upfront
ART’ing around...
Gethin and Llinos
Have you ever explored a museum at night, created a giant piece of art alongside other budding artists, or made shoes out of paper? Well, with the return of popular events like The Big Draw and Made By Hand to Cardiff this October, you’ll get the chance to do just that. MADE BY HAND
THE BIG DRAW Get ready to draw, doodle, sketch, and paint to your heart’s content at the world’s biggest drawing festival this October. Designed to engage the wider community in drawing, The Big Draw invites people of all ages and backgrounds to contribute to a giant piece of art. It’s a nationwide celebration of drawing that has grown from a day-long celebration in October 2000 to an annual month-long festival, and has proven to be a success, increasing in popularity with every passing year. This year the festival has been given an Alice In Wonderland theme, and the artwork will begin as a simple line drawing inspired by Lewis Carroll’s classic tale. After that, it’s down to you to go down the rabbit hole to see what you can create. As well as aiming to be a fun event, the festival also seeks to educate on the importance of drawing, and shows it as a valuable skill used in many professions, with architects, engineers and scientists all using it as a means to turn their ideas into reality. Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Mon 26-Sat 31 Oct. Admission: free. Info: www.thebigdraw.org BUZZ BUZZ14 14
Show your support for Welsh businesses by making your way down to Made By Hand. Providing an opportunity for 135 of Wales’ most skilled craft artists to showcase their work, Made By Hand aims to help artists develop and grow their businesses to enable them to compete on both a national and international level. The highly skilled group of artists encompasses glassmakers, potters, jewellery makers, and textile artists, perfectly demonstrating the variety of Wales’ craft artists. However, the event is not just a chance to witness the wonderful wares that Wales has to offer. Both children and adults are encouraged to participate in a wide range of craft activities, including paper bird box making with Jennifer Collier, and mosaic making with Barry Akins. Made By Hand boast demonstrations from many talented artists, including the internationally celebrated ceramic and glass artist Ashraf Hanna. City Hall, Cardiff, Fri 30 Oct-Sun 1 Nov. Admission: free. Info: www.madebyhand-wales. co.uk
ELYSIUM GALLERY’S EIGHTH BIRTHDAY Swansea’s Elysium Gallery celebrates its eighth birthday on Sat 31 Oct with a mass open studios event across the city centre involving over 100 artists. The event begins at 2-5pm at Elysium Gallery’s Mansel Street studios, where the public will be able to see work by the artists at the studios and enjoy tea, cake, wine and music. The event continues at Elysium Gallery and the adjoining College Street studios from 5-8pm where the studio artists will be opening a UV/projection based exhibition called Beyond The Black Light. There will also be the launch a new photography show called Eh… Wow! The final stage of the event takes place in Elysium Gallery’s High Street studios from 8pm to late with a disco, open studios, lots of art and an art raffle aimed at raising money for a residency at the studios for a recent art graduate. “It’s going to be an epic day,” said Elysium Gallery director Jonathan Powell. “It seemed a fitting time to show everyone what a fantastic artistic community we have here at Elysium Gallery.” Elysium Gallery, Swansea, Sat 31 Oct. Admission: free. Info: www.elysiumgallery.com