After something of a hiatus, this May I’m taking part in Spring Fling, Dumfries and Galloway’s artist open studio event for the first time in over 10 years, and will be opening my home and studio space to share my working practice and work-in-progress. 

Since the last time I took part, my practice has (unsurprisingly) moved, shifted and grown and after a break last year, now feels like an interesting point in which to draw together a fresh look at my creative work as a whole.

Spring Fling has traditionally been an event for traditional and contemporary studio-based artists to share and sell their current collections of work, and I’m hoping that in submitting to take part this year I will offer a slightly alternative take on the open studios event, imagining an artist’s ’open studio’ as a place for dialogue, exploration and ideas sharing. I’m presenting a literal open house, a welcoming in to my creative work and the behind-the-scenes details of an already public-facing practice. 

After a maternity themed break in 2025, I’m not throwing open my doors with a huge new collection of completed works, but instead hope to present and share ideas in progress, material processes and open conversations about projects I would like to get off the ground moving forwards. I’m planning a sound and object installation in my greenhouse, to have a collection of examples of previous works and techniques from bronze casting to traditional sign painting on display, and crucially, making space for a conversation about my current obsession, bells and the Solway. I’ll have some small creative activities for younger audiences (decorate and construct your own town hall), and hopefully, some good supplies of cake.

I’m hoping to make a welcoming space for anyone with an interest in public art, sculpture, creative work connected to place or just a love for something a bit playful and different – in my corner of Brydekirk. Working as an artist seems to involve constantly revisiting and reconsidering what a creative working practice looks like, so where better to explore this than with the collective input of a weekend’s worth of visitors?!

Spring Fling takes place from 23rd-25th May, from 10am to 5pm daily. For more information, see the Spring Fling website or drop me an email.

There’s also a virtual studio entry on the Spring Fling website for each artist, see mine here: https://www.spring-fling.co.uk/studio/katie-anderson/