Visiting Andrew W. in his studio

I went into town this afternoon to have tea with Andrew W. We’d been trying to arrange for me to visit him in his studio for weeks but somehow other things got in the way of the arrangements. Andrew is a well known artist and ceramic sculptor and has lived in this part of Gloucestershire off and on for decades.

He moved to the village of Uley back in the late 1970s having purchased a former Baptist chapel in the village, which was not only disused but somewhat derelict, and I visited him there soon after. Andrew's vision was ‘for an Arts Centre in the village which was a safe, intimate and friendly space where innovation, learning, participation and creative experience was accessible to all – regardless of their background or belief.’ Soon after he had rebuilt the large inner space he set it up as the ‘Prema Project’, with a charitable trust which purchased the building from him. It still runs to this day as you can see from its website here. 

I’ve known Andrew since we joined the same class at school aged 14 in 1963 and we’ve stayed in touch over the decades. Now Andrew’s health is rather poor and he needs a live-in carer but he still manages to curate his artistic endeavours from his ground floor studio space. We had tea together today and reminisced across the years. Andrew showed me lots of his graphic artwork which he is sorting through and he very kindly gave me a few pieces.

I asked if I could Blip a picture of his bedroom, which I could see from my chair, as it always intrigues me with its mix of furniture, portraits, paintings, sculpture and his homemade four poster bed. My blip is the view from the studio and an ‘Extra’ was taken inside the door. I think the picture on the floor is probably a self-portrait of Andrew in his early twenties.

www.andrew-wood.com