It’s Arts Festival Time!
Melbourne and Ashby Arts Festivals
For me, May is going to be a busy time to promote my embroideries. In Melbourne, Derbyshire, I have five pieces of work for sale in their Art Fair and I will be holding a stall of my work in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire during their Arts Festival.
Arts Melbourne Open Art Fair
May 4-6 2024
On Thursday 2nd May, I will be delivering my embroideries to The Athenaeum Hall for the team to hang my work with other artists who applied at the beginning of April. One of my pieces is called “Under Control”. ( Look in the ABOUT section of this website and you’ll see the video of it’s beginning. )
“Under Control”
This piece of work always brings a smile to my face as I remember the trip to Grace Dieu Priory where this herd of cows lined up beautifully behind the sign, as if to show the visiting children how it should be done.
Visiting the Art Fair
Melbourne is a pretty market town in South Derbyshire. The Athenaeum is on Potter Street. It’s entry fee of £2 goes to it’s Blooming Project which provides creative workshops for the community. After walking around the large hall and enjoying the artwork, you might fancy a refreshment break.
As you come out of the Athenaeum, look right and you will see the sign for Potter’s Yard which leads into a lovely courtyard where you can have tea, coffee and delightful cakes at “Tea at 3” cake house.
“Signs and Samosas”
I like different types of signage, especially hand written ones. My embroidery “Signs and Samosas” is about the mixture of architecture and fonts.
Continue down Potter Street towards Castle Street, where you may have parked your car and you’ll see the tower of St. Michael with St. Mary’s Church. Head towards this and you will be on your way to see Melbourne Mill Pool.
This is a very popular area to bring children to feed the swans, ducks, geese and gulls; bring your own picnic and you might be feeding them even if you don’t want to so be warned! Not every area has the luxury of such beautiful countryside but children’s imaginations can make the best of everything. “Remembering Louis”, is an embroidery of the joy of playing on a warm day.
“Remembering Louis”
Melbourne Mill Pool flows in front of Melbourne Hall. The Hall might sound familiar if you are a fan of Johnny Vegas Vintage Vehicle Glamping. It is the stately home of Lord and Lady Ralph Kerr. It is open to the public but it’s best to check this on their website.
Ready? Returning to the church , continue up the hill on Church Street. On the right is “Creative Melbourne Gallery”. The entrance tricks you into thinking that this must be the tiniest gallery. Once up the stairs and you have a treat in store with the display area.
The High Street is towards the top of the hill. The Market place area has a cross and a shelter. It’s a good spot to see the ribbons of streets that radiate from it.
Ashby Arts Festival
May 11th and 12th 2024
I will be holding a stall selling my work at the Ivanhoe School on North Street in Ashby. Look at my BLOG for March entitled “ Sew Ashby de la Zouch “ for more information about my work and the market town. There are plenty of car park spaces around Ashby centre and this event is usually well attended.
The festival has a Giant Outdoor Gallery. These are eight foot by four foot artworks which are displayed on the buildings around Ashby Town Centre. They are painted by local artists and the theme changes each year. This year is “ 200th Birthday of The National Gallery”. There is also a full range of workshops, films, photography and music over the weekend.
Well, this year is galloping by and it’s the 1st May already. It would be great if you could come and see my work but whatever you are doing, have a great Bank Holiday weekend. Thanks for reading my blog.