Rainy days and Mondays

 All my intentions of a mass photography session to bring you more of what's available for sale at the open house dissolved in a day of iron grey skies and pouring rain.

However, we are now into the last two weeks before opening (albeit virtually at first) so I spent the day making some face masks out of Christmas themed fabric.

Masks look set to be here for some time yet and will be essential for visiting open houses so we may as well have some fun with them. Mine use 100% cotton fabric and are fully reversible and washable. No excuse for the environmentally problematic disposable ones; sometimes it feels like the strides forward environmentally friendly alternatives have made during the last few years have reversed in a time of coronavirus.

I will be making more masks over the next couple of weeks but here's the first batch. £5 each with free UK delivery. Email me at Bluebellwouldopenhouse@gmail.com to buy.

Abi Street Glass

Abi Street has been showing her exquisite glass landscapes here for a couple of years now and it's always a pleasure to see them. They are beautifully made with incredible detail and textures. This does make them a little hard to photograph, particularly at this time of year with the sun so low. Videos do them more justice - please check out my Instagram (@bluebellroebuck) and take a look at my 'open house' highlights. 

Abi Street - South Downs Grasses

10cm x 10cm miniature

£60

Abi Street - South Downs Grasses

16cm x 16cm

£165

Abi Street - Seascape

10cm x 10cm miniature

£60

Abi Street - South Downs Grasses

12cm x 30cm

£185

Abi Street - Pebble Beach 

15cm x 40cm 

£230

Abi Street - South Downs Grasses 

15cm x 40cm 

£230

Abi Street - Up on the Downs

12cm x 30cm 

£185

Abi Street - Pebble Beach

12cm x 30cm 

£185

As always, email me at Bluebellwouldopenhouse@gmail.com if you want to reserve or buy anything on the blog. 

 

Lockdown begins

Well, England may have entered lockdown mark 2 but it's been all go here, setting up and photographing work. And we've had our first remote sale! All support at this time is very much appreciated as I know it's not easy for anyone. A happy dance was done - sales for any of my artists gives me a big smile.

So here's a selection of what was set up today. Remember you can buy or reserve any item by emailing me at Bluebellwouldopenhouse@gmail.com. 

Marc Francis Prints - Whale of a Dream

A5 framed print £30

Marc Francis Prints - Pandamonium 

A5 framed print £30

Marc Francis Prints - Sir Fox

A5 framed print £30

Marc Francis Prints - Jungle Fever

A5 framed print £30

Marc Francis Prints - Burning Bush

A5 framed print £30

Witchwood Candles

Large - £10 (2 for £18)

Small £7 (2 for £18)

Tea lights £6.50 (2 for £12)

Scents available Apple & mint, Spiced apple, Bluebell & lavender, Lavender & chamomile, Lavender & vanilla, Coffee & vanilla, Rose & vanilla, Rose & geranium, Jasmine & geranium, Geranium & orange, Fig & orange Cinnamon & orange, Mulled wine, Mulberry spice, Frankincense & myrrh, Lemon & lime, Coconut & lime, Ginger & lime, Parma violet & lime, Peach & papaya, Pomegranate & hibiscus, Pear & freesia

Jenny Wightwick 

Approx 22cm tall 18cm diameter 

£85

Jenny Wightwick 

Approx 26cm tall 16cm diameter 

£85

Jenny Wightwick 

Approx 14cm tall 18cm diameter 

£85

 More tomorrow. Stay well, everyone. 

Deck the walls

 A busy day hanging pictures today after many deliveries yesterday. The light was a bit of a challenge apart from our front room so everything got propped up on the settee for photos. 

Bluebell Roebuck - Apocalyptic 

15"x10" image in 20"x16" frame £65

A4 image in A3 mount £40

Bluebell Roebuck - Decay and Renewal 

both 8"x6" in 10"x8" frame £20 each

Bluebell Roebuck - The Shining Sea

A4 image in A3 frame £40

Bluebell Roebuck - Pleiades 

A4 image in A3 frame £40

Eve Chalcraft - August - White Peak Derbyshire 

Mixed media on canvas 50cm x 50cm £150

Eve Chalcraft - The Land and the Sky I

Image 17cm x 17cm in 27cm x 27cm frame £95

Eve Chalcraft - The Land and the Sky III 

Image 17cm x 17cm in 27cm x 27cm frame £95

Amanda Duke - Revealing Layers 2

 Image 24cm x 33cm frame 37cm x 47cm

£125

Amanda Duke - Revealing Layers 1 

 Image 24cm x 33cm frame 37cm x 47cm

£125

Amanda Duke - Paper, Lathe and Plaster 2

 Image 24cm x 33cm frame 37cm x 47cm

£125

 

Amanda Duke - Paper, Lathe and Plaster 1

 Image 24cm x 33cm frame 37cm x 47cm

£125

 

 Chris Sedgwick - Summer 'Steyning Bowl' 

Image 33cm x 33cm framed 48cm x 48cm

£145

Chris Sedgwick - Winter 'Truleigh Hill Under Snow' 

Image 33cm x 33cm framed 48cm x 48cm

£145

Chris Sedgwick - Autumn 'Beech on the Boundary' 

Image 33cm x 33cm framed 48cm x 48cm

£145

Things are starting to happen

An exciting day with the first of my artists dropping off their work. So many beautiful pieces to share with you. 

In other good news, Artists Open Houses have confirmed that they are optimistic about houses opening for the last two weekends and that things will be online in the meantime. Please keep looking at aoh.org.uk for further updates. 

I'm not going to waffle on any further - just feast your eyes on the delights below. You can email me for more information or to buy. 

Adele Scantlebury - Great Tits and Common Blue

Image size approx 3.25"x4" £42

Framed (9"x7") £84

Adele Scantlebury - Soay Ram

Image size approx 3.25"x4" £42 

Framed (9"x7") £84

Adele Scantlebury - Speckled Wood 

Image size approx 6"x7.5" £42

Framed (14"x12") £72

Adele Scantlebury - Fox & Catkins 

Image size approx 5.5"x9" £42

Framed (14"x12") £72

Lulu@no.8 - felted gnome Christmas card £4

Lulu@no.8 - felted gnome Christmas card £4

Lulu@no.8 - felted gnome Christmas card £4

Lulu@no.8 - felted gnome Christmas decoration £8

Lulu@no.8 - felted gnome Christmas decoration £8 

Lulu@no.8 - Rock pool II 33cm x 33cm £60

Lulu@no.8 - Rock pool III 60cm x 20cm £65

Lulu@no.8 - Fresh air II 23cm x 23cm £45

Bluebell Roebuck - Flow acrylic on A4 box canvas £40

The Morning After the Night Before

 

What better way to clear the head after the shambolic ramblings of the buffoon and the announcement of lockdown part 2 than a walk along the stormy shore.

I'm really pleased to say that I've already heard back from most of my guest artists and they are happy to join me in going ahead with what we can. It would be fantastic if everyone could spread the word, not just for my open house, but for all independent artists and makers who are struggling to make sense of the year. Just imagine what we're going to create next year with all this turbulence and uncertainty to get out of our systems.

The first of my artists begin delivering their work tomorrow so I'm going to start off with some of my own works. These are photographs taken early in the first lockdown and are available as a 15" by 10" image mounted and framed in black for £65 or as an unframed a4 image in an a3 mount for £20. Please email me at Bluebellwouldopenhouse@gmail.com to buy or for further information. 

Towards the Light by Bluebell Roebuck 

Flying by Bluebell Roebuck

Still here

 

So... after a long hiatus, here I am again. Open houses have been continuing in my absence from the blog which I abandoned in favour of a new toy (Instagram). But I'm back in anticipation of perhaps the strangest open house season of all.

Lockdown and the Coronavirus pandemic have been a nightmare for artists who have received very little of the help given to other industries. But art in its myriad forms is what gets us through the difficult times - whether it's books, music, television, or beautiful objects.

We are immensely grateful to the goodwill and appreciation that we have received from our customers but we are here on the verge of another rumoured lockdown which could affect the rescheduled Brighton artists open houses. 

I have already opened up the house to many more guest artists than usual to help them get exposure to more people and to give them selling opportunities in a year when so many events have been cancelled.

If we are unable to open for the whole planned event (21st November until 13th December), I am planning on posting images of everyone's work plus prices on here, and also on my Instagram stories/highlights with details of how you can buy them. It would be wonderful to have as many people as possible shopping from independent sellers this year. We know that we can't compete with the High Street in terms of price but we do create unique products.

Many of my artists do have online shops which I will be giving details of but if you are local to Brighton please consider buying via my open house as I charge a teeny weeny commission of 10% which means that the artists will get more of the purchase price than via other platforms. Please do have a look at their online shops too as there will be many more items than I can fit in my house!

Artists will begin dropping off their work over the next few weeks so please do keep checking back and spread the word as well. 

I've been really lucky in the amount of support my open house has had over the last ten years and would be particularly grateful if that could continue this Christmas.

Thanks for reading. 

Bluebell x