We had to work very quickly after the village painting exhibition, to change the layout of the hall so that there was a distinctive area for each of the five artists.
The Open Evening on December 13th had a Christmas theme with a lovely tree, kindly donated by Alison and Richard Simmance. Shirley made 80 delicious mince pies and Carolle made the mulled wine. These were all enjoyed by about 35 visitors while christmas music played in the background. (By the way, any music in the hall is now covered by a license – thank you Sheila!)
The display boards were useful both as dividers and also for the display of the light weight work.
Sarah’s work was displayed on one of the large tables as her pieces are fairly small and three dimensional.
Keith and Shirley hung their large work on the walls, using the picture rails which Peter Simpson and his son put up for us. ( These will be useful for future exhibitions in the hall.)
Tessa travelled north to take part in the exhibition, and helped to look after the gallery on the Friday. The rest of the time was shared by Carolle, Sarah, Keith and Shirley. Quite a few of our friends and people from Otterburn as well as Elsdon came along to see the work. The art group from Longhorsley, some of whom had taken part in art courses at Carolle’s studio, came and also had lunch at the Coach House.
We all felt that the hall was very successful as an exhibition space. The experience made us think more about the lighting, and the need for spotlights on the village painting and also around each wall so that they can be directed onto pieces in future exhibitions.
Another suggestion, from Keith, is for three sizeable free standing display boards that can take heavier pieces.
It is so good that this exhibition of art by local artists should have grown out of the village art project. We are hoping to repeat our connection with Network Artists and put on another exhibition in June.
elsdon community art project 
