Introduction

Welcome to Open Studios 2009, the 21st year. Although the visual arts provide a significant form of non-verbal communication, talking about art, particularly to artists themselves, is an important way of finding out more about it. Now is the chance! Use this Directory as a guide and find your way to an artist's studio. Discuss ideas and come away with a whole new awareness of the visual arts and creativity. It needn't stop there of course, you can commission a work of art or buy something unique that will stand the test of time.

As you go through this Directory note some of the interesting statements which will give an indication of the wide range of visual arts disciplines on offer. Jo Arkel for instance says that after 35 years as a ceramicist she has changed to working with Venetian glass, learning bead making on the Isle of Murano, Italy. Photographer Deborah Taylor looks for "...the unusual in the everyday". Nigel Moores writes "... painting is about discovery. It is a process where one should be surprised and challenged". Elisabeth Beverley explains how she uses local hedgerow and garden plants to dye soft woollen yarns. This resonates with Gloria Pitt's entry and she reminds us that 2009 has been designated International Year of Natural Fibres.

What about trying your own hand at a practical skill. Turn to the Hands-on Workshops page to find an exciting list devised by Anne Jones. Learn about etching with Sioban Coppinger or join with your family to work with potter Mike Taylor on the theme Creatures in Clay at Hampstead Norreys School.

Take a 'virtual tour' of a selection of artists' studios by using the online panoramas in the Artists at Work section of our website visit www.open-studios.org.uk. The website contains all of the information in this Directory plus each studio has an online map, courtesy of Multimap, to help you with travel directions.

Central to Open Studios is the flagship exhibition INSIGHT 2009 in the Gallery at New Greenham Arts. All 101 artists are represented in this important gallery which grew out of the ashes of the American Air Base and now has a national reputation. It is linked to the Corn Exchange where a group of artists have taken dance and music as their source of inspiration, calling their exhibition Muse. Other exhibitions show a rich diversity.

The creativity demonstrated by young people is amazing and essential for the future of art. Make the most of an opportunity to visit art and design departments in some of West Berkshire's schools. A family learning residency IMPACT Graham Sutherland at Basildon Park, highlights Sutherland's preliminary drawings for his huge tapestry at Coventry Cathedral.

Open Studios aims to reach out to people of all ages and abilities and to provide visual arts experience in many different contexts. Make visiting an artist a top priority and take your keynote from Sir Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art, who, in an interview prior to his retirement as Chairman of Arts Council England, stressed the importance of the arts in a time of recession.

Pat Eastop MBE,
January 2009