By Phillip Worth (FPS President) The Open Studios movement has been a welcome development in the art world in recent years. Typically based on specific areas, be they counties, cities, districts or whatever, it involves artists inviting members of the public to visit their studios, to meet and talk with them, and to view their output. And it is always an added attraction if they can see artists at work. The area of West Sussex centred on Chichester has a particularly lively tradition, and is rich in creative talent, as the writer discovered on a recent visit. The occasion for this was to renew acquaintance with Max Birne, a former FPS personality, who has recently moved house from Wembley, where he had lived for many years, to Selsey, near Eric Coates’s ‘Sleepy Lagoon’. After the move Max lost no time in building himself a conservatory/studio at the rear of his bungalow and it was here that he entertained visitors during ‘Open Doors 2008’, a mandatory stop on the Chichester ‘Stud
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