Inbetween the @yorkopenstudios.bsky.social weekends it's back to my dayjob as an architect and a pedal out on a sunny afternoon to catch up with a new timber-frame house going up. Nice work by Ken Building Developments and Buildakit - these are artists and makers too!
A photograph of a handmade photobook and its printed cardboard sleeve
The end of @yorkopenstudios.bsky.social Day Two - lots more lovely visitors & great chats about film photography. Photobooks have departed to new homes; it's lovely to see the art & the craft appreciated. Taking to the sofa with @singfoodie.bsky.social to rehydrate shortly. Until next weekend, folks
Thank you! It's a great opportunity to just talk photography 👍
Taking the B&W photography theme very seriously here on my side of the Venue 15 courtyard & ready for Day 2 of @yorkopenstudios.bsky.social - doors open at ten! @singfoodie.bsky.social has a houseful of colourful artwork & the morning sun's making the whole place look rather magical. Come & see us!
“If you invite more cars, you get more cars. If you make more streets better for cars you get more traffic...If you invite people to walk more and use public spaces more, you get more life in the city. You get what you invite.” - Jan Gehl
The answer to this question always was, and always will be, HOUSING @financialtimes.com
I earn 3 times my mother. Yet I live in a place about half hers, and paid rent for 15 years the get there.
I've done the signage, @singfoodie.bsky.social has inflated the balloons & the gate to our courtyard is open, where the hi-tech animated signage directs you towards B&W film photography and colourful artwork. Venue 15 of @yorkopenstudios.bsky.social open today/tomorrow plus of course next weekend!
Turning the hi-tech animated signage up to eleven as a pre-flight check - the comfort & safety of @yorkopenstudios.bsky.social visitors is our No1 priority! Nearly ready here at Venue 15 where @singfoodie.bsky.social & I have been working hard to prepare. 18/19 & 25/26 April - go walkabout, people!
A photograph of a display being assembled
My @yorkopenstudios.bsky.social preparation has taken over my office; the pop-up display has popped up, Velcro is being wrangled in quantity. All will be ready for tomorrow morning! @singfoodie.bsky.social is 100% prepared so put Venue 15 on your itinerary for 18th/19th or 25th/26th April...
And the man at the back said, "Everyone, attack"
And it turned into a ballroom blitz
And the girl in the corner said, "Boy, I wanna warn ya
It'll turn into a ballroom blitz"
Ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz
Ahead of their time, Sweet!
A photograph of some photos pegged to strainer wires on an outdoor wall.
Preparation ongoing for @yorkopenstudios.bsky.social with the courtyard; the clematis has been slow this spring so I'm havin' the strainer wires.
B&W film photography over 18-19 & 25-26 April at Venue 15 with @singfoodie.bsky.social & her painting & collage!
Next:- the hi-tech animated signage!
View of the handlebars on an urban arrow with the odometer reading 7000 miles
Hit 7000 miles on the Urban Arrow yesterday. We’ve had it for about 900 days, so yeah, it’s been a game changer for our family!
A photograph of an advertising banner on a lamp-post
For anyone hesitant about navigating Tadcaster Rd to the many creatives with studios thereabouts, the @yorkopenstudios.bsky.social organisers have put up a whopping great banner! Head towards it and fan out! There Will Be Signposting incl to Venue 15 where you'll find me & @singfoodie.bsky.social
I'll drink to that!
Essential pre @yorkopenstudios.bsky.social preparations at Majestic Wine - talking for an entire weekend leads to thirst, which requires dealing with. Thankfully this is the sort of mission which the Urban Arrow Shorty was designed for. Venue 15 over 18-19 & 25-26 April.
#blackandwhitephotography
"Abandoned Cottage" - tissue, ink, acrylic and collage. It's sealed with several coats of clear acrylic mat varnish so the ink won't fade and is actually landscape format.
@yorkopenstudios.bsky.social
18/19 and 25/26 April 2026
Find me and @philbixby.bsky.social at Venue 15 in the brochure
A photo of a display rack containing gift cards with B&W photography images
Under a week to @yorkopenstudios.bsky.social & the final prep is underway - the handmade gift card rack has been dusted and loaded. Another (very) affordable way to pick up original art as your travels pass through Venue 15! B&W film photography & the painting and collage of @singfoodie.bsky.social
Screenshot of the front page of my website. There is a menu bar, a welcome message, an announcement that the online shop will be closed during York Open Studios and then four main links to areas of the site illustrated with images: 'about' - a photo of me 'shop' - a detail from a linoprint of woodland 'printmaking' - a close up photo of some tools 'shows' - a photo of a print browser and a table display in the background
Seeing as I've just spent two hours working on my website, including refreshing the front page with some updated images which better reflect current content, it would be nice if people popped in and had a look. *hopeful face*
www.janeduke.com
IT'S ONLY A WEEK AWAY! The last directories are in the distinctive directory dispenser & the final preparations are, well, still to do. Next Saturday the balloons will be out & the door will be open - visit us for black & white film photography and colourful collage & painting
#yorkopenstudios2026
Another one ready for yorkopenstudios.co.uk visitors who don't want industrial decay on their walls (niche I know but) - printed A4 & mounted but unframed & very affordable! Venue 15 along with the contrasting colourful work of @singfoodie.bsky.social over the 18-19 and 25-26 April weekends.
A black and white photograph shot through, and towards the far leg of, a ramped bridge across railway lines
Many thanks to www.cistaarts.com for including me in their current online show After The Rains. As a photobook, Marginal is tricky to show online, but #yorkopenstudios2026 over 18-19 and 25-26 April means you can get your hands on it & explore properly! Venue 15 along with @singfoodie.bsky.social
You were definitely an early adopter. The rest of the world is now catching up with you. Let me know if you have any need for bigger units epgroup.com/pixii/
Batteries don't scream "saving the planet" like PVs, but they do good work. Here's ours today - a swift dose of cheap grid & a day of sunshine to power us through the morning & evening price bumps. Even on a dull day it'll be working magic on variable tariffs. (Controlled by www.netzero.energy app).
Significant news - not hugely surprising and IMHO for the best. BECCS was always a long shot at best, some (inc. me) would say more like a scam. But it had managed to seize the mantle of being a key "renewable" electricity contributor and get to the centre of regional 'carbon negative' policy.
That's not ideal - sorry to hear. The NHS spent plenty of time on me too, but the most sense came from pure chance that the heart specialist doing my final exercise test was a serious cyclist (hence understood specifics). Plus I spent a bit on a session with a serious atrial flutter specialist...
Interesting. For me, with atrial flutter, it was the volume (deliberately to increase stroke volume) that was the problem, and interval stuff seems fine. Not enough to keep me racing tho - and with more work / less time the writing was on the wall. Enjoy - and good luck!
It's the erroneous belief that non-rotating hubcaps tip the definition... ...tho whatever they're called, vehicles that size are possibly more physically suited to the roads there than they were here (other factors apply as to whether they make overall sense!)
The mis-naming of buses is a thing with pedigree - in York you can still see the now-superfluous infrastructure changes made to accommodate the "FTR" bendy-buses, which were driven by "pilots" (until everyone realised they were a bad idea and we went back to conventional buses driven by drivers)
I still train hard, and ride distance regularly - with no further problems after about ten years. For me the message is you hopefully don't need to stop, but you might need to change the level/type of exercise to respond to what your body tells you (but then isn't that always the message...)
I had a bout of atrial flutter back in my racing days (age late fifties) & the hospital cardiologist told me I should wind it back to a few gentle walks each week. Instead I carefully reduced the volume of steady distance work (and eventually stopped racing) to get my heart volume back down a bit.
