newman.
Paul Bellingham, ‘Siamese Twins’
Paul Bellingham works primarily in painting, drawing and collage. He is interested in the process of painting and in the paint itself, describing his process as a partnership between the conscious and the unconscious mind. Siamese Twins is one of his ‘blind portraits’ drawn with his eyes closed.
Yvonne J Foster, ‘Choc Ices with Paul’
Paul Bellingham, ‘Siamese Twins’
Joel Apps, ‘Brighton Pier’
Joel Apps creates surreal photographic collages, taking multiple photographs and combining them digitally for an altered view of a place. Brighton Pier displays the city’s most famous tourist attractions in his unique style.
Mik Strevens ‘Leopard Face Dispersion’
Mik Strevens has been creative his whole life, but his love of art was reignited after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2010. He is a digital artist who also draws photorealistic images, retouches old photographs and combines multiple photographs. ‘Leopard Face Dispersion’ is a digitally altered image.
Joel Apps, ‘Brighton Pier’
Mik Strevens ‘Leopard Face Dispersion’
Terence Wilde, ‘Runes’
London based Terence Wilde is a visual artist. He worked as a fashion print designer before retraining through voluntary mental health services as an art group facilitator. He currently teaches art, pottery and textiles. ‘Runes’ is an example of Wilde’s interest in design and colour, featuring organic shapes in a vintage style.
Elle Isolde, ‘They Knew Where the Witches Were’
London based Elle Isolde is a self-taught painter. Elle’s work often features aspects of femininity, mythology and folklore and is usually figurative in style. Her piece ‘They Knew Where the Witches Were’ is inspired by the relationship between animals and spirits within nature.
Glen Turner, ‘Forte Incircumdance’
Glen Turner begins his images by drawing, then partially erases parts of the image leaving a trace memory of line and thought. Turner’s interests encompass physics, psychology and theology, all methods of comprehending conflict with the self and in the world. ‘Forte Incircumdance’ is an abstract piece and one of two worked on at the same time.
Glen Turner, ‘Forte Incircumdance’
Terence Wilde, ‘Runes’
John Jennings, ‘Cool Fusions’
John Jennings is an abstract colourist painter who was born in Edinburgh but grew up in Oxford. After a visit to an art gallery aged 15, John was inspired to paint. His artwork such as ‘Cool Fusions’ is full of colour and enthusiasm.
Maria Kuipers, ‘Inside Out’
Formalist abstract painter Maria Kuipers works in mixed media, combining painting, stitch and collage, recycled elements and found objects. Her work is intuitive and she aims to make paintings that have emotional depth and portray a sense of lived history, spirituality and mystery. ‘Inside Outside’ is a symbolic piece using abstract shapes and lines.
Maria Kuipers, ‘Inside Out’
John Jennings, ‘Cool Fusions’
Mandy McCartin, ‘Screaming Pepe’
Mandy McCartin’s work focuses on the idea of human emotions and interactions in the urban environment. Inspired by expressionism and graffiti, her work, such as ‘Screaming Pepe’, is colourful and strong.
Kim Noble, ‘Gone’
Kim Noble is an artist with Dissociative Identity Disorder which means that the main personality splits into several parts. Kim and her 13 alters each have their own distinctive style, colour and themes that they work with. ‘Gone’ is by Kim’s persona Abi who deals with themes of loneliness.
Kim Noble, ‘Gone’
Creative Future Artwork
Dawn Blake, ‘Pickled Bra’
Dawn Blake works with a broad range of media including text, embroidery, language, installation, film and performance. Her photography piece ‘Pickled Bra’, which is on display in our Artists Open Houses exhibition, was inspired by a friend who lost her breast to cancer.
Pat Gregson, ‘Landscape on the Downs’
Textile design artist and teacher, Pat Gregson works in a broad range of media, using drawings, paintings and photographs to produce her works of art. Her work is produced in a contemplative manner and focuses on the natural word, such as ‘Landscape on the Downs’ which was inspired by walks on the Downs and is made up only of photographs.
More information of these artists and their work can be found on the Creative Future online store.
Our Artists Open Houses exhibition is now on display in Queensbury Coffee, inside our Hove store and all pieces are available to order. Artists Open Houses website runs every weekend in May. For more information, visit the .
Photography by Ellen Shaw.