The nights may be drawing in, but soon they will light up with a dazzling display of illuminated art.
Eastbury Manor House is to be transformed inside and out by 20 artists, using everything from facepaint to fire, on November 25 and 26.
One of the highlights is The View from Here, a fully-working model of the solar system that is 10 metres across and five metres high, although artist Ian Wolter never meant for it to be so big.
“I wanted to make it with beach balls - but the size of the balls set the scale of the project. My studio isn’t five metres tall so I had to make it in three parts in a farmer’s barn.”
The huge orrery is powered by someone pushing Neptune around, and Ian said that although he designed it as a statement about how humans treat the environment - and what we might do to other planets - “it can also just be seen as a beautiful, whimsical thing”.
Dagenham resident Lurleen Lewis-Matthews’ work couldn’t be more different to Ian’s, but it’s no less fun.
The professional face-painter, will be using her skills to decorate festival-goers with make-up that literally glows.
With the help of a colleague and a team of keen volunteers, Lurleen, 48, believes she can illuminate more than 200 faces a night at GLOW - an impressive target. “We have used glowing paints before but to do them on this scale is new, she said.”
So what can festivalgoers expect to get painted on them?
“We have swirling designs that complement the fire garden, in reds, oranges and blues, as well as fireworks and flowers themes that will look really elegant under the UV light.”
GLOW tickets are £5 and under-16s go free. Visit studio3arts.org.uk/glow or call 020 8594 7136 to book.
