Northants open studio exhibition offers art, tea, cake - and alpacas

Art lovers will be able to enjoy refreshments, a cultural experience and come face-to-face with the creative minds behind the exhibits as well as alpacas living at the venue.

The annual Northants Open Studios event gives the public behind-the-scenes encounters with visual artists across Northants and beyond.

Visitors to The Water Tower in Benefield Road, Brigstock, next month can see the work of four artists in the former home of Fermynwoods Contemporary Art.

North Northants-based artists will use indoor and outdoor spaces for the Threads in Space and Time II month-long show.

Rosalind Stoddart, promising something for everyone, said: “The four artists Gina Glover, Graham Keddie, Susan Williams and I have intriguing new work on show in a unique venue with indoor spaces, garden and field to explore plus alpacas to see and tea and cakes on offer.”

As well as the exhibition host Rosalind will also open her studio to the public.

Gina Glover’s sculptures use found objects from the secret WW2 aerodrome once used to support the French resistance and which surrounds her Harrington home. She is also showing her lumen prints, a photographic process she developed during lockdown.

Kettering-based artist Graham Keddie, shows film with sculpture. Utilising reused text collected from media, social media and overheard conversations with film playing with ‘meaning, metaphor and perception’.

Rosalind Stoddart, uses fleece from her alpacas and natural dyes from her garden. ‘From field to studio’ she explores colour saturation, texture, surface and fusion of materials to create sumptuous results.

Kettering-based installation artist Susan Williams is exploring the Water Tower’s diverse inhabitants, human, animal and the magical, with artworks inspired from her experiences and finds such as wisps of hay and scraps of wool from the fields, gardens and the ‘wildness of the place’.

Threads in Space and Time II is open on September 2, 3, 4, 23, 24, and 25 at The Water Tower, Benefield Road, Brigstock from 10am to 4pm each day and at other times by appointment.

Use postcode NN14 3JA to find the entrance. Parking and partial disabled access are available at the venue.