Diverse range of local art (From Stroud News and Journal)

Diverse range of local art

Following the successful launch of the Site 05 exhibition in the Museum in the Park last week, more artists have moved into Stroud's Subscription Rooms working to the theme of blending arts and crafts together. Reporter Alli Pyrah went along

TASTER In The Town opened on Saturday at the Subscription Rooms, featuring yet more offerings from local artists in a diverse range of media.

For me, the most outstanding piece of work in the show, and probably the entire Site festival, was the gorgeous Organism by Nadja Snow, a "fantasy life form of gargantuan proportions" inspired by looking at microscopic details.

Originally visualised as a brooch design in metal and enamel it has been blown up into a larger-than-life wall piece which I would dearly love in my living room if I had a spare £1,250.

Other highlights included When Alone by Richard Straley, a "mixed media exploration of place inspired by the English mystical tradition of landscape painting" with a vivid, bold quality unusual for a watercolour.

Amanda Moriarty's Swizzle Sticks, a colourful piece of glass work experimenting with shadow and reflection, was also worth a look.

Taster in the Town will run throughout June at the Subscription Rooms.

Along with Taster in the Park, at Stratford Park, it is designed to give the public the opportunity to sample the work of the some of the 250 artists participating in the festival.

Visitors can then see their favourite artists in work at one of the 88 open studios, which are open all over the Stroud Valleys between 11am and 6pm on weekends and 6pm and 9pm on weekdays.