Artists prepare to open their doors

KERRY L Brown is one of more than 30 artists on show during this long weekend’s Bendigo Open Studios, and as part of the three-day event she’s sharing her contemporary paintings and prints at YeeHaa Studios on Strickland Road.

While she’s been creating for over two decades, she only got into painting a few years ago after feeling the need for a change.

“I’m still exploring different subject matter,” she said. “A couple of years ago I did a whole series on interiors, mostly because I was stuck at home through COVID, but then I started to explore the local landscape.

“I’m hoping people will enjoy a visual break from reality. I like to inject a lot more colour and movement into my work and, in particular, the landscape works tend to be very quiet.

“This is great timing, it’s great that we can have audiences come through.”

For Brown, the Bendigo Open Studios weekend is an opportunity to leave the past three years of work behind and enter a new phase of creativity.

“It’s nice to be able to put it all in one space and I’ve dubbed it on social media as my arty garage sale. In a way it’s a little bit therapeutic, too,” she said.

Another maker throwing open the doors to her creative space is Leanne Grylls.

While the lampworker might make the process of crafting a glass bead look easy during her demonstrations over the Open Studios weekend, it’s a talent she’s been honing for the past 16 years.

Grylls owns Linking Energy, a studio located near the entry of Bendigo Pottery, and learned the skill from a friend after working with commercial beads.

“I thought ‘might as well have a go’ so she taught me to make a bead, put dots on, trap a bubble of air, just the very basics,” she said.

“From there you can practice, play and experiment, and the rest is self-taught.”

As well as endless styles and colours of intricate, handmade glass beads, she also makes miniature animals, cheese knives and bookmarks.

She hopes her studio will open up a new world of artistry to visitors over the coming days.

“I love people coming in, and you’ve got to have some variety for people to look at,” she said. “They don’t know what to expect, most of them.

“People get an experience that they would never ever get normally. Most people have never seen glass beads being made.

“It’s nice for people to actually see how something’s done, and that’s the beauty of working artists’ studios.”

Bendigo Open Studios on this weekend

BENDIGO Open Studios is set to kick off this Saturday, 12 March, offering people a glimpse into the working environments of creatives spanning a range of disciplines.

From painters to drawers and sculptors to photographers, art lovers can wander the town taking in local talent until Monday, 14 March.

More than 30 artists will feature in the three-day event at their studios or exhibition spaces, with attendees invited to see where art lives.

Locations across Bendigo will be open from 10am to 4pm each day of the event, with an Open Studios map marking the sites to help people plan their journey.

This year is the event’s second run, with the program first developed by Studio Meraki owner Ian Dodd.

Following a move to the region from New South Wales, Dodd wanted to expand his network of local artists and offer that opportunity to the public, too.

That desire has been picked up this year by creatives like painter Sharon Hocking, street artist Mr Dimples, sculptor Yvonne George and even knife maker Christian Holm, among many others.

You can view the Bendigo Open Studios by clicking here, or to check out profiles of all featured artists, visit bendigoopenstudios.org.