In pictures: Cookham and Maidenhead Arts Trail

The Cookham and Maidenhead Arts Trail brought art lovers out to artists’ door despite the fiercely hot weather at the weekend.

Footfall was impacted by the heat – as many people like to walk between the different venues on the trail.

“When it started raining on Sunday afternoon, our footfall went up. Normally it would go down but people were waiting for the rain to start, for it to cool down,” said organiser Jill Chadwick.

Nonetheless, the trail saw ‘lots of people’ visit, including more than 150 people at the biggest venue.

The smaller venues with one to two artists also saw scores of visitors.

“Those that came were very complementary, really liked what they saw, and the artists make some sales. It was lovely to see the Mayor come to a couple of our venues,” said Jill.

“We’ll be up and running next year, doing even more publicity.”

Sarah Luton is an artist on the trail who has featured in every single one. She helped get CAMAT set up for the first time and is pleased to see it ‘still going strong’.

A painter, Sarah was displaying her work in Oaken Grove with two other artists; Susan Day, who creates ceramics and first-timer Victoria Woodward, who works in textiles.

“The three of us have very difference disciplines – that gave our visitors a diverse range to look at,” said Sarah.

“The trail was absolutely brilliant this year. We had a good number of visitors but it wasn’t so busy, which meant we could really engage with them.

“The thing I love about the trail is being able to explain [pieces] to our audience. It’s about communication.”

Those popping by were able to see ceramics demonstrations from Susan and take a gander at Victoria’s sketchbook, showing her process of ideas.

“They found that really fascinating,” said Sarah. That’s something you don’t get to see in a gallery.”