Creative geniuses at Oxfordshire Artweeks

Oxfordshire Artweeks, the UK’s oldest and biggest open studios and pop-up exhibition event, returns May 3rd-26th to showcase the art of more than 1,000 creatives

Artists, makers and designers from photographers, sculptors and ceramicists to silversmiths, textile artists and glassworkers, including more than 200 new to the festival this year will be showcasing their work.

Some artists team up to host group shows while others open their studios, and there are hundreds of venues, some of which are extraordinary in themselves. This year, as well as medieval churches and magnificent Manor Houses, the 400 venues include two Oxford colleges, hidden cloisters, The Abbey in Sutton Courtenay, Oxford’s historic Covered Market, medieval barns, manor houses, woodlands and even a canal boat.

Artweeks is not only about the art and craft on show: it is about the artists and makers who have created it and the stories they have to share. At most studios and exhibitions, all of which are free to visit, you can meet the creative and talented people and chat about their materials, methods and inspiration. Simply drop in during their opening hours and be amazed, surprised and inspired.

West Oxford

Over 150 venues across Oxford are throwing open their doors from 3rd-11th May, and welcoming you in. These include The North Wall Gallery on South Parade where Marjorie Collins, an artist known for her bold and bright paintings, is hosting a collection of her work produced since she moved to Oxford 50 years ago! Expect strong shapes, lines and patterns, striking contrasts, shadows and reflections.

More unexpectedly, visit large wood-fired kilns in Wytham Woods, look out for tessellated origami art by Ayako Ono or explore an exhibition of 65 children’s costumes worn for adult roles in classic films set in the 16th, 18th and 19th centuries, all of which were made by the creative Verity Peto. Over on the Oxford Canal in Wolvercote visit Karis Harrington, a visual storyteller who is showcasing her painting, illustrations and animation in her floating studio. With a focus on water and the witch she invites you to explore fiction and folklore aboard her boat. There’s more Oxford with a literary twist in Littlemore as Lorraine Berkshire-Roe adds a cast of magical characters to iconic views in pen and ink. You’ll also find original artwork depicting the current ‘Tunnel of Doom’ linking West Oxford and the centre of the city, a timely ‘iconic’ view for Botley-folk.

Wallingford

This year, in and around Wallingford as many as 100 artists welcome you to 25 venues from 10th-18th May. Venues in town include the perennially popular Ayres House Studios where you can explore a variety of studios and art forms including picture restoration and upholstery. Elsewhere discover new art spaces such as a former greenhouse at Winterbrook Garden Nurseries in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell where father and daughter John and Hanna Cottrell are showing fun ceramic pieces inspired by folk art, Troika & abstracted animal forms, and drawings inspired by the plants, flowers, insects & animals of the Nursery as she playfully highlights the importance of certain species in the ecosystem in digital prints and textile designs.

Braziers Park is open again this year for Artweeks with perhaps the boldest and most colourful show in the whole festival, and six artists at the Busby K Studio & Gallery in Nuffield offer another warm welcome. In a converted barn and working studio, you’ll find artist Caroline Busby at the easel, one of just six artists exhibiting here. Caroline’s fresh contemporary style paintings are inspired by the surrounding countryside and its towns catch the light on these built and natural landscapes and the interplay of colours, shapes, textures, lights and darks. Alongside you’ll find textiles, jewellery and more.

There’s also striking colour from Josie Clouting in Cholsey, an artist inspired by wild and ancient places. Her work is expressive and intuitive as she responds to the light, atmosphere and topography of the natural world.

Didcot

This year, over 30 artists welcome you to 120 venues in Didcot and surrounding villages from 10th-18th May. At Cornerstone Arts Centre, Linda Benton is presenting a vibrant showcase of captivating Poets’ Trail paintings, celebrating the artistic and literary connections of the region. The exhibition also marks the launch of Didcot Oaks, a book of Didcot’s oaks and other notable trees which explores the rich stories and landscapes that inspire her work.

Blewbury is also well worth a visit – and there, you’ll find an award-winning wildlife artist, Freddy Paske, an internationally acclaimed British artist best known for his vibrant paintings of the animal kingdom. In 2022 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed Freddy as her Artist-in-Residence for the Platinum Jubilee. His art has been collected by royals, celebrities and art dealers from across the world. Alongside Freddy, textile artist Yvette Phillips embroiders local wildlife onto vintage fabrics chosen not just for their aesthetics, but for how they connect with lives and memories, preserving fragments of times past in a contemporary way with colour combinations that sing, and a sense of atmosphere.

Here too, you’ll also discover Julian March’s wheel thrown ‘soulfood’ crockery with stripes and pops of colour that brighten any day. “For me cooking and sharing soulfood with my family and friends is an act of love,” he smiles. And then to explore local artisan pottery head over to see Tanya Hill Ceramics in Harwell.

Wantage

This year, in and around Wantage and Faringdon over 60 artists welcome you to 24 venues between 10th and 18th May.

In Faringdon town centre, the gallery Pink Dove Artistry presents a variety of top-quality art including pieces by Faringdon newcomer Natasha Samasuwo whose abstract paintings, ceramics and textiles sing with joyful spring colours. There are two more venues in the centre of town – The Lotus Retreat where Michele Wallington is presenting contemporary landscapes and Great British Revivals which is home, for Artweeks, to Ushma Sargeant whose vibrant textile works are created with wool, silk, cocoons and fibres. Other new faces include Clare Saunders whose joyous colourful paintings are flower and nature inspired.

Down in Wantage, the perennially popular venues include Wantage Museum and the home studios of Bahar Murphy on Grove Street and John Gunter in Segsbury Road. Heading south to North and South Fawley, you can also explore the farmyard workspace of internationally-renowned sculptor Johannes von Stumm whose pieces mediate on the interplay of shape and emptiness. Johannes includes open shapes within his metal works, and also creates extraordinary combinations of metal, stone, wood and glass. Nearby at Fawley Social Club, four artists include Elizabeth Armstrong, artist-in-residence at Royal Windsor Racecourse and Michael Dunning who is presenting his favourite images from a career in advertising photography.

Abingdon

This year in Abingdon and local villages more than 100 artists are throwing open the doors of 24 venues from 10th-18th May. In the heart of town, local architectural stained glass artist Kay Gibbons invites you into her studio opposite the library on Bury Street, whilst on Bury Street itself Anna Lockwood will be working on large paintings of birds, sometimes with a wry twist, “The life of birds has similarities to ours; arguments, fights for territory, pecking order, a love for food!” she grins. “The birds I paint have an anthropomorphic feel, which lend themselves to large imposing portraits.” Also, Abingdon Camera Club invite you for a one-afternoon photo exhibition and ‘photo walk’ from the Market Place on Saturday, 17th May. Over in St Ethelwold’s House on East St Helen Street you can enjoy different exhibitions throughout the week. These include landscapes, life drawing, still life, bird and landscape photography, and bold contemporary seascapes. Other Abingdon shows include an exhibition by newcomer Shamsudheen Thayada whose painting is inspired by a landscape surrounded by woods, where prehistoric art whispered stories and jungle streams sang, a place rich with untold tales and unexplored paths. There are more new faces to visit in Radley, Kennington and Southmoor/Kingston Bagpuize, and The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay also opens its doors for the first time during Artweeks this year.

Witney

This year, Witney artists welcome you to a new and vibrant Artweeks art trail along the High Street from 17th-26th May. Pick up a trail map at the SOTA gallery and explore a dozen venues including the Corn Street home studio of acclaimed contemporary landscape artist Addy Gardner, and the Witney Blanket Hall which presents three very different textile artists. Here using embroidery, hand painting and cutwork, see Vikki Lafford Garside transforming simple fabrics and thread into intricate wearable art, whilst Sarah Roche creates local views with wet felting techniques. Alongside Amanda Hislop, inspired by land, sea, sky, and trees, combines paper, cloth, paint, and stitch in her art.

There’s more to see along the High Street including unique Japanese-Peruvian inspired handmade gifts by Patricia Okura who is exhibiting with a jeweller; surreal images of Oxford by fine art photographer Bharat Patel; and organic, sculptural, unique hand built ceramics and classic patchwork and quilted creations in Langdale Hall. There are also several artists at The Blue Boar in town as well as the usually quality array in the SOTA Gallery.

Over at Crawley Mill, another eight artists are exhibiting at Kingfisher Studios, a charming spot where you really can spot the kingfishers over the Windrush, and have a picnic on the riverside grass. Inside, you’ll find mixed media paintings of the landscape, drawings and etchings of animals and the natural world, intricate paper cuts, pottery and contemporary homewares.

Goring

This year, more than 40 artists welcome you to venues in and around Goring from 10th-18th May including several in the heart of Goring. These include The Orchard on Manor Road where Jane Dipple’s fresh mixed media paintings with collage hang alongside distinctive stoneware garden pots, lanterns and sculptures with textured surface decoration by Jacqueline Fitzjohn in her working studio. There’s pottery too, with stoneware and porcelain from Sarah Rushbrooke on Milldown Road, and from Bridget Thompson whose glazed tableware includes bowls, plates, mugs, jugs and vases, their designs and colours primarily influenced by her love of gardening and nature.

Over at St Mary’s Church in Aldworth, alongside the stone giants that date back to c1300-1350, you’ll see the work of 30 artists from the church’s art group, whilst two painters, Mandy Monkcom and Isobel Pigott promise an exhibition of lively, joyful and colourful art alongside stone carving, metal and other sculpture in a lovely garden. “My inspiration comes from my local Downland landscape, boats and harbours in Cornwall, the curves of the female form and, most recently, characterful buildings and streets in Rovinj, Croatia,” says Isobel.

Henley & Watlington

Over the last five years, Watlington has become a top Artweeks destination with dozens of artists along the High Street and over at Christmas Common. Here, from 10th-18th May, you’ll find everything from contemporary still life to experimental ceramics, heirloom jewellery, portraiture in freehand embroidery, mosaics for the garden and 3D animals for the wall.

Also, offering a warm welcome are six artists at the Busby K Studio & Gallery in Nuffield, a converted barn and working studio and where you’ll find artist Caroline Busby at the easel. Her fresh contemporary style paintings in oil and watercolour inspired by the surrounding countryside and its towns catch the light on these built and natural landscapes and the interplay of colours, shapes, textures, lights and darks.

Here, too, find painter Wendy Hopcroft who grew up in Zimbabwe and has lived and travelled across the globe: her subject matter is diverse as a result, from English street scenes to African wildlife as she tickles the senses and awakens memories – or dreams. These contrast with Fiona Scutcher’s detailed realist pencil drawings of bugs and animals, as she illustrates how different each individual creature is. “A big part of my process involves observing how they interact with their environment,” she explains. “The intention behind my art is to convey how beautiful the seemingly simple things in life are, when we take time to slow down and notice them.”

Elsewhere, visitors can explore political satire in papier-maché and wire sculpture, steam-punk upcycling, and serendipitous portrait photography taken in strange places. Discover collage art with Where’s Wally-esque details, and ‘Not So Still Life’ paintings and look out too for female stories that explore the social impact of art through the life and work of artist-activist Barbara Steveni in Modern Art Oxford and, in Woodstock’s Oxfordshire Museum, ‘Michael Black, chisel, wood, stone’. This exhibition explores the work and legacy of the Oxfordshire sculptor best known for carving the Emperors’ Heads outside Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre in the 1970s. 

Pick up a festival guide from a local information point or browse the events by location or type of art at artweeks.org

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