Art fans enjoyed taking part in the events put on by Hillingdon Council during this year’s Arts Week.

The open studios were a huge success with over 1,000 people witnessing 20 artists behind the scenes while 30 people attended the Trail Day - a tour of studios by bus, boat and walking through Hillingdon’s beauty spots.

It was the biggest marketing campaign yet, driven by Arts Programming Officer Charlotte Baldwin, with 5,000 brochures, banners and posters.

She said: “It’s great that artists stood up for Arts Week and were so proactive this year, organising open mike nights and being really creative. I was really pleased we were able to push it further this year.

“The weather wasn’t great and the Purple Theatre’s Shakespeare based performance, based on local history, involved us trooping through orchards with umbrellas. But that was nice.

“Wendy Verriers 3D watercolour made a beautiful piece of art, it was really inspiring to see over 30 people helping,” she added.

But Community Artist Christine Smith at her studio in Manor Farm, Ruislip, found the number of visitors was no different to usual and she raised the question whether Arts Week was promoted more in Hayes than in Ruislip.

Ms Smith works with schools, hospices and organisations lacking artistic opportunities and she believes art can transform the community.

“People are often scared of art. They think they have to have been to art school,” she said.

“I’ve put a blank canvas in front of people and they didn’t want to start because they said they might ruin it,” she said.

“You can’t ruin a white canvas.

“I find it inspiring with elderly or terminally ill people. They may be at the end of their life but they have so much to give,” she added.

“They discover the talents they didn’t know they had.”

She said: “Elderly people get sidelined as society assumes people past a certain age no longer have anything to offer.”

Harlington Hospice’s mosaic patio is still in their garden from Ms Smith’s workshop over five years ago.

Manager of Harlington Hospice’s Lymphoedema Clinic Anne O’Donnell said: “I remember Christine dashing around.

”Some of those patients aren’t here anymore and it’s lovely to have the mosaic here.

“We are lucky with our garden, the mosaics give it a sense of peace.

“She planted lavender and herbs around it too, it’s very nice.”

Ms Smith is running three felt-making workshops for children aged five to seven at Northolt School.

“Young children are less tainted by adulthood saying ‘it won’t make any money’ or ‘there’s no point going down the art route’,” she said.

“Children are more open to just playing around.”

The mosaic outside the Mall Pavilions in Uxbridge completed by her, commissioned by Hillingdon Council, in 2009, was one of her proudest achievements.

“I can see it every day,” she said.

“It just shows how much anyone can achieve and I hope it inspires people.”

Ms Smith said: “With the recent cuts, the arts have taken a hammering. There is never enough money for the projects that will achieve something.

“You can lose motivation when you don’t have the funding or you don’t know when the next project will come. But when it takes off and inspires people, it’s all worthwhile.”