The front door at 16 Upper Gardner Street is a very cheerful
bright pink. For those of us who still have an uneasy
feeling about barging into a stranger’s front room
at an hour when they might normally be contemplating a
nice cup of coffee and a croissant after a weekend lie-in,
this is somehow reassuring, rather like the words Don’t
Panic on the cover of The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to
the Galaxy.
I’m about to cross my first threshold of the Open
Houses on the Central Brighton Artists Trail. In seven
venues, this trail is exhibiting around 35 artists –
and what a range they cover! It promises to “include
paintings, sculpture, installations, ceramics, line drawings,
photography, jewellery, cartoons, books, mixed media and
textiles”. Blimey. I love the “include”
– has anything been excluded? Jemma Treweek
alone works in “pen & ink, watercolour, glitter
and technology”. In the event, Central Brighton
Artists turns out to be as eclectic, esoteric and even
eccentric an experience as you could wish for on a May
weekend.
