‘My own private idle pool’ by Morokoth Fournier at Mews Road Studios, St Leonards – Studio Number 50 on the Coastal Currents map.

Put your feet up and get ready for next weekend’s Open Studios

Whilst the Coastal Currents festival runs through September and beyond, we are already half way through this year’s Open Studios season. Erica Smith gives some tips for how to choose which Open Studios to visit next weekend.

There are 67 Open Studios listed in the Coastal Currents programme – nearly all of them concentrated in Hastings & St Leonards. Only the keenest of Coastal Currents afficionados is likely to get round all the shows on offer, but how on earth do you decide where to go?

Go for an adventure!

Check out the outliers – the furthest afield is Lorraine Singer Ceramics in Robertsbrige – and if you go on Saturday 7 September, you could combine the trip with a visit to the first day of In Every Shadow at the BlackShed Gallery.

Encaustic wax painting by Sarah Evans at the Ibex Art Studios in Bexhill.

If you fancy a road trip out East there are six open studios between the edge of Ore and Lydd on Sea, including Tim Riddihough’s sculpture garden in Pett Level. Or you could ‘Go West’ and visit the three Open Studios in Bexhill. Whilst The Old Ambulance Station and Ibex Art Studios (ceramics by Eddie Knevett and Mokshaghandi Van der Plas and beautiful abstract paintings by Sarah Evans) are relatively central and accessible, only the most adventurous explorers will find their way to Geraldine Franklin’s delightful studio and garden tucked away in Sandhurst Lane – at Number 67, it is the last, but by no means the least in the Open Studios programme.

Grant Braithwaite (above) and Wendy Pacey have ‘works in progress’ at 1 Union Street, St Leonards.

Stay local

It’s always interesting to visit the homes and studios in your immediate area. The maps in the Festival programme make it easy to see clusters of Open Studios. As well as having your eyes opened by the art, it’s also fun to visit buildings in your neighbourhood that you might not otherwise know about – and its a great way to meet your neighbours! The St Leonards cluster west of Norman Road includes 14 diverse venues – with work by multiple artists – including my studio at 4 Mews Road. You can see some of the books, prints and necklaces I’ve created, as well as poetry by Caf Fean, portraits by Caroline Sell, Khadija Khan’s beautiful new series of watercolours and Morokoth Fournier’s jewel-like new works (the headline image in this article). XR artist Ornagh is also based in Mews Road Studio, and we have a guest artist with us for Coastal Currents – Catherine Farr, who is exhibiting her beautiful botanical paintings and prints.

Just down the road at the back of Marine Court is the Basement Studio (number 64 on the Coastal Currents map) which is shared by Robin Holtom, Keith Waller, Karen Pitcher, Lucinda Devenish and Frances Marsden. Just up the road, Alex Leadbeater and Claire Land (number 49) are exhibiting in Harold Mews, and Ray McChrystal (number 52), and Adrienne Hunter and Nick Snelling (number 51) have beautiful garden studios nearby in The Lawn.

Tim Riddihough’s surreal sculpture garden at Pett Level is always worth a visit. Number 5 on the Coastal Currents Open Studios map.

Do your research

Sit down with a printed copy of the programme and a highlighter, or check out the Coastal Currents website – you can even put in a search term like ‘abstract’ or ‘surreal’ to help you find art that interests you.

Go with the flow

Don’t be over-ambitious and attempt to visit too many studios in one visit. Take your time, talk to the exhibitors and, if you can afford to, buy a card if not an original work of art in order to support the artists on the trail.

Open Studios will be open again this weekend – Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 September. Opening times vary, but the core hours are 11am to 5pm. You can find Open Studios by visiting the Coastal Currents website or picking up one of the bright yellow festival programmes.

Also in: Arts News