Well Done Wishart!

It's been a great weekend for Joanne and Ross Wishart.



Last Friday night Hilton, Gateshead held the North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2009. The awards ceremony was hosted by Women into the Network, and was an evening dedicated to the North East's leading female business women; lots of successful women in one very large room. It was a glitzy affair.

And our Mushroom Worker, Joanne won the North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Best Creative Business category. If you'd like to know more about Joanne (and to read her thank you speech in full! No tears though,) click through to visit Joanne's blog.

Getting excited for Ouseburn Open Studios

There's less than two weeks now until the eight artist studios based in the Ouseburn Valley throw open their doors and welcome in the public for Ouseburn Open Studios weekend. Here at Mushroom Works, we are all very excited! It's probably one of our favourite weekends of the year. Last year over 7,000 people came to the Ouseburn to chat to artists, buy Christmas presents and commission new works.

All the artists at Mushroom Works have been working hard and late into the night to have as many 20x20s ready as we can get on the walls. (It all gets a bit competitive, really, but it's great fun nonetheless). For the uninitiated, 20x20s are original artworks that won’t break the bank! They're now considered an Open Studio tradition, a fantastic opportunity to purchase artworks (measuring 20cm by 20cm) by leading North East artists for the special price of £20, making them perfect for unique Christmas gifts!

But you've got to be quick, we have people queuing up to get one (or 10!) on our preview night (which is Friday 27th November 6pm. See you there?)

A Tall Order for Fiona’s Short

Brick Works’ studio holder Fiona Birkbeck has certainly got a lot her plate this coming month! She has bravely decided to make a ten minute film in the space of a month with no official funding whatsoever! We wish you the bext of luck Fiona – it sounds like a wonderful project. For those of you who haven’t heard all about the film from the lady herself the official synopsis for the film goes a bit like this...

A stunning stretch of golden sand. The beach is deserted except for an odd looking shape half way up the beach. A beached whale? When Jimmy, a nine-year-old boy trips over it whilst flying a kite, he thinks he's discovered a dead body. But then the mysterious man stirs and a battle of wits begins as the boy must try and save him from the tide. Not easy when the man is twice his size and has gone there to die.

This determined little kid doesn't know it yet but he's just stumbled on his greatest hero. Now all Jimmy's got to do is trick him to his feet. That and give this brutish, has-been of a man a reason to live...

An uplifting tale about discovering heroes on the very day we need them most

For those of you who aren’t big football fans, fear not, this film’s not really about football, it’s a about courage, love and hope - all in the space of ten minutes. Fans, friends and fellow studio holders can support Fiona and her team by buying  a ticket for the screening.

To find out more about Fiona’s new venture you can visit the Substitution  website www.substitutionfilm.co.uk/ or follow its progress by following Substitution09 on Twitter

Ouseburn Open Studios - only a few weeks away!!

Artists from the Ouseburn are opening their doors and welcoming people to come and have a chat about their work! The studios in the Ouseburn Valley are home to a wide range of creative people including artists, jewellery and furniture makers, graphic designers and printmakers. With a free bus service to get you around, you have no excuses to get yourselves down and have a great day out at Ouseburn Open Studios!!