Rachel Dickison was chuffed to have her work on the Artists Open Studios billboard. Photo / Supplied
Rachel Dickison was chuffed to have her work on the Artists Open Studios billboard. Photo / Supplied
Everyone was in a good mood and out with friends enjoying themselves during this year's Artists Open Studios Whanganui, artist Rachel Dickison says.
Her work was chosen for the billboard advertising the event on March 19-20 and 26-27, which she said felt like an honour.
Dickison said she usually travelledto sell art at markets, but most of those had been cancelled this year.
"I'm just so happy that these weekends happened, because it's one of my favourite events in Whanganui," she said.
Dickison set up a gallery in her Aramoho carport and up to 100 people came through on the first Saturday. She sold quite a bit and had some good conversations.
"What's really good about this event for me was the quality of the interactions that I had," she said.
It was the same for Karen Taylor, another first-timer with a studio upstairs at Space Gallery.
"It was a great experience. Ninety per cent of the people were browsers, but for the 10 per cent of people who were really interested in what we were doing it was such a nice opportunity to talk about our work," she said.
Ruby Duncan showed her work in the garden at her Whanganui East house as A Mother Potter.
She sold so much on the first weekend that she could only open on the Saturday morning of the second one.
"It was just fabulous. Really, really good," she said.
Mark Rayner made Sick Little Brain paperweights. Photo / Laurel Stowell
For Graeme Kiff, at Simply Wrought Iron, all the social interaction was "draining", but he thoroughly enjoyed it and made some good sales.
"It was nice to see so many people out and about," he said.
Brydee Rood didn't get quite so many at her Becoming a Sunset show on the top floor of the "criss-cross" building - Terrace House at 133 Wicksteed St. She covered the windows with collaged plastic rubbish bags collected worldwide over 15 years.
Brydee Rood's Becoming A Sunset was displayed on the top floor of Terrace House. Photo / supplied
The idea was to duplicate the effect of staring into the setting sun "burning holes in your retina". Her visitors made it to the top floor in "a constant trickle", and most lingered to talk.
First-time co-ordinator Charlie Meyerhoff set out lower expectations because she didn't know how Covid would affect the event.
"We knew it wasn't going to be as busy as last year, but we still wanted to bring some light into the region with all the dark clouds around at the moment," she said.
Studio numbers were down to 73, then 62 and then fewer as artists were forced to isolate. Quite a few decided not to take part at all.
Former Te Wānanga o Aotearoa students displayed their weaving. Photo / Laurel Stowell
Meyerhoff doesn't have the number of attendees or the dollar figure for sales yet. But she said there was a fair smattering of out-of-towners from Wellington, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Kāpiti and even a few from Auckland.
Others were clearly interested, as numbers visiting the website showed.
She was isolating herself on the second weekend, but what she saw in town on the first one was heartening.
"The first weekend was magic for me, seeing the sun shining ... and the smiles on people's faces."
