Summer Exhibition 2014

The Summer Exhibition, at the Royal Academy of Arts, truly marks the beginning of Summer for me, with an ever-exuberant show featuring powerful pieces to delicate designs by major artists, to subtler pieces, arranged in the Small Weston Room. This is the world’s largest open-entry exhibition, with a history spanning nearly 250 years (not that I've been around for that long). This year, as soon as I entered the first main room, I could see that colour and proportion were clearly themes of the exhibition and I seemed to have dressed accordingly wearing a newly purchased duo: an orange silk Parisian knit and a fully sequined Amanda Wakeley pencil skirt (both from Paraphernalia). Accessories ranged from my Issey Miyake turquoise shawl to an Aquascutum chunky beaded necklace, with vintage boots and bag.

The Floral Fringe Fair 2014

Florals were an endless refrain over the weekend in West Sussex at The Floral Fringe Fair which flags itself up as a 'quirky, quality, friendly, foodie, arty, plantaholics, informative, wildlife event with a vintage twist!'. Set against the backdrop of the John Nash-designed Knepp Castle, home to the Burrell family, both days boasted fine weather, a grand setting, and good trading. Cafe Murano of Hurstpierpoint set up its outpost and sold a variety of collectables from chintz and statuary to a particularly alluring cherub(!); Louise Bunning's stall, Faded Charm, lived up beautifully to its name; whilst Arundel-based Linda Chivers was selling stand-out bras and bags from the 50's and 20's respectively, along with recycled and vintage textiles. Home to the Re-Wilding Project, Knepp also boasted a 'pop-up' tree house, built for the occasion by Inhabit Treehouses, in cedar and Douglas fir. Also the castle had its own flock of birds nearby, albeit of the sculptural variety. I wore my most quintessential English suit: a 50's silk Willow-patterned two-piece by Hardy Amies, bought for a song in Suffolk. It has previously had outings to weddings in the North of England and Goodwood and was much remarked upon...
I came away with a pair of pegs from WildWood, who specialise in charcoal and coppice products and sell everything from besom brooms to Sussex pimps and can turn their hands to hedgelaying and hurdles. I also bought some lovely plants and a charming book of poetry: Bridge Bluster, self-published at Burblebooks by Robert Edwards, who rhymes Putney with chutney. My favourite? Albert Bridge. All in all, a fabulous floral affair!

Artists' Open House

More than 200 artists; eight postal codes in south-east London; two weekends in May which made for this year's enjoyable Artists' Open House 2014. The sheer variety was dazzling from an expressive piece of art by Polly Bagnall to a charming castle, cast in a Willow pattern, by ceramicist, Sally Gulley. I purchased the quirkiest piece of Porcelain Bling, by Schneider, as well as delightful pieces by the former two (purchases not pictured). The doors of homes and studios were flung open as well as business venues such as Property In, which sponsored the event, together with support from local businesses.

Here are some of the ones we visited:

Fine Art
Polly Bagnall: http://www.pollybagnall.co.uk/  https://twitter.com/pollybagnall
Amy Devlin: https://www.facebook.com/AmyDevlinArt https://twitter.com/AmyDevlinArt
Jodie Glen-Martin http://jodieglenmartin.com/
Rhiannon Inman-Simpson http://www.rhiannoninmansimpson.com/ http://rhiannoninmansimpson.blogspot.co.uk/
Patricia Keay http://www.patkeay.co.ke/
Jo Lewis http://www.jolewisart.co.uk/
Dairo Vargas: http://dairovargas.com/

Sculpture
David Mach RA: http://www.davidmach.com/
Conscious Forms (Junior Phipps): http://www.consciousforms.com/

Jewellery
Lisa E. Moss: http://lisaemoss.com/Lisa_E_Moss_website/Home.html  https://twitter.com/LisaEMoss  
Lisa Murgatroyd http://www.oggle.co/ https://www.facebook.com/ogglelondon
Porcelain Bling (Schneider): https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/porcelainbling
Jessica Walker: http://jessicawalkerjewellery.co.uk/

Photography
Alice Luetchford http://www.aliceluetchford.co.uk/
Alison Romanczuk http://www.alisonromanczuk.com/ https://twitter.com/alisonromanczuk

Ceramics 
Gana Aleksic-Petersen: http://www.dulwichfestival.co.uk/artist/rupert-petersen-gana-aleksic-petersen
Sophie Cook http://www.sophiecook.com/
Sally Gulley: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sally-Gulley-Ceramics/167617616591154
Anna Silverton: http://annasilverton.weebly.com/
Ali Tomlin: http://www.alitomlin.com/

Prints
Delphine Lebourgeois at the Gas Gallery: http://www.gasgallery.co.uk/ 
Joyce Treasure: http://joycetreasure.co.uk/ https://twitter.com/joycetreasure
 
Textiles
Hope & Eden: http://hopeandeden.com/ https://twitter.com/hopeandeden
Anna Jacobs: http://www.annajacobsart.com/ https://twitter.com/AnnaJacobsart
Pat Mynott: http://www.dulwichfestival.co.uk/artist/pat-mynott
Roddy & Ginger: http://www.roddyandginger.co.uk/
Janie Yang: http://www.dulwichfestival.co.uk/artist/janie-yang

Dulwich Festival 2014

Once again, Dulwich is landing a cultural punch in the capital, with the launch of the 21st Dulwich Festival. More than 200 artists are now part of Artists' Open House and this weekend (17th-18th) marks the second and final weekend for this showcase. The annual festival started on May 9th and its programme of events has included music, talks, walks, workshops and debates as well as the addition of a Food Trail. As for the backdrop, located off Lordship Lane and Goose Green, these bare-knuckle fighters sprang up last year. Joining Conor Harrington's astounding work, I'm wearing an Edwardian frock-coat in funeral black.