TheOrator.Press: Events Dear Boy. Events! Crystal Palace Artists Open House Weekends ~ September 2022

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Artist Curtis Holder, Winner of Sky TV’s Portrait Artist of The Year 2020, Headlined The Crystal Palace Artists’ ‘Open House’ Event This Year. And Although His Studio Was Only Open For One of The Two Weekends, His Open Day Weekend, Held At His Crystal Palace Studio, Was Reportedly, Unsurprisingly One The Busiest of All. This Is No Doubt Due To The Winning Combination of His Great Art & New Found Celebrity Status. And of The Artists We Spoke To, A Positive Time Was Had By All. Facebook: cpartistsopenhouse

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Over Thirty Different Artists From Creative Hubs In And Around Crystal Palace Took Part In The Artists’ Open House Event (Saturday & Sunday 17 – 18 And 24-25 September 2022). Not All Artists Took Part In Both Weekends. Although Many Did. And Many Had Held Exhibitions Before or Were Involved In The Arts In Various Different Forms. The Event Covered The Crystal Palace Triangle, Other Parts of Church Road, Gipsy Hill, Anerley Hill And Also Connected With Brixton (Who Held Their Own Exhibition In The Summer, Which Also Featured Curtis Holder & Another Crystal Palace Artists Supporter, Clothier SimoArtin Carter).

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This Year’s Artistic Enterprise Event Is The First Since Lockdown And The Third Ever In The Event’s History, Since Being Set Up By Founder Anna Jac0bs. So It Was Particuarly Special.

Sponsors, Digital Estate Agents iMove Property, Literally Signposted The Event Outside Participating Locations. JustGiclee.co.uk Sponsored Design & Layout of Various Items And As The Owner of Words & Pictures (Which Has 3 Main Arms, Including JustGiclee) Glen Keegan Has Been Very Supportive of The Event (See Photo Gallery Below).

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The Artistic Enterprise Allows Artists & Creatives The Opportunity To Showcase And Often Sell Their Work, And Mingle With Fellow Art Makers, Including Works of Art By Photographers, Painters, Printers, Designers And Jewellers. And It Simultaneously Allows Visitors, Participants & Local Residents To View Beautiful Pieces, Learn More About Local Properties And Make New Connections. Doors Were Open 11 am – 6pm.

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The Annual Arts Showcase Helps Cement The Crystal Palace Standing As An Area For Creatives, Which Includes Actors, Directors, Producers, Studios And Festivals. And This Can Be Traced Back To The Victorian Great Exhibition of 1851 Supported By Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s Husband. It’s Official Title Was The Great Exhibition of The Works of Industry of All Nations And Whilst It Started In Hyde Park It Eventually Came To Crystal Palace. And There Is Still A Museum On Anerley Hill Which Tells The Story All About It. Attendees Included Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens And Karl Marx. Charlotte Bronte And Lewis Carroll. To Name But A Few.

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And For Keeping The Creative Legacy Going All Credit Goes To All Those Artists & Creatives Involved In This Modern Artistic Era, Especially Anna Jacobs CrystalPalaceArt.co.uk Founder.

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Headliner, Local Artist Curtis Holder, Also Held An Exhibition Early In The Summer (2022) Downstairs At Brixton Private Members Club ‘Upstairs’. He Spoke To The Crystal Palace Artists’ ‘Open House’ September (2022) About His Artisic Career Journey So Far.

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Before The Two Crystal Palace Weekend Art Festivals Curtis Holder Exhibited In The Summer, At The Downstairs Space At Brixton’s ‘Upstairs’ Private Members Club, As Part of The Contemporary British Portrait Painters Exhibition June 11-18 2022 (As Per The Picture Gallery Above).

Three Months Later, In The Autumn, He Headlined At The Artists Open House September Arts Festival In Crystal Palace For The First Weekend 17 – 18 2022 (As Per The Picture Gallery Below).

In An Interview Especially For The Artistic Enterprise In Crystal Palace, Organised By Crystal Palace Art Curtis Discusses His Journey From Childhood Play With Pencil & Paper, To Formal Education, Getting A Degree, Becoming A Graphic Designer And Taking An Oriental Sabatical. Postgraduate Education, Animation, Illustration, Teaching And Finding Redirection. Then Taking Part In The Crystal Palace Artists Open House Event 2020 & Afterwards Winning The Sky Arts TV Portrait Artist of The Competition Shortly Afterwards. Full Interview Crystal Palace Art

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Sponsorship, Collaboration, And Organisation, Leds To A Colourful Celebration of Artistic Creations

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Studios Were Open To The Public At Coopers Yard & Various Other Locations During The Artists Open House Weekends – Sponsors JustGiclee.co.uk – Sponsors Words & Pictures Ltd – http://www.instagram.com/pckdlnch – Artist David McGrath – Sponsors iMove Property – http://www.instagram.com/pckdlnch – Decorative Door At Coopers Yard – @cooperysardstudios – Chameleon By Artist David McGrath – Neon Chameleon By Artist David McGrath – jak_the_artist – jak_the_artist – jak_the_artist @harristweedisleofharris.co.uk – @graemechisholm-@grahamchisholm-@grahamchisholm-@grahamchisholm – ArtistNick Slim – ArtistNick Slim – Artist Nick Slim – ArtistNick Slim – ArtistNick Slim

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In Addition To Curtis Holder, Among The Artists Exhibiting At The Event, And In Some Cases Effectively Working From Home, As They Opened Up Their Private Premisies To The Public, Were @DavidMcgrath, Packed Lunch Productions Ltd, Print And Design, @jak_the_artist_, And @GraemeChisholm

@DavidMcgrath Had A Stand In Coopers Yard Studios (SE19 1TN). Mcgrath, Who Is A Former Spanish Teacher, Actually Hails From Up North And Lives In The Countryside, Has Exhibited At Various Galleries, And Won Various Accoldades Over The Years. But He Came Especially To Take Part In The Crystal Palace Event And To Be Amongst Fellow Artistic Peers. Click The Highlighted Link To Learn More About His Artistic Interests & Activities. And See Video Below Showing His Artist Open House Exhibition September 2022.

Also Inviting Creatives & The Curious Into Their Creative Space At Coopers Yard Was Packed Lunch Productions Ltd. They Specialise In Education Through Bespoke Packages of Art & Performance, Creativity And Community Engagement. Artistic Director @leocrane77 Is Creative Leadership Course Director At Sotheby’s Institute of Art And Ceo Roy Joseph Butler Is A Writer, Producer, And Health Advocate. Both Are Passionate About Representing The Under Represented And Telling Stories That Are Too Often Untold. Click Their Respective Links To Learn More.

Andrew Keable Trading As @jak_the_artist_, Took Part Too At Crystal Palace Antiques Jasper Road (SE19 1RX). His Style Is Conceptual, Ethereal, Cosmic, And Outer-Worldly. Recyling By Painting On Recycled, Discarded, Pre-Loved Materials Is His USP. Click The Highlighted Link To Learn More About His Artistic Interests & Activities.

Nick Slim @Slim_of_London (Who Went To The Camberwell College of Art As Did Film Director Mike Leigh) Opened His Studio Where He’s Been Working For Over Twenty Years At 62 Westow Hill (Se19 1RX). It’s Adjacent To The Relatively New ‘Coopers Restaurant’ – (Not To Be Confused With Cooper’s Yard). Nick’s Painting Speciality Is The Re-imagining of Iconic Classic Art And Giving Them A Twist. He Uses A Variety of Everyday Iconic Items To Add An Interpretive Element, Such As Confectionary Wrappers, Food Packaging, Food Objects, Images of Insects, or Emojis. See How Many You Can Spot In Our Specially Curated Photo Collage Above (Which Reflects The Various Places We Visited & People We Met). Slim Also Creates Stationary And Bespoke Marketing. Print And Design Click The Highlighted Link To Learn More About His Artistic Interests & Activities.

Local Artist And Proud Scotsman @GraemeChisholm Exhibited His Paintings At His New Home Which He Generously Opened Up To The Public, Having Recently Moved To Palace, From Peckham. Deeply Proud of His Scottish Homeland, His Sofa Also Artistically Displayed A Wonderful Collection of Colourful Cushions Made of Certified Harris Tweed From The Highlands. It Was A Joy To Make Such A Bonus Discovery of A Whole New World of Top Quality Cushions, Kilts And Accessories After Graeme Opened Up His Home So Generously. harristweedisleofharris.co.uk

So Proud of His Scottish Heritage Is He That He’s Named His New Wee Baby After One of The Scottish Islands. Ahh! Now That’s Natural, Beautiful & Soulful Creativity of The Greatest Kind. And Possibly Ultimately His Greatest Masterpiece Ever. Everyone Deserves Privacy Even Litte People So We Shall Not Reveal The Baby’s Name Here But It Is A Very Beautiful Scottish One.

The Scottish Soft Furnishings Were Rather Canny As He Revealed That People Interested In His Artwork Included Interior Designers Commissioned By Clients To Buy Art On Their Behalf. So Maybe They Found Added Inspiration Along The Way With The Tweed Cushions.

Coincidentally This Month We Have Interviewed Famous Chef Ainsley Harriot Who Has Scottish Connections. Our Interview With The Super Chef Is In This Month’s Issue (TheOrator.Press September 2022). And Extracts From Ainsley’s Episode of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ Are On His Website: www.Ainsley-Harriott.com.

We Mention To Graeme, Who Hails From Peckham And Is Used To Multi-Cultural Living, As A Scotsman In Urban London, That A Scot Featured In One of The Most Powerful Episodes of The BBC Geneology Series ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ When It Looked At Chef Ainsley Harriott’s Ancestry We Discovered That His Great, Great, Great, Grandmother (Catherine) Was Enslaved At The Age of Just Two Years Old By A Notoriously Savage Scottish Slaver Called John Davy. It’s A Deeply Moving, Fascinating And Educational Watch (Available On BBC Iplayer). Catherine Was Conceived After An Overseer Called Briggs, Employed By Davy, Committed Numerous Sexual Abuses & Violations Against Enslaved Women. In Accordance With The Jamaica Slave Act of 1788 (And Later 1792) Each Child He Impregnated Any Slave Women With, In Order To Keep “Slave Stocks Replenished” Earnt Him Extra Money. Blood Money!

In Britain The Slave Trade Was Abolished In 1807. Slavery Was Abolished In Britain In 1833. And Today We Live In A Multi-Cultural Societyl

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An Inhumane Mis-use & Abuse of Colour & Shade

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Historically, The Use of Colour Has Not Been Limited To The Artists’ Canvass or Fabric. Interestingly, Sadly, As A Matter of Horrific Brutal Reality, The Natural Skin Shading And Colouring of Enslaved People, Was Used As A Derogatory Social Grading System, During Slavery On Plantations. Legally At That Time There Were Only Two Officially Recognised Colours – White & Non-white. Those Who Were Non-white Were Graded. Zambo, The Darkest Colour, Meant One Hundred Percent Black. Mulato, A Lighter Colour, Meant Mixed Fifty Percent Black And Fifty Percent White. Quadroon, A Lighter Shade Still, Meant One Quarter Black. And Mustee, Was The Lightest Shade of Non-White Possible. Today Such Derogatory Language And “Social Shading” Is Unacceptable.

Back Then If A So-Called Mustee And A White Person Had A Child That Child Could Sometimes “Pass” As White. And Yet In Some Areas The Cruel “One Drop Rule” Was Decreed. It Declared That Even Just One Drop of Black Blood Meant You Were Black And Your Certain Basic Rights Were Legally Stripped Back. (This Was Powerfully Dramatized In The Epic American Civil War Drama ‘North And South’ Starring Patrick Swayze. In It One of The Main Female Characters Is An Artist Plagued By Fear of Prejudice After She “Passes”.)

One Way We Know About Shading Is Because Enslaved Africans Were Dehumanized For The Purpose of Profit And Treated As “Stock” And Consequently Slavers Kept Detailed Records. This Dehumanization Is Inherently Horrific. And Yet  At The Same Time It Helps Prove That Physical Appearance Does Not Mean Black And White People Do Not Share DNA. It Also Highlights What Crucial Evidence People Can Glean By Researching Ancestry And Art History. And Also The Potential To Understand Each Other Better Through Art Today!

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Artistic Ability Is Subjective & Open To All of Us To Explore

Whereby We Might Discover Our Own Hidden Talents And Much Much More

I Joined The Wednesday Afternoon Sociable Art Group, Established 16 Years Ago. Due To Covid The Numbers Have Declined Somewhat. The Friendly Outgoing Group Have The Opportunity To Display And Sell Their Work At The End Of Each Year. Having Only Taken Up Art In The Past Five Months I Am Definitely Finding It Both Positive And Great For Mindfulness And Calm. I Would Highly Recommended Picking Up A Brush Or Pen To See How Far You Too Can Go.

Jeanette, Budding Artist, Bourne Hall Art Workshop, Ewell Library, Surrey

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