This December I found a weekend free to visit the Christmas
artists open houses in Brighton with a lovely photographer friend
Toby Mason. Having held our own open house the previous May, we wanted to get out and see what other exhibitors did with their spaces, and hopefully be offered a mince pie or two!
It was a great few days and I found more than a couple of ceramics and art that I loved, but the woodcut prints of Sue Rubinstein stood out as my clear favourite. 'Seawards from Bo Peep' is a very long piece that reminded me of a treasured weekend of walking in Dorset that I took in October after
Tent London. The print is of the Sussex downs, but shows a familiar stretch of rolling fields that drop off into the sea. I like art to take me somewhere else for a moment or two, and personally this sends me straight back to the Purbecks, over the hills and far away.
I emailed Sue with a few words of adoration for her work, and asked very cheekily if she would consider part exchanging one of her unframed prints for anything I make - I had someone in mind who I thought would love 'Seawards from Bo Peep' for Christmas. She was very gracious about my request, and kindly exchanged on the print for some of the queens english pounds plus some of my hand printed tea towels. I feel especially lucky for her agreeing, as the highest praise and support you can give someone for their work and talent is by paying what they ask for it.
The recipient loved their gift, and it's put an idea in my head about a much bigger trade share project for the future!
If you'd like to see any more of Sue's work, she's often taking part in the Artists Open Houses in Brighton, and can be contacted at sue@mrluk.com.
