Dina Malkova at a busy Russian Open House

So, the Artists’ Open Houses are now over for 2009 and 75 venues will be putting away the Art, getting ready for Christmas, and beginning to think about the run-up to the May festival. My weekend was less busy than the first two. With the Dragonfly House not open all three, there was no invigilation to be done, so I cycled down to the sea and along Marine Parade to 18 Northumberland Court (venue 61) where the Brighton and Hove Russian Choir was performing – and who should I bump into, but my co-blogger Harriet. With free quality entertainment like this it was bound to be full to capacity, so we stood in the doorway and watched Polina Shepherd (in a beautiful dress by exhibitor Dina Malkova) put them through their paces. Afterwards it was a slow shuffle around the crowded flat to take in the lovely work there. (Hint: if you want more customers, put on some free music!)

Then it was further east to 25 Marine Square (venue 62) for The Bungeroosh Gallery, set in a magnificent Regency house. Here I had a chat with film-maker Lou Spain, a welcome glass of mulled cider and a gossip with the ubiquitous Liz Toole, in front of a colour-coordinated display of her prints on the wall. Lou is aiming to open up more of her spectacular house in May, so keep an eye out. Bungeroosh, by the way is that ancient form of flinty concrete that most rendered houses in Brighton seem to be made of.

On Sunday it was raining again, so it was a matter of firing up the bus pass and seeing where I could get to on a convenient bus route. I’d been recommended 36 Bates Road (venue 37) so I jumped on a 5a into Fiveways territory. Mrs B welcomed me with a glass of mulled wine and reminded me that we’d met at an AOH award ceremony a year or two back. I had a natter with letter carver Jo Sweeting and admired the robots of Simon St John Best and then headed off to the wild west of Portslade (bus 1a from Churchill Square).

I’d been intrigued by The Blank Studios and Gallery at 108 North Street, Portslade (venue 1) and wasn’t disappointed, although apparently I’d just missed some performance art by the time I got there (buses aren’t that frequent on a Sunday!). It’s a scaled down more organic New England House, with lots of little studios dotted around the rambling building. I bumped into video artist Benedict Sheehan and admired the gorgeous large-scale photo-collages of Lisa Creagh, whose work I’d seen at this year’s University of Brighton MA show. After a small cake to restore me, it was time to head home, calling in at Embassy Court on the way to pick up my unsold print. And that’s it for another year – remember there are lots more photos on the AOH Flickr group. See you all again in May!

PS. just read Harriet’s latest blog item and it seems that great minds think alike, visiting the same venues – must get more organised for May!

Fred