Artists Open Houses 2016 Festival Brochure Cover Artist Announced as Ceramicist, Marion Brandis

 Exhibition of new work at The Old Market. Hove

Ceramicist Marion Brandis has been announced as the cover artist for the 2016 Artists Open Houses festival brochure.

Marion’s work will be on show at The Old Market in Hove where she will showcase her work, in particular animal sculptures and decorative items for the home, which she hopes will, ‘speak to the heart – to delight with colour and line, and convey a sense of humour too’. The exhibition opens on April 14 and runs until the end of May. Her work will also be exhibited at Milton House as part of the Dyke Road trail, during the Artists Open Houses festival, which takes place over the five weekends in May, starting April 30.

Judy Stevens, Festival Director says, “Artist Open Houses is honoured to announce the immensely talented Marion Brandis, as brochure cover artist for the 2016 AOH festival. The overall quality of work submitted for the Brochure Cover Image competition was extremely high – the submissions of at least 20 artists would make great brochure covers for the next 20 years! Marion’s exhibition at The Old Market will be an exciting opportunity to see her smaller, more decorative pieces of art which really capture the joy and humour in her work.”

Chosen from almost 200 artists’ submissions Marion said: “I’m really delighted and very excited as normally a painter or illustrator would be chosen to produce the cover image, but my work is three-dimensional. I want to make something that is a specific piece for this. I’m already working on it as I have lots of ideas – I want to make something that is specific for Brighton. The image will be bold and eye-catching – and also funny!”

Marion Brandis lives and works in Lewes, East Sussex. She trained at Edinburgh College of Art and has lived in the UK for most of her life, although is German by birth.

Working in hand-made ceramics, tiles and mosaics her art spans a large range from public art commissions to tableware and decorative items for the home. She has delivered many commissioned pieces of public art in both indoor and outdoor settings working in hospitals, mental health units, healthy living centres, libraries, public parks, museums, housing estates and many other places. A qualified landscape designer, Marion has the talent to integrate her art confidently within an outdoor setting and says she is, “committed to creating art that is fit for its purpose, relates well to its location, and is seen as an asset by the people for whom it is created. I love making work that is accessible to everyone, both in content and location. My bespoke mosaics and ceramics are colourful and uplifting, and I have enjoyed working in diverse and sometimes difficult locations, particularly in hospitals.”

More recently Marion has started to develop a range of smaller work such as decorative items for the home, and designing and installing wallpapers, vinyls and window films, allowing her work to be more accessible in everyday life; “I want the individual pieces to have ‘presence’ – to become well-loved friends in your home!”

Marion takes inspiration from her garden, the Sussex Downs and the detailed illustrations of 18th and 19th century naturalists.

Marion will be exhibiting at The Old Market during the AOH Festival alongside the winner of the Best Artists Open House 2015 – Dion Salvador Lloyd. A ‘must-see’ artist for the last 3 years (previously shortlisted for Best Open House in 2013 and 2014) Dion’s oil paintings are often described as ‘difficult to look away from’ with an intention of ‘aiming for the soul’. They are full of suggestions and familiarity, invitations to travel and dream, exploring the horizon and connection between earth and sky.

Dion’s 16th year taking part in the Artists Open Houses festival is hotly anticipated; as well as his new series of prints at The Old Market, new large canvases and larger paperworks of contemporary landscape oil paintings will be shown alongside new watercolour studies on old ephemera can seen at his own Open House at 18 Goldstone Villas, Hove.

The 2016 Artists Open Houses festival will take place in Brighton, Hove and beyond over five weekends of May, starting Saturday April 30th (Bank Holiday Weekend). The largest event of its kind in the UK, around 200 houses and studio spaces (61 new for 2016) across the city will be opening their doors to exhibit the work of over 1,500 artists and makers.

The houses are grouped into one of 14 trails around different areas of the city, each with its’ own unique character and atmosphere – from the fisherman’s houses of Hanover to the urban warehouse spaces of the North Laine and the cottages of the South Downs village of Ditchling.

The Artists Open Houses offer the chance to buy artworks directly from the artists and makers themselves. There is hugely diverse selection of art works on show; from original paintings, prints, graffiti arts, ceramics, textiles to photography, sculpture, crafts and jewellery and many other media. Entry to the Artists Open Houses is free.

For further information please contact Pandora George or Sarah Jackson at Bullet PR

[email protected], 01273 775520

To attend the Marion Brandis/Dion Salvador Lloyd Private view on Thursday April 14^th, please contact the Bullet PR office.