Cambridge Open Studios

Yesterday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and biked all around Cambridge for the north/west portion of their Open Studios. We saw a variety of media, with a surprising lean towards watercolor and collage -- I guess we just avoided most of the traditional painting, in favor of more unusual works. Some of my favorites were:

- Chihiro Makio at Almost Perfect Glass Studio, who I knew from Mobilia Gallery. I hadn't seen her multicolored folded metal pieces, and I love them -- they're really delicate, and floral without being flowery. Some of her designs remind me of how I assembled my crocheted flower necklace.

- Hannah Goodwin, who does delicate, scratched drawings on rice paper with bamboo pens. I'm impressed with the control she was able to achieve; I wouldn't be able to stand it! Her drawings mostly evoked images of nests, but the titles hinted that they were inspired by more conceptual ideas.

- Janet Hobbs, who makes watercolor paintings in a variety of styles. I was particularly drawn to a few that looked like scrolls, with a balance of organic wet-on-wet blooms and thin, controlled twiggy sketches. I also liked the contrast of her "Industrial Chroma" series, which is a little more graphic.