Welcome to Lou Smith Open Studio
Wow, what a great weekend of Open Studios. So many turned up for the Lou Smith Open Studio event. At first the Saturday was slow to pick up. Many artists were walking along the top floor corridor, saying ‘where are the visitors’. Then after 2:00 pm the footfall picked up and we were off to a wonderful flow of constant visitors.
Sunday is always the busiest day and that was no exception to our open studio event. What I love about open days is that I get lots of positive feedback which really helps one to focus for the rest of the year.
Visitors to Lou Smith Open Studio
My studio is a decent sized space. It’s on the top floor of APT Studios and I am lucky to have a large skylight, which means that I work in wonderful light. During the summer months I rarely need my lights on. Great for energy saving!
I use colour matching fluorescent lights so that I can see colour, tones and hues accurately. Without colour matching lights, everything would look flat and slightly grey. In winter months when working in the studio it’s important that I can guage colour and tones accurately when painting.
I am an abstract painter and you can see the scale of the work in the gallery above. See more of my abstract paintings here.
I’ve been a member of the APT Trust since inception in 1995. This is my longest studio occupancy since leaving art college in 1981. It’s a great space to work in. My Open Studio visitors think so too!
People don’t just look at the art work, they also like to experience how a studio feels. Exploring artists’ shelves, seeing what paints and brushes they use. A lot of visitors love my studio floor. I tack canvas to boards which I’ve laid on the floor. The boards and I share a lot of history as I’ve had them since 1982. I bought them when I rented a 2 bed flat in Bromley. I used 2 on the floor and 4 on the walls. They protected surfaces from paint and staples. So the landlord and I were happy!
This year free ice cream was genourously provided to APT by Badiani Gelato. The visitors and I indulged. It was great!
