Today's idea - Mnich's Mix Festival Showcase

Today's idea if posted late, but runs until May 25th. Mnich's Mix showcases work of twelve professional artists, and this year is its 10th. Made up of 6 Surrey and Sussex Guild artists, Jan Mnich's festival is filled with watercolours of colourful journeys of landscape, plants and architecture through the Mediterranean and Sussex coastlines.

This exhibition is a brilliant mix of disciplines and products with the best of creativity, style and art, so we are told. It all takes place in Rottingdean, just outside of Brighton. It's made up of:

JAN MNICH MA: Watercolours, Prints & Cards
GLENIS BOOTE: Jewellery

PAULINE CROOK: Screen Printed Textiles

PIERRE DIAMANTOPOULO ARBS: Sculpture 

JOHN EVANS: Raku Ceramics

MICHELE FINDLAY: Ceramic Sculpture 

STUART JENKINS: Silversmith

JESSICA JORDAN: Ceramics

SARAH JOYCE: Glassmaker

JOHN PLATER FSDC: Woodturner

ANDREW PODER: Boxmaker

LOUISE TURNER-CREASEY: Textile Accessories

Cost: free
Location: The Grange Museum & Art Gallery
Map: here

Today's idea - The Polyarnye Nochi (Polar Nights) Exhibition

Ah yes, another exhibition. There's alternatives today such as the happy-sounding Motown Dancing In The Streets at the Theatre Royal, but this costs from £14-28.50 and we thought we'd recommend something cheaper.

Similarly to yesterday's exhibition, this one by Simon Roberts focuses on cold-sounding places. This time though it's all photo based and some are really rather nice. It's held at the Crane Kalman Gallery, big on local artists and contemporary good stuff. In fact the pr blurb covers it all really quite well.

"So you think you’ve got it tough? Take your chilblains down to the Crane Kalman Gallery to see what it really means to shiver. Polyarnye Nochi focuses on winter in northern Russia, finding a region shrouded in darkness nearly 24 hours a day, a phenomenon known as Polyarnye Nochi (Polar Nights). Throughout December until mid-January, the sun remains below the horizon and there is only a faint glow of light visible around midday. One third of Russia's population live and work in these inhospitable climatic conditions. It is perhaps miraculous that factories, apartment blocks, towns and entire cities have been constructed in what should be a deserted, Arctic wasteland."

The Crane Kalman Gallery can be found on Kensington Gardens of the North Laine variety (Google Map link here) and the exhibition runs until the 7th of February.

Visit the Xuma Gallery for the 'Dreamland-by-the-sea & Eastern Soul' Photography Exhibition

The Xuma gallery is an interesting one. Hyped as a small-bar-gallery, many of which can potentially just turn out to the awkwardly busy sofa-filled places to view art, this is more of a gallery. It's a nice haunt with a warm atmosphere and a mass of comfy red velvet seats, and is running a romantically titled 'Dreamland-by-the-Sea & Eastern Soul' photography exhibition.

Photos by Kit Fordham 'technicolour reclamation of our love affair with the English seaside and 'Eastern Soul: Russia & The Balkans', a soulful black and white odyssey of life and church life in post-Communist Christian Orthodox Europe.'

Xuma is definitely hyped as a unique little place and can get a little busy with 30-somethings at weekends, located on the corner of Seven Dials. It's split over two levels and serves real ale (which, not being an ale fan, I believe is a good thing).

Oh and wifi, without being a Starbucks. Horray.


The exhibition runs until January 14th.

Here, on the map:


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