Lindfield Artists & Illustrators weekend of open studios this September

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Later in the month nine artists who live and work in Lindfield, will be showing their work to the public. The artists themselves will be on hand – and would love to talk about the inspiration behind their work and answer any questions the public may have about it.

There will be sculptures, oil and watercolour paintings, watercolour illustrations and cartoon illustrations to see. Visitors will be able to find out just how each piece is created - techniques, materials and inspirational ideas. As well as being able to buy original works, there will be prints and postcards on sale, so the art experience will suit any budget! Also open on the Saturday will be a Lindfield Arts Festival Crafts Market in the United Reformed Church hall.

It is hoped that by having the Art Trail and the Crafts Market on the same weekend, they will be bringing together some of the great facets of making and creativity that goes on in our village. Artists participating in the open studio art trail will be: Nicola Baker, Irene Burns, Neil Giles, Rebecca Herrington, Hilary Kennett, Tom McKewn, Georgina Moir, Elizabeth Ockford, and Rose Paba-Jones. Various venues (see map) will be open at different times across 14th and 15th September. Lindfield Arts Festival Craft Market will take place in Lindfield URC between 10am and 4pm on Saturday 14th only.

Lindfield Primary's clever comic writers

By Ayesha Gilani

Meet best pals James and Jensen. The dynamic duo - who attend Lindfield Primary Academy by day - are joint creators of Dumb Comics, a comic book series that has taken their school by storm.

Both boys - aged 10 - are avid readers, love drawing and relish time together creating comic adventures for their friends and family. “We love working together. James inspires me as we’re always making each other laugh,” said Jensen. James agreed: “We’re really good friends and like the idea of running a business and coming up with new comic ideas and merchandise ideas.”

The prolific pair have three comic titles to their brand name JJ Comix. Each edition is teeming with the escapades of amusingly quirky characters like Annoying Cat, Clueless Clown and Sir Fergus Bibble-Bottom. There is also a page dedicated to puzzles and games. Jensen said: “We draw as a team and enjoy making up the stories as we go along. We contribute eight pages each, every time. I’m inspired by a comic called The Phoenix.” James said: “I’ve always liked drawing and I’m inspired by Jamie Smart author of Looshkin and Bunny vs Monkey.”

So far the comics have been a huge hit, with the boys selling 128 copies to friends at school and clubs. A share of the profits from the first two editions were donated to Lindfield Primary Academy PTA and the NHS. They planned to donate more funds to the PTA and a charity of their choice by selling their third edition - Annoying Cat - at the school’s summer fair. Due to Covid-19 restrictions the fair could not go ahead.

Jensen said: “We already have copies of our third comic printed and will be selling them virtually again. We’ll also have JJ Comix hoodies, t-shirts and a website coming soon, and we hope to have a stall at Lindfield Village Day in September. We are proud that we can do something that is fun for our friends and raise money for the PTA.”

James and Jensen’s comics, priced at £1.50 each, can be bought by contacting: jjcomixinfo@gmail.com.