Hepburn Springs ceramicist Bridget Bodenham in her studio, a converted shipping container.
ART lovers have a rare opportunity to see inside artists’ studios in a new program in Daylesford and the Macedon Ranges.
Based on the UK’s famous Cambridge Open Studios event, next month’s Daylesford Macedon Ranges Open Studios will include local painter Roger Roberts, Hepburn Springs ceramicist Bridget Bodenham and Allendale artist Dianne Coulter.
Over the event’s two weekends, 30 artists from around the region will open their studios.
The event invites visitors to see inside Bodenham’s unique shipping container studio where she produces tableware, fine porcelain jewellery and decorative items.
“I set up the studio to look pretty and tidy, but visitors will see work being made in its original context here,” Bodenham said.
“I take inspiration from my surroundings so Open Studios means people can get a context of one’s making process and see where the form development takes place like in the print room and kiln area.”
With prices for her artworks ranging from $10 to $200, some customers purchase directly from the studio while she also sells her pieces in Melbourne.
“I’m attracted to objects that have meaning and substance and that are satisfying to use and enjoy.
“I admire traditional craft values and I’m influenced by the Japanese approach to materials and the way design fits into a life in an unconscious way.”
Given the opportunity to visit the studio of any artist from history, Bodenham would pick Swiss-born sculptor Alberto Giacometti.
“He worked in such an interesting studio space in Paris with a very disorderly and seemingly interesting space but his work is very elegant,” she said.
Bridget Bodenham’s Hepburn Springs studio is open on November 3, 4 and 6 between 10am and 4pm.
For more information, visit www.dmropenstudios.com.au.
