By CAITLIN MCARTHUR
THE Yarra Valley lit up this month thanks to the annual Open Studios exhibition.
Forty-three artists opened their studio doors to the general public to offer art-lovers a rare insight into their creative processes.
Yarra Valley Open Studios artist liaison and participating artist Ali Griffin said the event was a hit and attracted people from all across Victoria.
“There were more people from Melbourne this year than in previous years. There was a new crowd of people, a lot of creative types,” Ms Griffin said.
Organisers have yet to tally the numbers, but Ms Griffin said it looked like the best year ever for the event.
“It was fantastic, the weather was beautiful, there seemed to be a buzz in the air,” she said.
Mentone residents Tatiana, Alex and Liudmila Bogoiavlenski were veterans of the Open Studios weekend.
Visiting the Memo Hall Prelim exhibition, the group said the event had “been a must on their calendar for years”.
At Lynette Orzlowski’s studio in Healesville Yarra Glen resident Kelly Tosh and her son James were exploring the Healesville side of the valley for the first time when they visited.
“We’ve been saying for years we must do it, and this year we have,” she said.
For her part Ms Orzlowski said she had more than 100 people through on Saturday.
Artists Kerryl Shirley and David Bennett also had huge numbers through their studios.
Rosemary Marchington from The Patch and Helen O’Brien from Warburton chose to take a more leisurely approach, selecting a number of studios to visit rather than trying to visit them all.
Making their way through the Memo’s Prelim exhibition as the fourth stop on the pair’s tour, Ms Marchington said talking to the artists gave a better idea of what they are doing and the ideas behind their work.
“When you look at an artwork you see only what you see and that’s what you get out of it, but once you speak to the artists about what they’re hoping to achieve it provides a much bigger picture,” Ms Marchington said.
Toolangi artist Savaad Felich sold three pieces and got a commission from his studio.
It was his third time in participating in the event.
While some used the group exhibition to pinpoint the studios they’d like to visit others, Mr Felich said, came up to see particular artists.
Ms Griffin, whose own studio saw 320 people over the weekend, said this was the events’ best year ever and thanked everybody in the area.
“Everybody was Facebooking it, everybody was so involved, a big thank you to them,” Ms Griffin said.
