SMALL TALKS
SMALL TALKS was set up in 2019 by artist Alice Sheppard Fidler for creatives in her local area, held monthly at her studio.
It has been attended by a small group of artists, curators and thinkers from the south West including Bath, Bristol, Stroud and Cheltenham. Its aim, to support art and creative practice through critical thinking. Since Covid, it had adapted allowing for online talks and a wider speaker/audience base.
“SMALL TALKS was fabulous! I loved the international element to the experience. I thought Mikelle's work was fantastic!” Noela - artist
“I like the connections and the diversity that the talks offer. Especially living in the countryside, we lack the quality of the exchange on art as a subject. Small Talks helps redesign the geography of art discourse, shifting its centre.” Viviana - artist
“I came away from the session feeling full of ideas so I think these talks are very beneficial.” Rebecca - artist
17th Nov - Artist Talk : Jane Higginbottom
Air Frosterus Residency 2022
7-8pm on zoom
In 2019 Jane applied for an art residency in Finland at KulttuuriKauppila – Northern Finland.
This year, with a few changes, she finally made it to Finland for the month of August and made work using natural, local materials. This culminated in an exhibition of work made during the residency.
This talk will look at the overall experiences and challenges of the residency and what the rewards were and will include images of the area, workspace and work made.
Jane is an artist that works with plant material as a source of inspiration and actual material for making work. Currently she is exploring weaving and working on paper and is especially interested in colours extracted from plants.
Annual subscribers: register here for free.
Non-subscribers: book single session here for £ 6.
Artist Talk Series : ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION 2022
One off annual subscription to Small Talks
Location: In The Hide Studio/and online
PAST TALKS
Alice Sheppard Fidler
Alice will be discussing her Casa Regis Residency in Italy, April 2022 and reflecting on the transient nature of her work - how it's made, how it moves and how it lasts.
Victoria Chapman
Informative Relationships Between Curator/Studio Manager Victoria Chapman and International Artist Shane Guffogg
Independent curator and studio manager Victoria Chapman shares her history with working with American born international artist, Shane Guffogg
Anna Cady
Albie Lucas
Paul Grellier - THE ART OF TOOLS, BUILDINGS AND BELGIAN GIANTS
Paul will be discussing various aspects of the processes involved both in creating and presenting the work he makes , with particular reference to the recent collaborative exhibition/installation (with Jo Nathan) - “Floating Flaws" at Woodchester Mansion, Autumn 2021.
Viviana Rossi-Caffell
Hybrid and mobile sculpture being her main expressive medium, Viviana will share her recent experience as Maker in Residence at West Dean College, and focus on the new direction of her practice: sculpture as a narration, a microcosm, where the plinth becomes a setting for adventures to take place.
Mikelle Stanbridge
Mikelle, an American photographer living in Northern Italy, will be discussing Photo-Bodies, a recent series of hand stitched photo-sculptures. She will share elements of her practice and the connections she makes between subject matter and her non-traditional approach to making prints.
Cliff Andrade
Cliff is an artist who’s current research is focused on exploring walking as art practice. Over summer 2021, Cliff walked and camped his way from John O’Groats to Land’s End. Thanks to funding from Arts Council England, he invited several artists to join him at various points along the way to learn more about his own experience of walking and theirs, and how to open up new ways to talk about walking.
Roxanne Jackson
Roxanne will be discussing her films made at specific locations and share with us how she uses the unheard off-screen space to create location specific sound.
Nick Grellier
Emily Lucas
Gisela Torres
Lucinda Burgess
Bethany Murray
Jill Mueller
Chris McKeeman
Guy Bigland
Bill Allen – archivist, curator, art and book dealer, founder of William Allen Word & Image will give a brief Talk on Concrete Poetry, Mail Art and Other Documents.
Curator Patricia Brien on her experiences of Pilotenkueche, Leipzig and her three-month residency.
Sarah Bowden, researcher and collaborative curator from The Hardwick Gallery, Cheltenham.
Artist Ann-Margreth Bohl on her site specific sound installation ‘Lüsenen’ at Gloucester Cathedral.
Artist Rebecca Wyn Kelly about her recent international residencies.
Soozy Roberts on her socially-engaged arts practice - current projects, touch on meaningful participation, ambition versus reality and local and arts council funding.