SEE an artwork spread over time and space at St Michael's Trading Estate in Bridport this weekend.

Bridport artist David Smith has been working on Black Is Not The Only Colour every day for the last six months.

On a daily basis he has created an 8” square artwork from scratch on the theme of Black Squares.

#BlackSquares365 is the latest daily, serial art project that Smith is undertaking. The first, a few years back, was #Collage365 which involved eight other artists round the world making a collage every day. That was immediately followed by #Letter365, installed in the Allsop Gallery at Bridport Arts Centre in 2015, in which each day’s work was enclosed in an envelope that was only opened after it had been sold unseen.

Until now it has only been possible to view and buy the #BlackSquares365 work on Smith’s Instagram and Twitter accounts, but now there is a chance for people to see them in the flesh during Black Is Not The Only Colour, a special three day open-studio event focussing on this project and other “Black Squares” work.

David Smith decided to undertake this challenge mostly as a personal discipline, to “prime the pump” for each day’s work, but also to keep his social media accounts ticking over while he was developing some new work.

He says, “I am going to do this work anyway and I cannot afford the time and money to frame it then try to sell it at my usual prices. What good will it do just sitting in a box? Much better that people can have it and enjoy it and take a bit of joy and fun in the project!”

So, he decided to set an affordable price of just £40 each. Smith thinks that for some people £40 is pocket money: it’s a round of drinks or a cheap meal out. For those with less disposable income but who enjoy art £40 can still be within reach and at that price people can buy them as Christmas gifts or “dated” birthday presents. So, he feels it’s quite a “democratic” price – almost anyone could buy their own small part of a larger artwork (the whole #BlackSquares365 project) an artwork spread over time and space that no one person will ever own and nobody will ever see in its entirety.

Pieces from #Blacksquares365 are now in collections throughout the UK and coast to coast in the USA.

This open-studio event will also feature a selection of work from Smith’s recent and earlier explorations into the Black Square theme, much of which has not exhibited in Bridport previously.

*Black Is Not The Only Colour, June 14 to 16, (Friday & Saturday 11am to 5pm, Sunday 11am- 4pm) at Studio 7B, Second Floor, Riverside Studios, Unit 10, St Michael's Trading Estate, Bridport, Dorset DT6 3RR (In the Art and Vintage quarter not far from the Red Brick Café). Entry is free See davidsmithartist.net for more information.