Visitors see art in action (From Stroud News and Journal)

Visitors see art in action

COLIN Glen, the Stroud artist who spent the first weekend of February painting bedsprings publicly in Stroud's Artspace, declared the 'artist's studio in a fishbowl' experiment a success last week.

"Suspender was very exciting," he told the SNJ. "So much painting is done in private - I felt very vulnerable with people watching me. It was strange; some people didn't even notice that the film I was using as my source was moving."

"To begin with I spent such a long time avoiding painting by talking that one person demanded - in a good-humoured way - that I get on and perform!" he added.

It was noticeable just by looking at the pictures when people had come to visit Colin: Saturday's picture was very stark, with a lot of empty space, whilst Sunday's picture was a feast of thrown paint and dark textures.

"Loads of people visited me on Saturday, but only three came on Sunday," said Colin with a wry smile. "The weekend was very helpful though - I see it as a first step to getting artists out of garretts and their own navels - sort of breaking away from the belly button!"

"I'm hoping to exhibit the pictures further sometime soon," he added. "Look out for them in an empty shop window in Stroud in the near future."

Artspace - who are currently redeveloping - will be hosting similarly-funded events in Stroud in the coming year. It seems that these are truly exciting times for the visual arts in Stroud.