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Friday 24 April 2015

Getting Ready for Artweeks - 25th April

Jean Wykes and Sam Cleasby are running a drawing workshop from 1-2 on Saturday 25th April 2015 at the Oxford Museum of Natural History as part of the Oxford Artweeks 'Ideas in the Making' Symposium.

There is more information about the Symposium on the Artweeks website - Ideas in the Making


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If you are around in central Headington over the next few weeks keep your eyes open for the bicycles advertising the Oxford Brookes Degree Show, Oxfordshire Artweeks and Headington Artweeks.


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Thursday 23 April 2015

Ruth Dodd Pottery

Ruth attended art school in Manchester in the 1960’s, but followed a different career and only returned to ceramics four years ago when she retired. She has been working in three areas. Pots based on the shapes of Foraminifera and Echinoderms, large handbuilt pots mainly for the garden, and thrown domestic wear.

Foraminifera and Echinoderms


"I love the intricacy of these natural structures and the challenge of representing their often very complicated shapes in clay."

Forams are the microscopic shells of large single celled protists, which after death settle in the sediment of the ocean floor and are one of the things that form limestone. They are a vital part of the biological cycle that removes carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater and are now being adversely affected by global warming,

Echinoderms are a group of animals that include star fish, sea urchins, sand dollars and blastoids.

They normally have five-sided symmetry and are found in every ocean, but not on land or in fresh water. They have the ability to regenerate limbs and organs and to reproduce asexually. They are also a major contributor to the formation of limestone, so many large man made structures are built from rock formed by these creatures.

Hand Built Pots


"I like working on a large scale and have been making bird-baths and jardinières based on the shape of cooling towers whose shape I find very beautiful. Also I am making large spheres with apertures for planting. I like to use mixtures of coloured glazes  and volcanic glazes with ash to give unpredictable effects with bubbling and runs in the glaze."

Domestic ware


"I am making bowls, mugs, tea light holders and goblets that are functional and I mostly use a combination of two contrasting colours on them highlighted with white ash Nuka glaze. Some of them also have the bubbling volcanic glaze."

Ruth's work will be on show during ArtWeeks at St Andrew's Church in Headington

Saturday 18 April 2015

Getting Ready for Artweeks - Wood Farm School

Years 5 and 6 at Wood Farm school met some birds of prey and have been inspired to create their own bird collages and careful observational drawings. They look fantastic! They are now working on getting things displayed ready for Arts Week.

Wood Farm School is on Titup Hall Drive, OX3 8QQ, and they are open on the 11th, 12th and 13th May from 1.30-2.30 pm.

There is more information about the exhibition on the ArtWeeks website.

Sunday 12 April 2015

Planning your Artweeks tour of Headington

This year there are 13 Artweeks venues in Headington and Marston - and we've put together a trail map to help you find your way between the venues.

Headington and Marston Artweeks runs from 9-17 May 2015 with most venues being open from mid-day on Saturday 9th.


There is also a PDF version of the map available - click here to download it.