Oxfordshire artists are preparing for autumn with legendary hobgoblins & gingerbread houses made from glass.
More than 100 artists and makers are preparing for new exhibitions and studio events in November as Oxfordshire Artweeks presents its ‘runaway’ Christmas Fairs Weekend, our festive venture. A selection of the county’s painters and photographers, glass workers, metal sculptors, wood turners, stone carvers, jewellers, print makers and textile artists will be opening their homes and studios and presenting seasonally inspired art to the public for free, showcasing their talent at two day exhibitions across Oxfordshire on 14th and 15th November (11am-5pm), the perfect time to pick up original locally-crafted gifts before Christmas festivities begin.
In Headington Netta Jennison, who first exhibited her work to the public only this year, presents 'Space, Rhythm and Landscape from Norway' capturing the light of Northern clines with a fluid brushstroke and other media, whilst in Harwell, for example, Robert Strange’s squashed wrapping paper foretells the picture that will be drawn on every living room floor this Christmas. Inspired by collections, Robert Strange a member of the UK Colour Pencil Society records an obsession with keeping colourful, discarded things in boxes, whether soft toys, cracker toys or confectionery wrappers, each of his pictures in this 'Squashed' series taking between 80-120 hours to draw.
Meet Graham Rice, for example, for whom stepping into his studio is like stepping into a fairytale, a gingerbread place hidden among the woods of North Leigh, reached from the whimsically named Cuckoo Lane. And here you’ll find the rich colours of autumn encapsulated in enamel with the silhouettes of elusive deer amongst falling leaves, whilst crafted by his partner, foxes and hares scamper below as delicate silver jewellery all inspired by the local woods and the legends of Wychwood, a Royal forest in medieval times thought to be home to hobgoblins and jack o lanterns (also known as Willo the Wisp) who would on the disguise of a beautiful young girl or crock of gold to lead unsuspecting travellers floundering into the undergrowth.
‘I’m inspired by the Arthur Rackham illustrations of my childhood,’ explains Graham ‘which seem to come alive when I’m walking the dog on Northleigh Common and up through the woods to Combe. I love the trees, the secrets of the forest and the richness of the greensand other colours. And Oxfordshire seems to me to be rather a fairytale county with the richness of the flora and fauna, the river Thames cutting through it, and then there’s Blenheim just a few miles from here, a palace fit for any princess.’
For the onset of winter, Graham has also created a series of paintings depicting contemporary Oxfordshire childhood playing in a winter wonderland, as muffler-clad children skips through snowflakes and Narnian-styled white woods.
Meanwhile in Holton Jackie Birchall’s stained glass gingerbread house glows amongst handcrafted glass tree ornaments, rich in colour and shimmering with festive cheer and miniatures for a ‘Christmas present pocket’ by local artist Christine Bainbridge.
Find metal trees adorned with baubles in a loft gallery at Ascott-under-Wychwood and with a series of photographs telling tales of traditional craft techniques at Oxford’s St Michael’s at the North Gate celebrates the Art of Fair Trade at Christmas time, there’ll be plenty to surprise and delight everybody this November.
Art aficionados and everyday enthusiasts alike are invited into dozens of houses and art spaces to delight in art and craft inspired by nature and local scenes, world travels and seasonal celebrations.
Browse our map to see all the venues open for Christmas.
