Leaving the Beach, off to play in the City

Annual Picnic - with games

We are off to play on the South Bank in London this weekend at the The Hide&Seek Weekender.

Look at all this fun  http://weekender.hideandseek.net

There is also a conference on the Monday - which looks amazing - its a great honour to be part of it. http://weekender.hideandseek.net/conference/

Sales pitch ...There will be showcases from artists, producers and technology companies, networking sessions, its going to be a great day come along.

We are looking forward to learning lots and meeting some interesting people and discovering new works and Artists. .... and if you are thinking about being part of GEEK next year come and say Hi!

We’ve had to delay Adventures in Audio, but our summer-activity cup runneth over

We’re still listening out for your audio postcards

The bad news is that we’ve had to delay our September First Friday, ‘Adventures in Audio’ (AiA), scheduled for 7 September. We’ve given the artist, Sam Thomas more time to produce a bigger and better event later in the year.

But we still want to hear from you if you have any memory-rich audio recordings of places or things. Send them toinfo@marinestudios.co.uk and put ‘AiA’ in the subject line.

If you want to get a feel for just how evocative sounds can be visit theMuseum of Endangered Sounds – the sci-fi warble of the 80s modem is the current studio favourite.

Two events in August and September: Open Studios andreCyculture

The good news is that we have two other events on in August and September:

• We’re an Open Studios venue for RamsgateArts’ A Summer Squallfestival. You can meet five Thanet artists in our studio between 11.00am and 4.00pm on Saturdays 18/19/25/26/27 August. See programme here.

• reCyculture will make an intervention on our balcony next week in time for the beginning of September. reCyculture is a project that will explore physical and virtual installations inspired by, and created with, local communities across Kent in response to the county’s hosting of the Paralympic Cycling Events in September 2012. Find out more about reCyculture here.

Sophie Herxheimer’s (of Pie Days and Holidays) is back in town with a new art project

We’re excited that we’ll be working with Sophie Herxheimer again in October. Sophie’s illustrations were a big part of our Pie Days and Holidays project, and we’ve featured her paintings on a range of ceramics that are on sale at the Turner Contemporary (and at ouronline shop).

Sophie will run our October First Friday on 5 October. The event will be part of a new project, 'Unruly: print into poetry' that Sophie is working on with fellow artist Susan Mackervoy.

We’ve found our second apprentice (please don’t tell Sir Alan)

Regular readers will remember that we’ve been working with Employ Thanet to find two apprentices who want to enter our world of creativity and community. Kim Steward came aboard in June and our second apprentice, Rebecca Hughes, joined the studio (and tea rota) in August.

We welcome Rebecca and her impressive organisational skills – she ran shop-openings for Wilkinsons and juggles a home, a job, and three month-old daughter Millie.

Note to Sir Alan: You’re too late. And our sea-views beat your shouty showdowns any day of the week.

Glimpse of the magic of the Squall; five artists showing as part of Thanet Open Studios

Five Thanet artists are showing at Marine Studios as part of Summer Squall. The studio will be open 11-4 on the 18th, 19th, 25th, 26th and 27th. Look forward to seeing you – here’s a snapshot of the five artists: 

• Lesley Gray grew up in Zambia, Central Africa. She’s been drawn to the sea ever since she studied art at Michael's School of Art, University of Cape Town. She’s now settled in Ramsgate to capture Thanet skies and sea.

• Col Longmore will show his series of paintings titled  ‘Horns’. He sees horns as symbols of bestial power and courage that have had an abiding attraction for artists since the time of cave art.

• Samantha Scott lives in Ramsgate and draws inspiration from the local population. Her oil-on-canvas paintings often place figures on bright-coloured backgrounds that focus viewers on the captured moment.

• Denis Smith is an artist and photographer who worked for major ad agencies in London and across Europe but is now a full-time artist. His exhibition and commissioned work is gaining a reputation in the south east of England.

• Joan Ward has been making felt for about 20 years. First she makes the felt and nuno felt – where loose fibres are bonded to a sheer fabric. Then she makes it into wearable hats, slippers, bags and coats.

Want to know more? A full programme of all events including the other open studios can be found here or email them oninfo@ramsgatearts.org

We’re pleased to welcome one apprentice, Kim Steward but we need one more

We worked with Employ Thanet to find two apprentices who wanted to enter our world of creativity and community, and were prepared to grind through the details that deliver a successful project. Kim Steward joined in July and has already meshed with the well-oiled Marine Studios machine. Outside of office hours you may see Kim on stage at a stand-up comedy night or out and about in her role as a reviewer for Hipster, a soon-to-be-published Thanet events magazine.

Our apprentices will get an Edexcel Level 2 NVQ Certificate in Business and Administration (QCF) when they’ve worked with us for one year.

If you’d like to come on board as a paid apprentice, email your CV and a short letter (250 words max – we’ll count ‘em) toinfo@marinestudios.co.uk

Listen up. Get an audible sense of place at September’s First Friday, ‘Adventures in audio’

What was that? Did you hear it? Well, no, you probably weren’t listening. Most of us are so caught up in the visual that we often miss the sound of a place or significant event.

Not so for Sam Thomas and others who record the sound of special places and events. At our September First Friday (7 September) Sam will show us how the sound of a place can be as evocative – or even more evocative – than a photograph.

As ever, we’re keen to involve others. So if you have any audio recordings of special significance get in touch via info@marinestudios.co.uk

Want to know more? We’ll update you nearer the time. Meanwhile if you want to hear the sound of an iceberg, listen to this New Scientist itemon the songs that icebergs sing.

Our Thanet souvenir-mugs are leaping off Turner Contemporary’s shelves

When we noticed that visitors to Thanet couldn’t buy decent-quality souvenirs we decided to create some. We worked with East Kent College and developed a range of souvenir mugs.

But while we’d solved the production side we were stymied by the lack of retail outlets. Enter the Turner Contemporary’s souvenir shop and their enlightened buying policy.

We’re delighted to report that the first batch of 60 souvenir mugs have sold out and the Turner have re-ordered. At the moment the mugs are produced in Stoke-on-Trent but we hope to move production to Thanet kilns before the end of the year.

Want to know more? You can buy our range of Thanet souvenirs from our online shop, or from the Turner Contemporary’s shop in Margate (they don’t have an online shop).

Wild and woolly surrealism at our 6 June First Friday event

If you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years you may still think that knitting is something that aunties torment nephews and nieces with (think garish, shapeless sweaters and weirdly ornate babywear).

The knittterknitknitknit gang are part of the knitting-is-fun revolution and ringleaders Jenny Duff and Emily Tull will spread the woolly word on Friday 6 June. These Thanet artists will explain how they create little oases of beauty in surprising places – and show you how even novice-knitters can get started.

So get ready to cast-off at 6.00pm Friday 6 June.

GEEK 2012 was a record-breaking success

When we set out to start a retro-gaming festival we were low on time and money but long on ideas and enthusiasm. Sometimes we thought we might have bitten off more than we could chew, but the gaming gods were with us and GEEK2012 (Games Expo East Kent) was a joystick jiggling, pixel-pumping success.

We had over 2,000 visitors, got great visitor feedback (‘fun’ was the most popular word on feedback forms), and gained the confidence and resources to plan a bigger and better GEEK2013.

To cap it all we’ve made it into the Guinness World Records. The officials were on hand to certify that 256 players took part in the world’s largest Pong tournament.

Want to know more? See the GEEK Facebook page here, and the GEEK2012 website here.