Worcester Arts Workshop

Our son Nicholas has been working on his first one-man exhibition for several weeks now. It finally opened today at the Arts Workshop in Worcester.

A five-metre long, fluffy tiger dominates the room, lying asleep on the floor with its face hidden under a blanket while the brightly coloured pictures lure us in for closer inspection. It is quite theatrical, but what is it all about?

The tiger


The Exhibition
The pictures consist of some new paintings in gouache on heavy paper and some prints of earlier work; all chosen because they fit into the tiger/dream theme of the show. To me, Nick's work is mature and confident but it has a deceptive childlike quality, like illustrations from a child's book of dreams; which it is in a way.

I recognise images from childhood trips to Costa Rica, the USA and from a 3 year stay in the Seychelles. There are even scenes from before Nick was born, remembered from old photo albums, but the sharpest visions probably originated from two long trips that Nick made as a student to Maine in 2008 and to India in 2009.

It is not only the scenery that stems from his travels, but also some of the stories behind the dreams. As in all dreams, nothing is ever quite resolved. Are we being pursued by a tiger, or are we chasing the tiger? Why do we never see it's face?  The tiger is never at the centre of the picture but is caught from the corner of the eye as it slinks behind furniture, plants or buildings. These dream scenes are quite heavily populated with people, but they don't seem to be aware of the lurking tiger; only the artist knows it's there for certain, and we only sneak a tantalising glimpse from outside.

You can catch the exhibition until the end of July at the Worcester Arts Workshop and you can view some of the work at http://www.nicholasstevenson.com/

Cafe Bliss

The Arts Workshop
If you Google the Arts Workshop you will find out about the two exhibition spaces, the cinema and this season's programme of events. You will also learn that the heart of the place is the "Cafe Bliss". You can even see the current menu on their web-site, but you have to go there to get the full experience.

The cafe seems a bit claustrophobic at first. There's too much to take in at once in the small bar and counter area, but there is a quiet lounge-cum-gallery in the room next door where you can chill out. Once you get your bearings and order one of the many bottled ales or cask ciders on offer (OK, I didn't look at the soft drinks, but I'm sure there were some,) you will soon be engaged in conversation with one of the staff, a volunteer or a fellow visitor. In fact you might spend the rest of your day chatting with people you never met before. That's what happened to me.

I never actually figured out which people were staff, who was a volunteer or who was a visitor. Everyone I met felt an affinity for the place so that the event that I attended became a truly co-operative affair between all the players. We all took part in some way.

The last time I had food like this was in Costa Rica nearly 20 years ago. Rice and beans are the staple with perhaps chicken, salad, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, refritos and tortillas in all sorts of combinations. This is not your generic Tesco-Mex though: It's proper Latin American food made with decent ingredients at unpretentious prices and you can watch it being prepared while you order a second beer.

There's lots to look at too. The exhibition spaces feature the current shows, but there are art books and magazines-a-plenty for browsers. The centre also acts as a tourist information centre for the arts, with posters and leaflets everywhere, all beautifully arranged to catch your eye. This is in great contrast to the cafes and music venues I usually attend where the leaflets and brochures are just thrown in heaps to create some sort of fire hazard. I noticed that they run courses for adults and events for children during the holidays. Somebody is really making an effort here. To cap it all, both of the current exhibitions have been widely publicised. I've been waiting to see Nick's name in the Guardian for years now and it finally happened, thanks to the Arts Workshop's anonymous publicist.

The Concert
On this warm, sunny Sunday afternoon, after you have seen both exhibitions, you can take your refreshments out to the packed courtyard and enjoy several hours of excellent live music. It's not ear-splitting pub-rock but intimate singer/songwriter material delivered through a decent PA. You can hear every word and you can chat to the musicians during the breaks.

The local band are Richard Clarke and the Rafters. They are part of the circle of friends who support the workshop and they acted as hosts for the gig which marked the launch of Nick's show. Richard has a remarkable voice and some catchy songs with choruses that ache for harmonies. I joined in, of course. Their chum and roadie is a Bob Dylan look alike (c. 1970) who performs as "Bella and the Wych Elm". I was really pleased to hear that he didn't try to sound anything at all like the Bob Dylan that I remember singing "Iwanchew, iwanchew, iwanchew, so bad."

Oliver Wilde is from Bristol and he sings his own songs and some covers while playing some really competent guitar riffs, sensitively echoed  by his accompanist on violin. There's material here for a bigger band.

The gig at Cafe Bliss

Ollie was back with our lad, Nick Stevenson, to complete this afternoon's gig with songs from Nick's "Phantom Sweetheart" album, which we play at home all the time. This session was very different from the album, largely because of Ollie's electric guitar and vocal harmonies. On the last song, the gig climaxed with Dan (drums) and Thom (bass) rocking out a version of "Never in New York" that would have sounded great on a festival stage.

Thanks to everyone involved for a really pleasant and memorable afternoon in Worcester.

You can see more photos here.