Oxford Road Open Studio Weekend

Or - what a lot of talented people we have in Hay!

I've just come back from a very pleasant evening surrounded by artists, and friends of artists. Over this weekend two studios will be open - the front room of one of the houses facing the Castle (not the one with the scaffolding - the one with the big sign outside!) and Cae Mawr Studio down the lane to the side of the houses, where the Offa's Dyke Path goes into the field below the main car park.
I've voted on which way round the picture of the fish and the moon should be hung (I think it looks slightly sinister with the moon at the bottom of the picture), and admired the picture of Borough Market in Southwark with two different roofs amalgamated into one picture (Adrian Crick likes to make you think about the way you view his work), but my absolute favourite was the view from the Castle down Backfold, with the Bluff in the background (as it really isn't in real life!). The detail on that one is incredible. Adrian also has a thing about painting water, and several of his pictures have a very calm feeling of being by the water.
Down at Cae Mawr Studio, the artists are Tracy Thursfield (weaving, silk scarves and woodcuts - and a very limited edition of a booklet of poetry on hand made paper. I think she said there are only three in existance.), and Gaynor and Georgina Funnell, whose studio it is. They paint local views, flowers, and birds against industrial backgrounds, and there was a lovely little portrait of Daisy the dog (Tibetan terrier?), which could be directly compared with Daisy herself, who lay down beside the card rack all evening.

They'll be open from 11am to 5pm over the weekend - and tomorrow I'll be up in the Castle from around 10am being Medieval for the Hay History Weekend.

And down at the Old Electric Shop, there's going to be a beer and food pairing event on Saturday evening. Five courses, prepared by chef Eamon Fullalove, paired with five beers, chosen by Tom Hutchings of Brew by Numbers. The bar will be open throughout as well. This event costs £42, and starts (promptly, says the poster) at 7pm.