BUCKS ART WEEK : Review by Aahwaan

BUCKS ART WEEK (12 - 27 JUNE): BAW (Bucks Art week) has been bringing the creative work of hundreds of artists, creators and makers in Buckinghamshire since 1985. All types of work is including sculpture, glass, jewellery and painting are up on view to you to either view, purchase or commission. Bucks Art Weeks is run by volunteers with a passion and a commitment to getting the art and craft makers of Buckinghamshire to the public every single year in this celebratory event lasting around 2 weeks. There are more than 250 artists exhibiting their works at various locations in buckinghamshire as part of @bucksartweeksofficial . A fantastic opportunity for all Artspires to see and experience a range of art mediums in so many styles!

BUCKS ART WEEK WEBSITE: Unfortunately Covid had changed the protocols of how things worked, so there wasn’t a big hall with a variety of different artists. Instead, the artists had to stay at home and do their own workshop/exhibition to the visitors. In addition to this, Bucks Art week’s website added many pictures of the creators art so people could digitally experience the work. This made it more helpful and clear what the artists are doing. The site was easy to navigate with different headings showing their own things, for example:for visitors, events, galleries, and for artists. This helped me find an exhibit closer to my house as well as fun to look at. After browsing through many artworks I had made a decision to go and look at some of Crispin Wride’s work. However, I liked a few other artists as well. On the artist pages there were a variety of topics like painting, sculpting, drawing and glass painting. A few I liked were Landscapes, glass painting and sculpting. THE VISITOR SURVEY: The Visitor survey is a few questions people who have visited the art exhibitions and seen the website have to answer to to help improve the community. Many people have filled in the survey and so have I with appropriate feedback and helpful comments. WEBSITE INFORMATION PAGE: Information about the artists’ exhibition was very clear showing a map of where it is and how long will it take you to get there, helping visitors to plan their visit before hand. There were many hyperlinks taking you a variety of information tabs including one about what you could be expecting to see there.

SOCIAL MEDIA: A great social media presence with lots of information enabling visitors to find relevant information and interact with community. The community have shared a variety of images and videos to promote and raise awareness.

MY EXPERIENCE

My Expectation: I expect some architecture related drawings and some town and cityscape sketches as well as some paintings and surreal sculptures as it says he now focusses on paintings and making sculptures. I have a feeling that his artwork is going to be in around an A4 size and not have much colour as he does monochrome work. I have chosen the artist Crispin Wride since I am into landscapes and architecture and he does both those types of drawings. I went onto a website and saw his name pop up and underneath it says he was an architect. This intrigued me as I was into that type of art. I searched more about him and liked his drawing style so I decided to go there. Also it is very close and easy to get to. It turns out that I was expecting way less than what I saw. To my surprise there were water colour paintings as well as huge sculptures. Also there was no architecture sketches as he was a retired architect. For more details about the Bucks Art Week click here: https://www.bucksartweeks.org.uk Why did I expect that: I expected all of that as according to the website - Bucks Art Week - it showed a few of the things he had done like sculpting and sketches. A lot of art was showcased and many of them were related to the pictures on the Artist Page. All of the images were relevant and easy to see. About my visit: There were many abstract 3d shapes made out of concrete or plaster. To every sculpture there was a backstory, one of which I was very fond of. It was a sort of zig zag shape extending backwards with metal rods going through the zig zag. It was made out of wood and metal but was painted white. There was an abundance of old parts of cupboards, drawers and handles all made out of timber. Crispin Wride cut them at an angle then rotated it to fit again but in a different way. This created a pattern that he used very often in wall art, sculptures and decorations. I asked him how he came up with the ideas and he replied, “I start making random shapes using thin sheets of metal or blocks of concrete then I develop it from there.” He also does sketches of places otherwise known as city scapes. Lots of them are abroad, but they are all done in a similar style. Watercolours are used and it is drawn in pen to add a fine out line, however it is hard in pen as you can’t amend your mistakes. Some of his sketches are drawn in a continuous line using pen which is very difficult. Overall it was a brilliant experience an it has inspired me to capture places and moments in my drawings. I personally think it was beneficial and I had a great time.