What’s On

Aug
25
Fri
Gilding for Letter Artists and Painters @ Nature in Art
Aug 25 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Art Coursejosie-brown
with Josie Brown 10am – 5pm
Maximum Participants: 12

This workshop will introduce beginners to the various different processes for laying a range of different metals, not just gold, for use with lettering, miniatures, paintings or on its own on. For those with some experience we will explore how to achieve different textures using contrasting mordants and debossing. Participants will produce a small project of their choice, whether a gilded initial, partly gilded painting or gold on a folded gift box.

Course Cost
Members: £42
Non-members: £55
Course Suitability: Absolute Beginners – Advanced
ART COURSE BOOKING FORM

Materials List All materials will be supplied by Josie Brown, at a cost of £7 per participant,
payable directly to her on the day.

Participants are welcome to bring any suitable materials they already have that they may wish to use.

Artist’s Profile Josie Brown is a professional calligrapher, heraldic artist and illuminator and also an accredited tutor for the Calligraphy and Lettering Arts Society. She is an enthusiastic and sensitive teacher who specializes in using ancient techniques in contemporary ways, offering modern uses for gold and other metals.

www.josiebrown.co.uk

Aug
26
Sat
Creating Coral Reef in Ceramic @ Nature in Art
Aug 26 @ 10:00 am – Aug 27 @ 5:00 pm

Art Coursejill-moger
with Jill Moger 10am – 5pm
Maximum Participants: 12

The aim of this course is for each student to create in clay, a section of coral reef with marine wildlife, with a view to each piece of work being a sculpture in its own right but when all are placed side by side, a more extensive reef is formed which will be exhibited at Nature in Art in December.

I will show a variety of illustrations and pieces of coral and shells and will bring my own ceramic coral reef as an example of what may be achieved. I will demonstrate how to make a variety of corals and sea creatures e.g. hermit crabs, sea cucumber, starfish, turtle etc. with an emphasis on textured surfaces and the techniques of construction. Students will be encouraged to draw ideas for their own piece of reef before beginning to create it in clay.

At the end of the course, I will take the work home to my studio in York to dry out, prior to colouring, glazing and firing. Students may specify the colours they would like me to apply. The fired and finished work will be returned to Nature in Art in time for the exhibition in December after which they may be collected.

Course Cost
Members: £84
Non-members: £110
Course Suitability: Beginners – Improvers
ART COURSE BOOKING FORM

Materials List Please bring a full apron and any small tools that you might like to experiment with on clay.

All other materials will be supplied by Jill Moger, at a cost of £10 per participant, payable directly to her on the day.

Please note: for those who wish Jill to use her kiln to fire their finished piece, an additional charge of £6 will apply, payable directly to Jill on the day.

Artist’s Profile Jill is an established ceramicist of many years’ experience. She is particularly inspired by reptiles and coral reefs. She has work in the Nature in Art collection and is one of a select group who has had a one-person show at the museum. She uses stoneware and porcelain clays to create finely detailed work which is fired in an electric kiln up to five times to enhance colours and lustered glazes.

Sep
2
Sat
Exploring Sandpaper Aquatint Printmaking @ Nature in Art
Sep 2 @ 10:00 am – Sep 3 @ 5:00 pm

Art Courseholly-brookes
with Holly Brookes 10am – 5pm
Maximum Participants: 12

During this two day course participants will be introduced to sandpaper aquatint printmaking techniques. Working with pre-prepared copper plates they will first be taught how to draw, scrape and burnish an image onto the metal using specialist tools provided by me. The latter half of the course will focus on printing techniques, including how to ink and wipe the copper, use the press and print in multi-colour. By the end of the course each participant will have at least one aquatint to take home with them. All techniques used have been carefully designed to be as safe and non-toxic as possible so should be suitable for the majority of people – small amounts of white spirit are the only toxic substance used.

Course Cost
Members: £84
Non-members: £110
Course Suitability: Beginners – Improvers
ART COURSE BOOKING FORM

Materials List Materials will be supplied by Holly. The cost per person will be approx. £20, which will be paid to on the day of the course. (Extra materials e.g. a range of cooper plates, will be available to purchase if course participants wish to use them. All basic materials will be covered by the £20 fee.)

Artist’s Profile Holly Brookes has been inspired by nature for as long as she can remember. She started drawing and painting the countryside around her as a child and never stopped. In 2014 she graduated from Aberystwyth University with a First Class degree in Fine Art, specializing in Printmaking and now works as a professional artist. She particularly enjoys exploring detail and texture in her work as well as sharing her love of traditional printmaking techniques such as etching and engraving with people. She was an category winner in the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year 2015 and was featured on BBC TV’s Countryfile in 2016.

www.hollybrookesart.com

Sep
4
Mon
WAG: Watercolours
Sep 4 @ 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm

val-briggsAn evening with artists Val Briggs and Trevor Smith

Sep
5
Tue
Encountering Beauty
Sep 5 – Oct 1 all-day

Meg Stevens died in 2012 and had had a long association with Nature in Art. She spent much of her life painting out of doors producing paintings that seem to be filled with the breath of fresh air. This retrospective is largely made up of work from the family’s collection. Some items will be for sale.

snow-clearing-in-john-thomas-boggy-wood-january-sml

Sep
8
Fri
Needlefelt Hedgehogs @ Nature in Art
Sep 8 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Art Coursesophie-buckley
with Sophie Buckley 10am – 5pm
Maximum Participants: 12

Join Making Needle Felted Animals author Sophie Buckley, who will guide you through creating a needle felt hedgehog using a special barbed needle and soft natural wool. Learn about needle felt tools and materials, techniques including shaping, adding legs, using a special spiky fabric, facial details, symmetry and how to make the hedgehog look realistic, as well as display ideas.

You will receive needle felt tools to take away, as well as lots of inspiration for your next projects!

Needle felt kits, supplies and signed copies of the book will be available on the day.

Course Cost
Members: £42
Non-members: £55
Course Suitability: Absolute Beginners onwards
ART COURSE BOOKING FORM

Materials List Materials will be provided for a fee of £6.

Artist’s Profile During her degree in Contemporary Crafts at Falmouth University, Sophie Buckley found that as well as enjoying the process of creating, she also enjoyed sharing creative skills with others. After completing a course in workshop facilitation she moved to the Gloucestershire area where she met local creative Steffi Stern, and they have worked together ever since, writing the book Making Needle Felted Animals together which came out in 2015, and have created a business based around the book called The Makerss, through which they are able to share with others their enthusiasm for making, love of natural materials, and creative skills.

www.themakerss.co.uk

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Sep
9
Sat
Painting a Flower Meadow @ Nature in Art
Sep 9 @ 10:00 am – Sep 11 @ 5:00 pm

Art Courseros-wise
with Rosalind Wise 10am – 5pm
Maximum Participants: 12

Wildflower meadows look complicated and difficult to paint. My aim in this course is to show an easy way to construct a meadow, making it look natural, through layering the different grasses and flowers. The painting should achieve spacial depth, energy and variety of species.

Course Cost
Members: £126
Non-members: £165
Course Suitability: Absolute Beginners – Advanced
ART COURSE BOOKING FORM

Materials List Pencils, paper, watercolours or gouache paint.

Any size canvas and board – Acrylic or Oil paint.

A few personal photographs of meadows (ones that one has taken or seen) and views that excite and show a variety of species.

Artist’s Profile ‘I have been painting the natural world for decades. My aim through my work is to combine truth to the real plants and places, combined with the variety and energy that is found there. I have moved from painting single flowers to garden borders and meadows. I am now painting paths which are leading me out of the meadows into the landscape’. A very experienced tutor Rosalind’s work is familiar to visitors to Nature in Art, not least her giant ‘flower cycle’, often on display on the stairs.

www.rosalindwise.co.uk

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Sep
16
Sat
Awesome Acrylics @ Nature in Art
Sep 16 @ 10:00 am – Sep 17 @ 5:00 pm

Art Coursejackie-garner-acrylics
with Jackie Garner 10am – 5pm
Maximum Participants: 12

Vibrant or subtle colours, thin like watercolours or thick like oils, quick drying and lightfast; acrylics are endlessly versatile. Suitable for all abilities, this course will give participants the opportunity to try different methods of applying the paint, creating a variety of effects. We will explore texture, detail, blending, glazing, scumbling and impasto, leading to participants making informed choices in future work.

Course Cost
Members: £84
Non-members: £110
Course Suitability: Beginners – Improvers
ART COURSE BOOKING FORM

Materials List Acrylic Paints I prefer Liquitex, Sennelier or Golden but almost any make will do. Avoid any make that gives huge tubes for very little money, as the quality will be poor.

Brushes Nylon brushes are best: I prefer to use filberts or the flat, square shapes, plus a fine detail brush.

Supports: e.g. your choice of hardboard or MDF or canvas/ canvasboard or stretched watercolour paper. MDF or hardboard will need a coat of primer (or matt household emulsion) first.

Water pot

Palette knife or painting knife

Small spray bottle: The sort sold in chemists for travellers.

Sponge: the car wash type, not the natural sort.

Kitchen roll

Newspaper: for protecting your worktop and for cleaning up.

White ceramic tile or palette

Table easel (optional)

If you have any questions feel free to contact Jackie. Contact details are on her website.

Artist’s Profile Jackie Garner trained at Medway College of Design before becoming Nature in Art’s first education officer. She is now a professional artist who specialises in portraying wildlife, taking inspiration from encountering wildlife in its natural habitat.

Jackie teaches and lectures regularly, and is a contributor to Artists & Illustrators magazine. She has exhibited with many art societies, including the National Exhibition Wildlife Art, the Society of Wildlife Artists, BirdScapes Gallery, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and has held solo exhibitions in London and Gloucestershire. Jackie is the author and illustrator of The Wildlife Artist’s Handbook.

www.jackiegarner.co.uk

Blog: http://garnerwildlifeart.wordpress.com

Sep
20
Wed
WAG: Habitat Paintings
Sep 20 @ 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm

homeslider26A chance too view the Meg Stevens exhibition (and other items) and spend a short time creating such work.

Sep
27
Wed
An Illustrated Talk by Mary Greenstead. Nature, Gardens and The Arts & Crafts Movements @ Nature in Art
Sep 27 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

William Morris The Strawberry Thief

The Strawberry Thief by William Morris

Mary worked at Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, is a writer on the Arts and Crafts Movement and Chairman of the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen. Come and hear her talk about the importance of nature and the countryside to the Movement in the Cotswolds focusing on the likes of William Morris, Ernest Gimson and C R Ashbee. A facinating evening!

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