Category Archives: Stockbridge

art education, drawing, Houghton, painting, river test, Stockbridge

Sheep Dip Shallows – The next stop on the River Test, The Source to the Sea

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Monday 3rd July 10.00 at The Boot, Houghton

£25/day

 

June was rained off, blown away, cancelled. We are going to try Houghton again!

If you mention ‘Houghton’ to fly fishermen they will think you are talking about the illustrious Houghton Fishing Club with its clubroom over the entrance to the Grosvenor in Stockbridge. The club owns some of the most renowned fishing on the river Test from Stockbridge, downstream through Houghton.  It is very beautifully tended with streams, footbridges and glorious trees.

Most of the club water is inaccessible except for a stretch known locally as Sheep Dip Hollow. This spot was used for swimming, paddling, cooling off in the summer, and presumably for dipping sheep. The website below has a map and a few memories of childhood visits.

Wild Swimming

We will spend the day at Sheep Dip Hollow and along the footpath to the John Of Gaunt Lakes, on the King Somborne side of the valley.

Please join us; swimming costumes optional.

art education, charcoal, drawing, drawing courses, life drawing, Riverside Yurt Cafe, Stockbridge, yurts

Evenings Life Drawing in June

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Life Drawing in the Yurt

June 1st, 15th 29th

6pm – 9pm

£25/evening or £65 if you book all three

Whether you are a beginner, or an old hand, join us for directed life drawing. The evening light in June makes the atmosphere in the yurt particularly focused.

andover, art education, drawing, longstock park nursery, painting courses, river test, Stockbridge

River Test, from the Source to the Sea – Longstock

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Tuesday, 2nd May, 2017

Longstock Garden Centre and Farm Shop, 10.00 for coffee rendezvous

£25/day

The Bunny is a single track road that joins the Peat Spade pub, in Longstock with the Andover to Stockbridge road.  This makes it sound a bit dull.

At one end the delightful pub will be a possible lunch spot.  From here the road meanders across  narrow bridges, through head-high bull rushes, by willows and streams.  The eel traps and thatched fishing huts on one side of the road must be one of the most photographed settings in Hampshire – I had to queue for my moment to take the picture above.

fullsizeoutput_389The views from this track are the challenge for May.

Anyone is welcome to join us for the day.  It doesn’t matter if this is your first step on the ‘journey’.  Please contact me if you want to come along and I will tell you what it involves. Kate Measham

 

art education, charcoal, chocolate cake, drawing, drawing courses, life drawing, Riverside Yurt Cafe, Stockbridge, Wherwell, yurts

Life Drawing

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This month we have two different approaches to Life Drawing, on two days, in two different places, 13th and 14th February, Wherwell and Bransbury.

 

Monday 13th February

Life Drawing, Rip it up and start again

Wherwell Studios

6.00pm-9.00pm evening

£45/evening (or £80/2 if you pay in advance)

Intermediate

This class is slightly in the spirit of ‘let’s NOT make boring pictures’. This will be life drawing and life collage (a new art school discipline?)

It is so easy to come to a life class, make yourself comfortable and draw the body in front of you in the same way you drew it last time.  How can you encourage yourself to improve?

Practise certainly improves drawing skills, but it doesn’t make you think about new approaches and new ideas. Looking at other artists work is a good way to learn new techniques, and trying something you may not have thought of before can help. I like to take the anxiety out of the studio and introduce a sense of playfulness, exploration and adventure.

In this class you will recycle and reuse your own marks, tones and textures, and introduce others from outside sources. Once you have tried this technique you may have a fresh approach to drawing with a new regard for line and mark.

Tuesday, February 14th (St Valentine’s Day)

Life Drawing, Chocolate Cake, Happiness

Instead of sitting at home, or eating at an overpriced restaurant (talking in hushed tones) join us for St Valentine’s Day, eat cake and draw.

chocolate-cakeMy blurb about the course at Wherwell on 13th February is all about thinking outside the box, trying new approaches etc.  All a very good thing to do.

But sometimes…

It is just as important to sink into the comfy-armchair-of-Life-Drawing, remind yourself about its relaxing qualities, drift into ‘the zone’.

This is Life Drawing as a pleasure.

If you know someone who has not tried life drawing before, bring them along. I will guide you through the evening and there will be chocolate cake included…

Materials will be provided. Suitable for all standards.

Riverside Yurt Cafe – winter quarters

6.00pm-9.00pm evening

£45/evening (or £80/2 if you pay in advance) or £80/couple

andover, art education, Bombay Sapphire Gin, drawing, Overton, painting courses, river test, Stockbridge, thomas heatherwick

The Gin clear waters of the River Test …February at the distillery

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The River Test, Source to Sea, a Journey

Day two of our journey is at Laverstock, by the Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery. If you are not able to visit all the sites along the Test with us do not worry. You can join for one off trips, keep up with photos on Facebook and at #rivertestsourcetosea on Instagram. Contact me for more information, Kate Measham

Monday 6th February, Laverstock Mill, home to Bombay Sapphire Gin.

£25/day plus entrance fee 10.30am – 4.00pm

Meet in the car park at 10.30am  There is a coffee and snack van on site.  We can park and enjoy the view for free but if you want to go into the buildings, see the Thomas Heatherwick greenhouse and the distillery then you need to pay an entrance fee.  I would recommend the visit.

 Everyone needs to secure their own ticket and confirm they are over 18. bombaysapphire visit

 

The Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery

The second leg of our journey is at the Distillery just below Overton at Laverstock, (more about the history of the mill is below). The clear waters of the Test race through the Distillery and are part of the gin making process.  This industrial use of the Test waters follows on from the rural idyll we saw in January.

 

7-bombay-sapphire-distillery-at-laverstoke-mill-by-thomas-heatherwick

LAVERSTOKE MILL

In renovating Laverstoke Mill, Bombay Sapphire has taken the utmost care to preserve the natural ecology and heritage of the site. To build a long-term legacy at Laverstoke Mill, Bombay Sapphire has also committed to building a sustainable future. The award-winning sustainability measures in design and construction are at the heart of this state-of-the art distillery.

HERITAGE

There has been a Mill on site in Laverstoke since at least 903 AD but the first official records show Laverstoke Mill as a corn mill marked in the Domesday Book of 1086. In 1719 A French Huguenot called Henry Portal leased Laverstoke Mill and converted it to make the finest quality hand-made paper…

More about Heritage

RE-DEVELOPMENT

Transforming a 300 year old paper Mill with over 1000 years of history within a Conservation Area and a Site of Special Scientific Interest took patience and dedication. Working with Heatherwick Studio, Bombay Sapphire sympathetically renovated Laverstoke Mill into a sustainable distillery that showcases the natural beauty and industrial heritage of the site…

More about Re-Development

SUSTAINABILITY

In building a modern distillery at Laverstoke Mill every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the processes and buildings are as sustainable and efficient as possible. In recognition of this the distillery has been awarded the highly prestigious BREEAM Award for Industrial Design in 2014…

More about Sustainability

NATURAL BEAUTY

The Bombay Sapphire distillery at Laverstoke Mill is situated within a Conservation Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in rural Hampshire. The River Test flows through the site creating unique wetland habitat throughout the distillery. The Test is the purest chalk-stream in the UK with many native species inhabiting the river and surrounding wetlands including…

More about Natural Beauty

bombay_sapphire_distillery_naaro_04

andover, art education, beginners oil painting, drawing, oil painting, painting, painting courses, still life, Stockbridge, Wherwell

Brush up your oil painting…

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Beat the cold, the wet and the snow; revisit your painting skills

 

There are two classes coming up for those of you who have done some oil painting recently, or ages ago, and just want a bit of a reminder about how it all works.

Wednesday 18th January, 9.30 am – 1.00pm

Monday 20th February, 9.30 am – 1.00pm

Wherwell Studio

£40/morning

Suitable for all who have done an introductory course, or are just a bit rusty…

You will be taken through the equipment and basic methods with a few exercises along the way. It will all come back to you; a chance to practise all those things you have learnt in classes. There will be a Still life set up and a reminder about the process of painting in oils. Bring whatever equipment you have and I will have some extras to fill the gaps.

Don’t shy away from oils because you haven’t used them for ages and you remember the whole thing as being complicated. This class will guide you through and remind you what a wonderful thing it is to paint with oil paints.

 

I thought I would have a look for some cold landscapes to encourage everyone to escape into a warm studio.  This link had rather good pictures snowy landscapes

art education, Bombay Sapphire Gin, creative, drawing, ink, Mottisfont, Overton, painting, river test, Riverside Yurt Cafe, Stockbridge, Wherwell

River Test, The Journey Begins

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AND WE START ON WEDNESDAY 11th January…

I have lived in, or near, the Test Valley for many years, and been married to a fly fisherman for even more.  This year I am going to record the river from as near to its source as I can manage, down to the tidal waters at Testwood,and the sea.

Along the way there will be a Facebook page with information and possibly the occasional picture. Keep an eye on instagram #rivertestsourcetosea – sorry…don’t know how to do a link.

Each month  a different area of the river will be the focus, with a mixture of rural idyll and industry that relies on the water. By the end of the year there will be quite a body of work.

On Wednesday, 11th January at 10.00am we will meet at the  White Hart in Overton http://www.whitehartoverton.co.uk/eat-drink/. The second outing will be to the Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery (more of this later).

I think this first day will be the hardest of the journey, not only because it is January, cold and wet, but also it is a new experience for us all.

The Test rises in a field to the east of Overton. A footpath can take you very near to it but it is a wellies venue. Quiddhampton Mill is very attractive, as is the view from the bridge at Polhampton. The back gardens of Overton, going down to the stream through the town are attractive in a different way.I think we will probably take a look at different spots on the day.

Throughout the year I am trying to keep to mostly public sites so you can revisit them in your own time if you feel you need more information.

It is possible to take a shopful of equipment but that just gets expensive and annoying.  I would suggest a large hardbacked sketchbook, or a board and paper, masking tape, a camera or phone, pencils, charcoal etc and whatever paints you are happiest using. I will take some pens, oil pastels and the bright dyes I like to use. Also useful can be a large envelope, or plastic filing sleeve.  I always pick up bits and pieces and it helps to have somewhere to put them. I might put in something to sit on, I might not.  I have a travelling easel but I won’t bring it.
I have my fingers crossed that umbrellas won’t be necessary!
If you know of anyone who might be interested in joining us please pass on the information.
andover, art education, beginners oil painting, charcoal, drawing courses, Fauves, life drawing, mixed media, painting courses, river test, Riverside Yurt Cafe, romsey, salisbury, Stockbridge, Wherwell

Courses for 2017

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In 2017 there are a variety of courses on offer to appeal to many different interests. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Vouchers are available for classes as presents for Birthdays, Christmas or any other occasion.

Contact me for more details and availability kate@artdrawpaint.com

 

January 9th mon

Seeds, Shells, Stones and Skulls

Wherwell Studio

9.30am – 1.00pm

£40/morning

Suitable for all

Start the year with a return to the natural environment. NO BLING, no tinsel, no presents, no washing up, but all of life in a Still Life. There will be a number of different seeds and seed heads, exotic, large and small shells, stones collected locally and from beaches far and wide, and a selection of skulls.

The aim is to examine the variety of texture, tone, shape and subtle colour in these natural objects. This is a no pressure morning; you can paint or draw (I will help if anyone wants assistance).

 

The River Test, Source to Sea, a year’s journey

IMG_4018

Once a month, different venues

One day at a time

£25/day (plus entrance fees where necessary, but nearly all in public spaces)

Suitable for all

I have spent many years living near the Test, or in the Test valley itself. In 2017 I want to record different parts of the river, and different seasons, and to capture something of the way a river changes over its journey. This is something I want to do and invite anyone who is interested to join me along the way.

We will start near the source of the Test  and  the end of year will be down stream at Testwood Nature Reserve where the river is tidal. It may be cold and wet occasionally, but that is part of the story. There are many warming pubs along the way if we are overwhelmed by weather.

The River Test, Source to Sea, a year’s journey – dates

January 11th, February 6th, March 6th,

April 3rd, May 8th, June 7th, July 12th,

August 9th, September 11th, October 11th,

November 8th, and December 6th

 

 

January 18th, 

Just painting – Oils – a reminder…fullsizerender

9.30am – 1.00pm

Wherwell Studio

£40/morning

Suitable for all who have done an introductory course

A chance to practise all those things you have learnt in classes. There will be a Still life set up and a reminder about the process of painting in oils. Don’t shy away from oils because you haven’t used them for ages and you remember the whole thing as being complicated. This class will guide you through and remind you what a wonderful thing it is to paint with oil paints.

 

 

Jan 25th        

Oil painting for beginners a 3 day crash course at the Yurt

Riverside Yurt Cafe

6.00pm-9.00pm evening

£45/evening (or £120/3 if you pay in advance)

Beginners

The world of oil painting is vast, exciting and relatively straight forward. Once you learn the basic methods you will be able to tackle anything. I will introduce you to painting in oils using charcoal drawing. This helps you to get to grips with tone, mark making and various other techniques.

If you have had little, or no experience of painting in oils this is the class for you. Basic principles will be introduced and reinforced. As with all things, practice makes painting easier.

 

Oil painting for beginners also on – 1st Feb  and Feb 6th

 

Feb 13th

Life Drawing, Rip it up and start again

Wherwell Studios

6.00pm-9.00pm evening

£45/evening (or £80/2 if you pay in advance)

Intermediate

This class is slightly in the spirit of ‘let’s NOT make boring pictures’. This will be life drawing and life collage (a new art school discipline?) I like to take the anxiety out of the studio and introduce a sense of playfulness and adventure.

In this class you will recycle and reuse your own marks, tones and textures, and introduce others from outside sources. Once you have tried this technique you will have a fresh approach to drawing.

 

Feb 20th mon

Just painting – Oils – a reminder…

9.30am – 1.00pm

Wherwell Studio

£40/morning

Suitable for all who have done an introductory course

A chance to practise all those things you have learnt in classes. There will be a Still life set up and a reminder about the process of painting in oils. Don’t shy away from oils because you haven’t used them for ages and you remember the whole thing as being complicated. This class will guide you through and remind you what a wonderful thing it is to paint with oil paints.

 

February 22nd 

Experimental Drawing – exploring the senses.

9.30am – 1.00pm

Wherwell Studio

£40/morning

Intermediate

Art is a creative subject, but the hardest leap seems to from what you can see to what you have to imagine when you can’t see.

In this drawing class will look at translating, smell, touch, hearing, taste and memory into a visual format. Rhythm, colour, mark making will all be called upon to extend your visual vocabulary into the unknown. What does the inside of your mouth feel like? Can you draw the sharp, salty tang of stilton? How would you portray the feelings evoked by a song sung in a language you don’t recognise?  These are hard steps to take, and there is no right or wrong answer, but no reason not to try.

 

Mar 20th mon

The luck of the draw

Riverside Yurt Cafe

6.00pm-9.00pm evening

£45/evening

More information to come. 

 

 

May 8th 

The River Test, Source to Sea, a year’s journey

Half way through the journey, show and tell at the prizewinning Riverside Yurt Café

 

 

May 17th

See and be Seen, Beyond the Selfiegentileschi2

Self Portraits now.

Riverside Yurt Cafe

9.30am-4.00pm

£85, light lunch and materials included

Suitable for all

 Everyone thinks they know what they look like – selfies are everywhere – but take another look. On this course you will investigate different ways of drawing yourselves, and each other.

Through the day you will be drawing, using colour and modelling with clay (more than a chance you will get messy). We will provide the materials needed for the day if you bring smallish mirrors for everyone doing the workshop. It will involve paint and clay so wear appropriate clothes.

There will be a lunch provided using the same fine ingredients sourced for the café.


May 31st

How would the Fauves do it?derain

Riverside Yurt Cafe

9.30am-4.00pm

£85, light lunch and materials included

Suitable for all

The Fauves were a group of French painters prominent from 1905, including Matisse, Vlaminck, and Derain, characterized by the use of bright colours and simplified forms.

You will be interpreting the landscape by the river and yurt, embracing the Fauves use of colour. Suggested materials would be bright inks, watercolour dyes, acrylics –basically anything bright and quick drying.

 

andover, art education, christmas cards, drawing, fox, hare, ink, lino, lino prints, reindeer, river test, Riverside Yurt Cafe, romsey, salisbury, Stockbridge, Wherwell, woodcock, yurts

Cards

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I have a series of lino cuts that have been made into greetings cards, all blank on the inside, with envelopes.

Greetings Cards, 340gsm uncoated paper, with DL envelope, £1.20/ card, or £12 /12

Postcards, £1.00/card, or £10 for 12 postcards

P&P is £5 for purchases up to £40; free if you spend over £40.

woodcock-lino
woodcock, linocut, edition of 12, print is 15cms x 30 cms, handprinted on heavy print paper, 300 gsm., 38cms x 56 cms,  £135 unframed
fox
Into the snow, linocut, edition of 12, print is 15cms x 30 cms, handprinted on heavy print paper, 300 gsm., 38cms x 56 cms,  £135 unframed
reindeer
On the Ice,  linocut, edition of 12, print is 15cms x 20 cms, handprinted on heavy print paper, 300 gsm., 38cms x 56 cms,  £95 unframed
hare-and-stubble-lino
Hare and Stubble, linocut, edition of 12, print is 15cms x 30 cms, handprinted on heavy print paper, 300 gsm., 38cms x 56 cms,  £135 unframed

Greetings Cards, with DL envelope, on 340gsm, uncoated paper, £1.20/ card, or £12 /12

Postcards, £1.00/card, or £10 for 12 postcards

P&P free if you spend over £40.

Please contact me if you are interested in buying cards, or if you wish to enquire about the handprinted, limited edition prints.
Contact me for more details and availability kate@artdrawpaint.com

andover, art education, cezanne, charcoal, clyfford still, creative, devlaminck, drawing, drawing courses, Fauves, mixed media, oil painting, painting, salisbury, still life, Stockbridge, tate, Wherwell

Still life in the Still Life

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Still Life should NEVER be boring

One of the principal genres (subject types) of Western art – essentially, the subject matter of a still life painting or sculpture is anything that does not move or is dead. Tate website

The Still Life is a place to play with ideas, experiment with materials, try new compositions, most importantly, to take your work forward. Still life gives the artist more freedom in the arrangement of elements within a composition than do paintings of any other types of subjects.

There are a few classes left this term to try new things, play with old ones and to put your own stamp on the genre.

Each class is £45/ea, or £120 for 3. Please contact kate@artdrawpaint.com for more information.

Cezanne does Still LifeCézanne,_Paul_-_Still_Life_with_a_Curtain.jpg

15th November, 9.30am – 12.45pm

Cezanne found in Still Life a vehicle for his revolutionary explorations in geometric spatial organization. For Cézanne, still life was a primary means of taking painting away from an illustrative or mimetic function to one demonstrating  the elements of color, form, and line – a major step towards Abstract art.

You will look at Cezanne’s Still Life, with a fresh version in the studio, learn from his approach and bend it to your will.

 

henri_matisse_mah002

Colour as it Isn’t

22nd November, 9.30am – 12.45pm

Today is all about colour; why stick with a dull copy of the objects in front of you when you can do so much more? You will be playing with the idea of restricted palettes and full on, full blast, sock-it-to-the-Fauves bright and wild palette. See what suits you.

Throw Everything at It

29th November, 9.30am – 12.45pm

Rather a clumsy title but gives some indication of  the mixed media, multi media approach of contemporary practise. During the 20th and 21st century, the notion of the still life has been extended beyond the traditional two dimensional art forms of painting into video art and three dimensional art forms such as sculpture, performance and installation. Some mixed media still-life works employ found objects, photography, video, and sound, and even spill out from ceiling to floor and fill an entire room in a gallery.

You will be restricted by the size of the studio otherwise let your imagination run wild – something akin to Blue Peter on a sugar rush (?).