Creative minds open up their studios, galleries
Walking into the Spotted Dove Art Studio west of Cambridge, it is instantly apparent that it’s a complete creative environment.
Spotted Dove will be one of many artistic venues open to the public as part of the annual Cambridge Autumn Festival.
All the walls, flat spaces and work surfaces accommodate clay works, paintings, photographs and more, some in the middle of creation.
Diane Parker welcomes visitors warmly. It’s a very personal space, and feels like entering someone’s home.
Indeed, there even used to be a bed in there for relaxing and contemplating.
But Parker doesn’t ask people to remove their shoes as they enter. It’s an open, working gallery.
Parker has owned the creative space, near the haupo¯ at 241 Kaipaki Road, for eight years.
She even built it before the house, which now sits adjacent.
This goes to show how intimate and personal the open studio is.
The Details
During the Cambridge Open Studios event in the Cambridge Autumn Festival, which will run 10am to 4pm on April 14 and 15, Parker will be going to a special effort to share the feeling of the space with the general public.
‘‘That’s what this building has always been about,’’ Parker said.
‘‘It’s about inviting friends and the public, or just art lovers, into this space and just sharing the creativity that comes from it.’’
She originally started Spotted Dove to accommodate her final year of study for a diploma in ceramic arts, which was a selfdirected year.
‘‘We shifted from Hamilton out here, and I just thought it would be really neat to have my own studio space to develop that final body of work over that year, and it was fabulous.’’
Not many artists get to experience the process that way around, Parker said.
‘‘I was very fortunate that it turned out that way.’’
‘‘Then I suppose, particularly over the last year, my focus has moved a little away from clay. Clay’s sort of taking a bit of a back seat at the moment.
‘‘I’ve brought my painting out, my sewing machine, my overlocker and my papers, so now it really encompasses Oeverything¯ creative.
‘‘I think to have that alone time is quite nice, without distraction. When you’re in your own space you can just sort of quietly allow your own creativity to work.’’