July 2022

For the past twenty years  Christiane Kubrick, the widow of the film director Stanley Kubrick, has hosted an arts fair in the grounds of Childwickbury Manor, their magnificent estate near St Albans http://childwickburyarts.com. The three day festival, an inspiration for artists and would-be artists alike, is held over the first weekend of July and showcases artisans from around the UK:painters, printmakers, metal workers, jewellers, clothes designers, potters, woodcarvers, leatherworkers and stonemasons come to meet the public face to face and sell direct to them.

Christiane Kubrick is an established artist of many years standing. Her richly decorated paintings adorn several scenes in Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 movie Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, and partly filmed at the nearly by Luton Hoo Estate. Christiane was previously an actress and met her husband on the set of his film Paths of Glory (1957) Sadly, he died shortly after completing Eyes Wide Shut, and is buried at Childwickbury. A peaceful feeling permeates the fern forest beside the green fields where the artists are invited to camp overnight.

Not content to watch the crowds wandering in her gardens, Christiane sets up her easel and favourite painting chair and paints surrounded by winnowing plants. Her flow is only interrupted by people asking for a signed copy of her book Paintings, or curious onlookers taking photographs. Plants, trees and flowers appear in many of her still lives and landscapes with prints and originals on show or for sale in her tent. https://christianekubrick.com . Amongst several other paintings which feature her husband, Remembering Stanley is a touching image of him relaxing by a lily pond. 

The fair resvolves around Childwickbury’s impressive stables yard, once used as a stud farm, where luxurious lotions hand-made in nearby Harpenden are a tempting purchase. The aromas from the tasty street food and coffee stalls waft about the impeccably manicured gardens: sweet and savoury crepes, a bistro in a bun, or the South African delicacy "bunny chow," washed down with artisanal Ice creams and ales. There is an interactive art space especially for kids, who are entertained by the riotous antics of performer Johnny Slap.

In tents dotted around the stables, the makers busily demonstrate their skills. Amongst the outstanding objects are Simon Eeles’s copper fumed Raku pots https://www.simoneelesceramics.com. Raku is a 16th century technique that creates a multitude of iridescent patterns by dipping an unfinished pot into copper oxide and firing it at 1000 degrees centigrade, then placing it into a smoking pot of flaming sawdust which transforms the copper into a stunningly colourful rainbow effect. Simon walks you through the process of decorating a ready made pot and you can take your creation home with you. 

Of the painters, the figurative works of Oliver Lovley https://www.oliverlovley.com capture human activity and emotions, which lean towards somewhat abstracted figures, similar to L.S. Lowery. Following Childwickbury Arts Fair his solo show featuring 34  oil paintings will take place at the University of Nottingham’s Wallner Gallery within the Lakeside Building between 6th August - 4th September.

If printmaking is your thing, Laura Boswell’s exceptional water-coloured linocuts, woodblocks and lithographs will appeal. Her focus on rural landscapes at home and abroad depict with delicacy, detail and atmosphere her evocative titles Bluebells, Wet Spring, Mrs Sasuka’s Garden and Moon Rising. Her book Linocut and Reduction Printmaking is available from Crowood Press for those interested in taking up this skilful art.https://www.lauraboswell.co.uk/index.php.

Christiane also hosts a Christmas Fair at Childwickbury in November. Just as the surreally dressed mannequins signpost the way around the summer fair, exquisitely painted pre-Raphaelite angels guide you around the stable yard gardens at Christmas.

Hopefully, both the summer and winter fairs will continue for many years to come.