Kate Strachan at The Budgie House

By Fred Pipes

It’s hard to believe we are already half-way through the four weekends of Artists’ Open Houses, and last week’s rain (like last year’s) had put me behind schedule. So, off we go. When is an Open House not an Open House? When it’s a shop! Beyond the Level is one of those trails that does allow non-houses, ie studios and the odd shop, to join. So, on the way up a hill and out of our patch I first popped in to Taylor Made Frames on Preston Road (Venue BL19) to see the work of one of my favourite Brighton artists, Michael Embden, who paints watercolours of the South Downs in such sumptuous detail. Also on show was jeweller Louise Kate, who combines freshwater pearls with Karen hill tribe silver. Then it was on my bike up the long drag of Dyke Road Drive to new venue Nine by Nine, 9 Park View Terrace, Stanford Drive (Venue DR1). This house has a decidedly typographical theme going, with amongst other delights collages based on radio ham cards by Julia Trigg, stylish letterpress prints by Flowers and Fleurons, treasure boxes by Ann Zwemmer, and of course leggy screenprints and vintage fabric childrens’ frocks by our host Carol Seatory. It was then only a short hop along Crocodile Walk to Artists Live Here, 15 Chanctonbury Road, Hove (Venue SD3).

It’s always a difficult decision whether to stick to the houses you know and love or to take a punt on the unknown. Terri and David’s house is one of the longest established open houses – and their gorgeous (and amazingly wheat-free) cakes are always worth a detour! Even well known venues have the capacity to surprise, with new artists and new work by our old favourites. This year Judy Stevens is showing her woodcuts and linocuts of local landmarks here, and there are three floors of other artists and makers to admire and buy. I was hoping to pop into Grace Eyre, 36 Montefiore Road (Venue SD2) in the next street, but they closed at 4pm. It’s a lesson for us all – opening times are something we should always check before leaving home! So, I carried on into deeper Hove, where Tessa Wolfe Murray at 38 Lorna Road, Hove (Venue HO12) was offering a cup of tea or glass of wine to anyone arriving by bike. I took the wine! (Well, I’d just had tea and clementine cake at David Halliwell’s cafe.) Hove Arts are doing a treasure hunt for kids and a couple of them were searching for Tessa’s ceramic buttons to determine what shape they were. Her house is always full of the most serene abstract art, like the paperworks of Carol Farrow. Heading back towards Brighton I stopped in at 2 Windlesham Hall (Venue SD9) where Eve Poland was showing her prints of cats and Elizabeth O’Donnell her delicate oil paintings.

Next stop was The Budgie House, 4 Mill Row, West Hill Road (Venue SD13) where Budgie herself was standing beneath her cut-out moose’s head. Kate Strachan was also in attendance with her Patrick Caulfield-like screenprints. It was getting on to 6pm now so it was all downhill to The Sundial House, 51 Upper Lewes Road (Venue BN18) and Jackie Jones’s private view. They may not open next year, so take the opportunity to see Jackie’s mosaic sundials, Helen Brown’s prints of the South Downs and all of Jackie’s silver jewellers while you can. As they are sponsored by Dark Star brewery, there was a barrel of Hophead ale to sample. With Lewis to look forward to on the tv later, that marked the end of a perfect cultural Sunday. As always, there are plenty more photos on Flickr.