Wimbledon Art Studios is a good place to go if your an art fan. Separated into three different blocks. Each with multiple floors. It is studio after studio of art from so many different artists.
Sometimes it opens its doors to the general public, twice a year in fact. It means that people can go in, have a nosey and buy art directly from the artists. Open door also means exactly that. You just wander in and look around. Chat and then move onto the next place which catches your eye.
We went along with Katy Earley from the Modern Edit. She was accompanied by her two daughters so it made for a fun day out. The girls were choosing pieces to buy from each of the studios. It meant that our imaginary bill was soon racking up. They chose some good art too. If bought would have put a hole in the pocket although would have made the flat a lot brighter. Katy also wrote about the trip and you can read her take on it here.
Wimbledon Art Studios
But imaginary art aside. We thought we’d give our pick of the artists from Wimbledon Art Studios who had chosen to open up their spaces. They are in no particular order obviously and there were hundreds to choose from, but here goes:
Michael Wallner – www.michaelwallner.co.uk
An artist we’ve got to know quite well over the year. We covered his Urban Soup show at the Oxo Tower last year. This time Michael’s was one of the first studios we wanted to visit. Katy in particular had been struck by his style of art. Often produced on sheet metal and colorised in some way. He also had a good supply of jelly babies which made the girls happy.
Sophie Tea – www.sophieteaart.com
Known for her colourful paintings of animals Sophie Tea is clearly a popular painter. According to her website, a career as a full time artist was always a more popular option than her initial career in a more corporate sphere. She gave all that up and then set up shop doing what she does best, namely that of painting bright colourful animals and birds.
Dunja S.R. – www.dunjasavcic.com
Influenced by Japanese animation there was something about Dunya’s big eyed characters that drew us in. Originally from Belgrade she studied at the Academy of Fine Arts she spoke to us about her fascination for Japanese art. It’s something you can see coming out in her work with all her characters having a really striking and distinctive look.
Jeremy Dickinson – www.jeremydickinson.com
This studio was a bit of a treat to stumble across. Jeremy paints tonka trucks and cars, all arranged in different positions, he paints them as he would a still life and so his studio his full of paintings of colourful rusting old toy cars. Very cool especially as I grew up hearing tales of my Dad’s long lost collection of tonka trucks which allegedly are still hidden, buried in a Yorkshire garden to this day.
Alex Rennie – www.alexrennie.co.uk
Shipping containers featured heavily in Alex’s work in all sorts of abstract arrangements. and that’s what caught our eye. Originally painting a container for a client he quite liked the way they looked and started doing more of them. The resultant images are surreal takes on the trans-ocean shipping trade.
Fiona Brown – Fiona Brown Website
Black and white pencil sketches of birds and bees filled the wall of the studio of Fiona Brown. She takes the drawings and then digitises them to make a collage, placing them one on top of the other until the single images become a swarm.
Evy Meehan – www.evymeehan.com
A former architect, Evy decided to give art a go and now creates abstract art with an architectural edge. Her works use a more pastel palette and the geometric shapes and lines make for some appealing images. Look closely and you can certainly see the influences from her past career.
Candice Tait – www.candicetait.com
The studio of Candice Tait looked like it wouldn’t look out of place in an interior design magazine. White walls, with a grey chair and green landscapes alongside a solitary still life. Even Candice herself looked like she was part of the deal, wearing white and painting by the window, and I suppose she is, it is her studio after all.
Laura Benetton – www.laurabenetton.co.uk
Abstract artist Laura was the only artist I saw who actually had what could be described as street art on the wall. Not that this was something we expected to see but it’s always good to see a painted wall especially considering the fact that this is ostensibly a street art blog. Laura specializes in abstraction and her use of colour and shape certainly makes for some intriguing pieces.
Munleen Sibia – www.artbymuns.com
Another artist we first came across during last years Urban Soup exhibition, we’ve known Munleen more for her photography than her canvasse’s. Yet, here is another artist with a keen eye for the abstract and who also has a pretty co-ordinated studio. She also had a very cool yellow sofa which was too good not to photograph and Katy and the girls of course took full advantage.
Wimbledon Art Studios was visited on Saturday 12 May 2018. Visiting with us was Katy Earley from the Modern Edit and her two daughters Evie and Daisy. All photos were taken on the day. The studio are located at 10 Riverside Yard, London, SW17 0BB
1 Comment