Tonbridge Artist Christine White

If you make your way down the little alleyway known as Skinners Terrace you'll find a gem of an art studio at No 2.  Amidst the muddle of doors, in this rather uninviting walkway, I first discovered Tonbridge artist Christine White's compact studio, during The South East Open Studio's yearly event in June.

Once through the door, which might have been little hard to find but for the Open Studio posters, a flight of stairs surrounded by wall and hanging art invites you upstairs to an Aladdin's cave of artwork and equipment, and a smiling Christine who welcomed me to her working studio.

Artist Christine White

Christine's work-in-progress sits side-by-side with finished pieces, and she told me she has been inspired by youth culture, text and language in much of her work. The bright studio allows uninterrupted light to stream through the large windows, and is a perfect working space all year round.

Christine holds regular art lessons for children, as well as art parties, at her Skinners Row studio, and during the long summer holiday she will be holding daily workshops. These are no ordinary holiday workshops consisting of splashing a bit of paint around or cut and pasting. Christine has fine tuned each one to not only be fun, but to also educate and inform on both skills and artists themselves, such as a Van Gogh sunflower workshop to a 2 day tribal mask making workshop using mixed media. She has a BA in Fine Art and is fully CRB checked and insured.

The daily workshops start next week, and set out below are the first 2 week's schedule. There are 2 more weeks of workshops throughout the the summer holidays, and to find out what's on offer give Christine a call on 01732 350192 / 07771349062 or email: christine75@rocketmail.com ... Remember spaces are limited.

WEEK 1

Monday 29th July 10am -12 or 2pm - 4pm

Summer themed postcards using watercolour,

£15.00 (this workshop is repeated on 14/8)

Tuesday 30th July 10am - 12 or 2pm - 4pm

Collagraph printing workshop,

£15.00

(this workshop is repeated on

21/8)

Wednesday 31st July 10am - 12 or 2pm- 4pm

Eric Carle style tissue paper butterfly pictures, £15.00 

Thursday 1st August 10am - 12 or 2pm -4pm

Still life pictures of shells using charcoal and chalk, £15.00 

Friday 2nd August 10am – 12 or 2pm -4pm

Paint with acrylics on mini canvas panels,

£15.00 

WEEK 2

Monday 5th August 10am - 12 or 2pm - 4pm
Van Gogh inspired Sunflower pictures
using oil pastels, £15.00

Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th August 

'Giant Fruit' 2 day
workshop held at Trinity Theatre Tunbridge Wells, £25.00 –
please contact Christine for more details.

Thursday 8th August 10am - 12 or 2pm - 4pm
Picasso style guitar collage, £15.00

Friday 9th August 10am - 12 or 2pm - 4pm
Scraper-board pictures using acrylic
and oil pastels, £15.00

Nick Hebditch - Tonbridge Open Studio

Every year, during the South East Open Studio time I make the effort to visit Tonbridge artist Nick Hebditch at his home in Deakin Leas, and every year I am not disappointed, but thrilled that I have once again had the opportunity to view, not only some of Nick's older work, but his latest pieces too, and to make a fuss of his two well-behaved Scotties.

Nick's fascination with architecture and buildings is reflected in his work and he has painted everything from weathered walls or doorways, to the wider views of several buildings through to cityscapes. This interest has drawn him to the beauty of Venice, Paris, Barcelona and the South of France. These places, transformed into colour, cover the walls as you journey from country to country through the house. However, amongst all his work I recognised the unmistakable architecture of the Bailey & Cogger building that stands in the north end of our very own High Street.

Nick's recent interest is in landscapes and I really enjoyed his painting of the purple lavender fields and the moody autumnal countryside of Penshurst.

There are only three more days to view the collection as the Open Studios close on Sunday for this year. I thoroughly recommend a visit ... it's really worth the trip and Nick will be on hand to give you a friendly welcome. No appointment is needed. Opening times and directions are set out in the link http://www.seos-art.org/artists/nickhebditch/

Tonbridge Artist Sue Walker

I love this arty time of the year. It first kicks off for me with the Brighton Festival and all the superb open houses, The Summer Exhibition at The Royal Academy of Art follows, then come the block buster exhibitions around the country and abroad, the degree shows and our very own local South East Open Studios which are in full swing at the moment.

Yesterday I visited Sue Walker who is exhibiting in a hidden funky little summer house in York Road, Tunbridge Wells. You'll find this gem in the road next to the old Habitat building (just follow the South East Open Sudios sign), so if you're out shopping it's well worth spending some extra time dropping in to see Sue's work. http://www.seos-art.org/artists/suewalker/

Sue is a Tonbridge based artist, a neighbour and allotment buddy. Professionally she works for the BBC in graphic design and is now rediscovering her creativity through painting. She has a natural sense of colour and I was particularly drawn to her beautiful series of cathedral paintings.

The whole experience of this exhibition was brilliant - finding the hidden location through the foliage in the centre of town was such a surprise, and then to encounter such interesting colour and energy in the paintings in such an unusual space was the icing on the cake.

We have a thriving community of local artists quietly working away in Tonbridge, and this is your opportunity to get to know them and see their work. I'm hoping to get around to many more of them today. The Open Studio exhibitions are all free, but have different and specific opening hours. You'll find all the Tonbridge exhibitions here on the SEOS website http://www.seos-art.org/search/?q=Tonbridge&x=0&y=0