It is nearly Cambridge Open Studio time again and hard to believe that so much time has past and I have not added to my website for a while! But I have not been idle, and am opening my studio from 10am-5pm during the last two weekends of July (20/21 and 27/28 July). All proceeds will go to Jimmy’s. I have now handed over as chair of the board of trustees and we also have a new CEO. It is an exciting time as she takes the organisation onwards. If you can’t come to the exhibition please consider donating something to Jimmy’s at Donate - Jimmy's Cambridge (jimmyscambridge.org.uk). Thank you!
June 2023
It is nearly Cambridge Open Studio time again and I am opening my studio from 10am-5pm during the first two weekends of July (1/2 and 8/9 July). Any proceeds will go to Jimmy’s. Builders Curo Construction have just finished a remodeling of the basement of Jimmy’s at East Road to create five new bedrooms so we can help five more people who need a roof over their head each day. This project was supported by a host of volunteers who have helped get the rooms ready for residents. It is a privilege to be part of this great organisation. If you can’t come to the exhibition please consider donating something to Jimmy’s at Donate - Jimmy's Cambridge (jimmyscambridge.org.uk). Thank you!
February 2022
The pandemic continued to challenge everyone for far longer than anyone imagined. My artwork was mostly responsive - a few commissions, a research project painting hallucinatory experiences and one or two art courses. Eventually Cambridge School of Art agreed to host an exhibition for the students who graduated in 2020 or 2021 deprived of their final shows. The only stipulation was that the work on show was not degree work but NEW! This challenged me to create a series of new works based on previous images of the Dordogne village of Saint-Emilion. I still could not go there, but I could remember - and I embarked on a series of paintings reflecting on the natural abstraction created by ancient glass - just as time and events abstract the memories of past events.
Summer 2022
It is time for Cambridge Open Studios again. Now we can all get out and about safely again, the studios around Cambridge are buzzing as we get ready to host our visitors. Guides are out, flags are going up and studios are being cleared and work framed or polished and put on display.
Each weekend in July there will be hundreds of studios, village halls and community centres to visit to see what the artists of Cambridge have been producing.
This time I am exhibiting during the second and third weekend 9/10 and 16/17 July from 10 am to 5pm.
Do come along, see what I have been making and perhaps choose something to take home. I have greetings cards, prints, watercolour paintings and oil paintings. You might even want me to paint something just for you.
27/6/20
A big thank you to all those who have already donated to Jimmy’s on my justgiving page. Your support will help Jimmy’s resettle some of the homeless people who have been billeted in hotels recently. Let’s keep them off the streets!
Come past my home next weekend and you will find the windows on the ground floor adorned with my smaller paintings from this year. I will post images as they go up.
Next Saturday if the weather is fair there will be an addition to the window display. I will bring out some of my large paintings on the pavement and be there until about 2pm to introduce them.
They will come out on other weekends depending on the weather.
20/06/20
I am preparing my artwork to hang in my windows as part of Cambridge Open Studios during the weekends of July. You may already have seen my work last year at Cambridge Open Studios. Visiting studios is not possible due to Covid-19 so some of us are displaying our work in our front windows. There is a map as usual but no brochure. Viewers must hunt down the artists and will not necessarily have their name or address specified. In my case the mark on the map is at the top of Aberdeen Avenue but I am further down on Aberdeen Square. Look out for the yellow flag and bunting! If you want to buy contact me. But please give anyway https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fiona-blake-jimmys.
More information about Jimmy’s is on the website: http://www.jimmyscambridge.org.uk
Residents move in this week to modular homes supported by Jimmy’s