There are some classes set in concrete for 2018 and others are bubbling away trying to find a slot. There will be regular classes at Ramshill, my studio in East Winterslow, classes at Rum’s Eg in Romsey, at Riverside Cottage, Bransbury and other venues. Keep a look out for regular updates on new classes.
Every Thursday there will be either drawing or painting classes and more beginners oil painting classes at Ramshill.
Keep a look out for ‘Larger than Life, Life Drawing’, ‘Thinking Aloud’ a course to encourage you to take risks, be creative and get more from your work. Also ‘Big Drawings in Challenging Places’, ‘Dynamic Landscapes, Mixed Media, Drawing, Print and Paint’, ‘Music and Movement’, and ‘Experimental Drawing’. There will be restorative retreats at Riverside Cottage and excursions to galleries and other places of interest.
January 18th, February 1st, 15th, March 1st and 15th
£250 for whole term
Ramshill, Easton Common Hill, East Winterslow
10am – 4.00 pm
This will be a relaxed day with a different theme to each class including mark making, cloth, glass, reflective surfaces, shape and tone – normal stuff. You can work in any media.
The guiding ethos will be about making your work exciting, and interesting.
It hope this will become a regular fixture on alternate Thursdays. They will be full day sessions. There is a limited amount of space so there will be a max of 6 per class.
Sketch and Scones, but without the delicious scones
January 11th, 25th, February 8th, 22nd, March 8th and 22nd
£165 for whole term
Ramshill, Easton Common Hill, East Winterslow
10am – 1.00pm, or 2.00pm – 5.00 pm
Sewing and knitting have ‘stitch and bitch’… this is the drawing version, without the niceness.
It has become a regular fixture on alternate Thursdays. Pick morning or afternoon sessions. There is a limited amount of space so there will be a max of 6 per class.
Drawing is a skill; it requires practise, guidance and encouragement, adventure and more practise. In this class you will be taught about materials, different techniques and, very importantly, you will learn how to look.
This is a class that is appropriate for all abilities.
You may not have picked up a pencil for a long time, or you might attend a regular, weekly class.
The idea of this class, and others that will follow, is to extend yourself, try something new, revisit something old and to remind yourself that drawing is exciting.
There is a mystique about painting with oils paints that needs to be shattered. In these classes you will learn, from scratch, the basic mechanics of painting with oils.
This is perfect for total beginners, people who know about watercolour but not oils, people who haven’t picked up a brush in a while, or those who have been given a lovely set of paints and don’t know what to do next.
….AND PERFECT AS A CHRISTMAS PRESENT
I will teach you the basic skills that you can start to build upon. I provide the materials needed for this early stage. If you wish you can join the follow on class Oil Painting for Beginners, II.
Advent calendars covered with glitter, or rattling with chocolates, are almost the best bit of Christmas. The tantalising countdown to the day itself raises expectations to a ridiculous degree.
My calendar is a shortish list of all sorts of mostly arty things that would be very nice to have in a stocking, under a tree, wrapped with a bow, sealed with a kiss.
ONE
I went to this wonderful exhibition a couple of weeks ago – well worth a visit. I normally buy a catalogue but I was a bit pushed for time…
Cézanne Portraits at National Portrait Gallery
This major international exhibition brings together for the first time over fifty of Cézanne’s portraits from collections across the world, including works which have never been on public display in the UK.
Over a working life of some forty-five years, Cézanne made almost 1,000 paintings of which around 160 are portraits. The exhibition considers the extent to which particular sitters shaped the development of his practise.
These are a product I use all the time – I get through endless sets. What I REALLY want for Christmas is for Koh I Noor to make these with big pans of colour so I can use a bigger brush.
As a child I thought book tokens were a bit of a cop out – a lazy present turning good money into less good money; membership to the Art Fund is the very opposite. This allows the member to have access free, or at reduced rates to galleries all over the country AND the Art fund supports artists and museums.
For over 110 years they have supported museums and galleries, and helped them to buy and display great works of art for everyone to enjoy.
The Art Fund helps museums and galleries in a number of ways:
Providing museums and curators with funding for: acquisitions; training and development; and the display of art through tours and exhibitions.
Running public appeals when a particular work of art is under threat; for example, in 2014 we ran a successful campaign to save one of the most important industrial archives in the world, the Wedgwood Collection, which documents the evolution of ceramics design over 250 years. Recently we also led a successful appeal with the National Portrait Gallery to save Van Dyck’s final self-portrait for the nation. In recent years we have run several major appeals, raising £45m to save works of art or collections.
I love to try new things – who doesn’t? I use wax crayons and wax resist techniques all the time so this encaustic beginners set seems to be the logical next step.
Lino printing is occasionally forgotten…dismissed as a school pleasure and rather junior. Now is the time to revisit relief printing. Speedy Carve have a rubbery material that is very easy to use. Lawrence Printmakers have everything you need for any sort of printing; their beginners kit will use high quality materials. Pfeil tools are the BEST.
I forgot to mention cashmere bed socks. Get the best you can afford and have a warm and Happy Christmas.
