September Places: North East Open Studios

Earlier this month I took part in North East Open Studios (NEOS) along with my Mum at Pebble. The shop was closed for a couple of days giving us a chance to look around some of the other venues. We decided to venture out to Banchory followed by Stonehaven and see what artists and designers could be found along the way. (If you've ever seen the NEOS map you would see it's actually quite tricky to plan a proper route!). I think we only managed about a half day by the time we'd set off and minus a lunch break, but we did see a few venues. I only took photographs at two but these were my favourites so it seems best to just feature them!

First of all we saw Juliet Macleod (The Cloud Pottery) who had such a bright and airy open plan space in her home to exhibit her beautiful blue and white ceramics. We got to peek into the 'potting shed' where we could see Juliet's work bench and equipment along with some pieces in progress. It's fascinating to see the process from dusty grey clay in the studio to smooth and shiny home wares. My Mum chose a small dish as a birthday present which is now hidden away until October!

After a late lunch we caught Nikki Bruce just before closing. Her studio is located in a quirky green summerhouse - Green Shed Studio. It had been transformed into a gallery for the NEOS week and was completely bursting with beautiful ceramic gifts. To say we were spoilt for choice was an understatement. I've stocked up on stocking fillers already which is a first for me at this time of year! Nikki's pieces are so much fun using wallpaper textures to create intricate patterns which are filled with glazes in a rainbow of pastel colours.

On the way home we popped into My Beautiful Caravan, one of my lovely stockists, then grabbed a delicious Aunty Betty's ice cream. A fab afternoon out but just a pity we didn't have time to visit more NEOS venues!