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Appledore and its' Amazing Technicolour Festival 05
A sunny Mr. Showers Appledore celebrated the start of summer with it's annual Visual Arts Festival which, for four days, transforms this normally quiet fishing village into a kaleidoscopic spectacle. The whole village joins in this huge artistic event, with open gardens, open studios and famous decorated doorknockers. Artist walks, exhibitions, master classes, demonstrations, installations, talks, poetry readings and workshops were staged by artists and potters from near and far with various art forms displayed on every available wall, floor and door. The Festival theme for 2005 was "Tides". Turner Prize winner and well known environmental artist Richard Long, created a special piece using local mud from the Torridge River bed. Working with artist Serena de le Hey who created the giant wicker man on the M5 Motorway, the mud was collected at low tide by students from Bicton College. The finished artwork was displayed on the wall of the former Glove Factory. Resident artists Edith Garcia, Gordon Field, Stephen Turner and Geraldine Jones worked on a range of diverse themes exploring tides including floating sculptures and canvas tidal mud prints. Exhibitions included work by "5 Devon Potters", Heather Jansch, Sandy Brown, Simon Moore and Gilda Westerman, North Devon College, Somerset College of Art, Atlantic Flower Club, the Lundy Art Group with additional craft stalls in the Glove Factory and along the Quay. Members of the public were encouraged to participate in a variety of fun workshops including Tidal Nonsense with Jo Forsyth and students from the Falmouth College of Art, creative embroidery, metalwork, totem sculpture, carnival costumes, street dance and circus skills. Along Marine Parade, the "Artists's Wall", the high wall and railings outside the old Richmond Dock, were adorned with an array of paintings in diverse styles from artists in partnership with Devon Arts Culture together with work by local Hartland Cartoonist Mark Nesbitt and Appledore Artist & Illustrator Gerard Lindley. Local craftsmen Tim Harvey and Gabriel Hummerstone were on hand to demonstrate the intricate art of stone carving. Inspired by Peter Margorem, over 400 children from ten local primary schools created the brightly coloured totems along the Quay. The tidal collages were weaved into the railings by local artist Karen Hawkins. Mr. Showers and his puppet, folk singers and musicians added to the carnival atmosphere on the quayside. The music maze, a portable percussion playground made entirely from recycled materials, took centre stage with both children and adults having a go on drums, bagpipes, tambourines, chimes, gongs and shakerwheels. Meanwhile a different tune was being played in the skatepark in Churchfields car park where the "Seize the Moment Youth Event" was being held. Top UK artists, DJs and dancers gave the young people in the Torridge area an opportunity to join in freestyle rap, mixing, street dance and graffiti art workshops. You could even have a go at pole dancing, the country's latest fitness trend. The photographs on this page were taken on Saturday 4th June 2005 and I hope they captured the fun activities on the fringes of the 2005 festival. "The Appledore Visual Arts Festival was founded in 1997 by the artist Sandy Brown and is held annually in the North Devon village of Appledore on the banks of the River Torridge. Now in its ninth year the Festival continues to grow and offer a diversity of artistic experience. It was the first and is still the only annual visual arts festival in the country. The theme for the 10th Anniversary of the Festival was 'Wide River'. Sadly in November 2013 the trustees of Appledore Arts announced that they have made the difficult decision to close the doors of the organisation after a fifteen year history of presenting what was the first annual Visual Arts Festival in the UK. Flying the Festival Flags for Appledore
Welcome to Appledore Railings at the Old Richmond Dock Appledore
Caricatures by "Luke Warm" - Work by Cartoonist Mark Nesbitt Making Merry - musicians enjoying the Festival
Tim Harvey - Stone-Carver
Tidal Collages woven into the railings on Appledore Quay Ethnic Jewllery
Totem Sculptures
Looking through the Maze - Craft work on Appledore Quay
Appledore/Instow Ferry Centre Stage - Acoustic Arts Music Maze
Artist at Work on a Willow Sculpture Floating Willow Sculptures and Floating Painting
Driftwood artwork created by local Appledore resident Linda Bell Driftwood sculpture, Irsha Street
Bustling Appledore Quay - The Yurts added to the festival scene Gabriel Hummerstone - Letter Cutter & Stone Carver
Artistic Licence - Old Gaiety Theatre Door - The colourful door knocker was on the door of another cottage in Irsha Street
Hot Promotions - This way up for pole dancing lessions Hitting the Decks! - Making a different kind of music at the "Seize the Moment Youth Event" at Appledore Festival Poles Apart - pole dancing on skates!
Appledore skatepark Mark Brasington, top UK spray can artist at the Appledore Visual Arts Festival Appledore Skate Park
Finishing touches to graffiti art form
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