New drawings on show at ArtHub Open Studios 10th & 11th September 2022

Alexandra Blum, ‘Startled wagtail with observant crow and person', graphite on 220gsm FSC certified paper, 42 x 59.4 cm, 2022.

Photo credit: A. Blum

When I was drawing from my window at home during lockdown, it felt as though my window provided a strict divide between interior and exterior. In contrast, when I'm drawing in my new studio, the building feels part of the surrounding industrial landscape, temporarily inhabited as a lookout post.

Detail from: ‘Startled wagtail with observant crow and person', graphite on 220gsm FSC certified paper, 42 x 59.4 cm, 2022. Photo credit: A. Blum

Birds aren't yet used to people occupying the fifth floor and the wagtail, in the bottom left of the drawing, came to a screeching halt when it found me staring back.

Detail from: ‘Startled wagtail with observant crow and person', graphite on 220gsm FSC certified paper, 42 x 59.4 cm, 2022. Photo credit: A. Blum

It’s also fascinating watching the recycling processes taking place below. Crushing the incoming waste seems like a never ending task, especially with the wind playing havoc with the paper, sending it delicately tumbling in a continuous stream across the yard.

I'm drawing the landscape surrounding my studio as a network of events, rather than as a series of fixed objects, and my hope is that the drawings become traces of the many transient, yet very specific, observations I make whilst within the space.

‘Startled wagtail with observant crow and person’ will be on show, alongside other new drawings, at ArtHub Open Studios, 11am – 5pm, Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th September 2022, full address details below.

There will be over 100 studios and workshops open, showing painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, illustration, framing, print making and more.

Visitors will have the opportunity to meet and buy direct from the artists, and see some of the workshops in action.

Refreshments will also be on hand.

All welcome, hope to see you there!

How to find us:

My studio is on the fifth floor of Building 77 (there is a lift!).

The show will be open 11am - 5pm, Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th September 2022 at Art Hub Studios, Building 28 and Building 77, Bowater Road, Westminster Industrial Estate, London, SE18 5TF (south of the river, next to the Thames Barrier).

Please note updated location details: Building 77 is on Bowater Road at the intersection with Faraday Way. The entrance to Building 77 is on Bowater Road itself.

Car parking is available but we encourage visiting us on foot or by bike, using the new Thames Path extension.

Alternatively, you can reach us via public transport: take bus 161 or 472 from North Greenwich tube station to the Warspite Road bus stop.

You can also take the Elizabeth Line from central London to Woolwich and either walk along the river or catch bus 161 or 472 from Woolwich station to the Warspite Road bus stop.

Accessibility: unfortunately there is no entirely step free access to the studios.

Further info: arthub.org.uk

Any questions? Don't hesitate to ask.

Hope to see you there for a chat, drink and perhaps to add a drawing to your collection if something catches your eye!