Marlborough (very) Open Studios - artists gather on the White Horse of Roundway

Many of the artists of Marlborough Open Studios gathered together on last Saturday (3 May) for an impromptu meet and to mark the thirtieth aniversary of Open Studios with a drone at the Devizes White Horse on the Downs above Roundway village. Inspired by artist and photographer Nigel Hudson, an associate artist for this year’s programme, it was a way for Open Studios to put down a ‘not long now’ marker. Drone maestro Robin Gregory was there to capture that meet – see take below:

Marlborough Open Studios is where – for the first four weekends in July – artists from the Marlborough and surrounding area open their studios, houses or whatever space they can use to display their works and encourage anyone and everyone to come and view what they have created. And maybe even purchase any work of art that creates that instant and irrepressible ‘buy me’ reaction. Yes that happens, frequently.

How did this all come together? Nigel told Marlborough.news: “Marlborough Open Studios is a magnificent showcase of artistic talent within the Pewsey Vale. Over sixty artists in more than fifty studios. And the scope of artistic disciplines is more than impressive. I have often thought that we needed to find a way to communicate just how extensive the MOS offering really is. And so, the concept was hatched. As many artists as we could realistically muster, photographed on the symbol that is most synonymous with this area of Wiltshire … A White Horse.”

An interesting location, this (new) Devizes White Horse was cut for the millennium so only now in its twenties – infancy for a self respecting White Horse. There are eight White Horses in Wiltshire – the Uffington White Horse is in Oxfordshire, far older although frequently included as one of the nine Wiltshire White Horses. The Devizes and Uffington horses differ from all others in one particular respect – they faces left. All others face right. Whether the original Devizes horse also faced left, no idea as it disappeared many years before this latest horse was cut.

So a different and inspirational spot for artists of Open Studios to meet. Unique amongst the Wiltshire horses as well as being sited in a stunning location above the village of Roundway looking South across Devizes and South East across the Pewsey Vale.