What’s On

A fascinating display of both old and contemporary lace from The Lace Guild Museum. Nature in all it’s forms was widely used in lace designs from the early 1600’s. Some lace types enable very naturalistic representations, but a variety of interpretations of flowers, leaves, birds and insects all appear.

The Fosseway Artists promote practising artists working in the Cotswolds. This display (their 99th exhibition) includes pastels, oils, watercolours, acrylics, pen and wash, pencil, printmaking and more. Meet members each day. On display in our Wallsworth Centre.

You will create beautiful, natural soap using the finest essential oils, vegetable oils and herbal ingredients. Gain the knowledge and understanding of this amazing alchemic process, techniques and troubleshooting. Learn how to build recipes, select ingredients and blend aromas. Use marbling and colouring techniques to further complement the natural beauty of your soaps. Take home your creations, great as gifts. Suitable for absolute beginners and aromatherapists looking for a new outlet for their knowledge. Bring your creativity and ideas, all ingredients are provided but please feel free to request any that you’d like to work with.

Zoologist, illustrator and camouflage expert Hugh B Cott (1900-1987), looked at nature with a naturalist’s curiosity, an artist’s eye and a military mindset. This is a unique exhibition of Cott’s work, highlighting a life of exploration and observation, recorded in drawings, writings and photographs.

Using just needle, thread and beads create a pretty case to house your favourite little sewing scissors inspired by the vibrant colours and form of a butterfly. A colour chart will be supplied for you to use a bead weaving stitch known as peyote to weave pretty little beads into a pattern redolent of a butterfly as it swoops from flower to flower! This workshop is suitable for beginners and improvers who have some sewing skills.

This one-day workshop which will introduce you to Sumi-e, the ancient art of creating Japanese ink pictures, or Japanese brush painting. Traditionally, these paintings feature subjects from the natural world such as flowers and birds. The Japanese experience painting as a form of meditation that brings peace and harmony to the artist and the finished pieces are intended to inspire the same sense of tranquility and joy in the viewer. This practical course will help you master all the techniques you’ll need to create striking paintings and discover the spiritual aspects of this unique art form.

This course is a wonderful introduction to the world of coloured pencil techniques. Learn the art of layering and blending Derwent Coloursoft Pencils whilst using different pencil strokes to create the textures required for the subject. All materials will be supplied including a line drawing to trace for those not wishing to draw free hand.

Example of Karen’s work…

An illustrated talk by Katrina van Grouw

When Charles Darwin contemplated how best to introduce his controversial new theory of evolution to the general public, he chose to compare it with the selective breeding of domesticated animals. In her new book, Unnatural Selection, marking the 150th anniversary year of Darwin’s great work on domesticated animals Variation under Domestication, author and illustrator Katrina van Grouw explains why this analogy was more appropriate than even Darwin had realised. Artificial selection is, in fact, more than just an analogy for natural selection – it’s the perfect example of evolution in action. A fascinating evening for all.
Katrina has work in the Nature in Art collection and has had a solo exhibition of her work at Wallsworth Hall. She inhabits that no-man’s land slap bang between art and science. She holds degrees in fine art and natural history illustration, and is a former curator of ornithological collections at a major national museum. She’s a self-taught scientist with a passion for evolutionary biology and its history. After a long and varied career on both sides of the art/science divide she now devotes her time exclusively to her books. See her as artist in residence September 25th – 30th.