We welcome new member Tessa Kirby to the Made in the Hood Gallery.

Tessa works in a variety of media, including watercolour, pastels and oils.

Tessa says “I am excited by colour, and try to capture a mood in my landscape and still life work”

You can see more of Tessa’spaintings on display at the Red Steps Gallery until May 26th.

Tessa also teaches watercolour and pastels at New Greenham Arts and gives occasional workshops.

Welcome Tessa – we look forward to seeing more of those beautiful landscapes on www.MadeintheHood.co.uk.

Newbury Open  Studios runs throughout the month of May, and several of our members are taking part this year.

You still have a chance to visit over the next 2 weekends:-

Piet van den Beuken of Roelofs and Rubens is welcoming people to her brightly painted studio at The Guernseys, Hollington Farm RG209XN, opening 17th, 18th, 19th and 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th

Sally Courage and Teresa Munn are exhibiting with Tessa Kirby at Red Steps Gallery, Whitway RG20 9LE, opening 18th, 19th, 25th & 26th 11am – 5pm.

We hope you can call in and see us!

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend our meeting to plan the events for 2013.

We have got loads of ideas for the coming year with lots of potential venues and events to investigate.

So far we have confirmed bookings for:

Hampshire Open Studios 17th – 26th August 2013 at Westridge Studios, Highclere.

Local artists Jane Vince, Simon Ball, Emily Pike, Viv Smith, Teresa Munn, Pat Clarke , Anne Gray and Helen Carlile are hosting an exhibition of mixed art and craft in the Gallery at Weyhill Craft centre from Wed 5th to Sunday 23rd September.  The gallery is open every day apart from Mondays and Tuesdays from 10am to 4pm.  Situated next door to the Ewe and I cafe – ideal for a coffee and cake or freshly prepared lunch.

In addition to display we will also be demonstrating a number of skills including beading and knitting – why not come along and have a go?

Made in the Hood are at Weyhill gallery from Wed 30th May  and we are delighted to announce that our exhibition of mixed art, ceramics, jewellery and textiles will now run for an extra week until Sunday 10th June.  Open every day apart from Mondays and Tuesdays from 10am – 4pm at the Weyhill Fairground gallery.  Why not pop in for a browse and a cuppa at the lovely cafe next door.

The prestigious Hampshire Open Studios event takes place between 18th and 27th August 2012.  We have secured a venue for this event – a lovely studio in Highclere – Westridge Studios.

If you would like to have the opportunity to take part in this popular event and share the cost of exhibiting with other Made in the Hood artists simply apply to join Made in the Hood by the end of March.

All costs associated with taking part in the Open Studios event will be shared equally by participating artists and will be in the region of £15 to £25 – a bargain compared to the £130 cost of taking part on your own.

We are delighted to welcome so many unique visitors to our website over the past couple of month.  The word is out and our unique visitor numbers soared from 332 in January to 529 in February (and that is the shortest month!).

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and please get in touch with Helen or Teresa by emailing info@madeinthehood.co.uk if you are interested in joining our collective.

We are delighted to announce our newest artist on site, Viv Smith.

“After more than 30 years teaching Art in secondary schools from Hartlepool to Hampshire I have finally stopped.
I now enjoy playing with all the materials I never got round to before. I flit from sheet silver to copper to wood and batik to collage. One idea fires off another and I relish the variety.

If you have an idea sparked off by any of my work, don’t hesitate to get in touch I’d be pleased to discuss it with you.”

Contact Viv.

24th January and 7th February saw us at Newbury College photography studios under the expert guidance of Danny Mason. We had a great couple of hours learning how to take photographs of our crafts for websites and brochures. Having a shared photography event was great – everyone picked up photography and lighting tips with expert advice always on hand. I think we will be back! Thanks again to Danny.