What’s On

Mar
30
Wed
Taking a Closer Look – An Illustrated Talk by Simon Trapnell @ Online
Mar 30 @ 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Join Director, Simon Trapnell as he introduces some of the new additions to the collection and fascinating loans that Nature in Art has acquired during the Pandemic. An inspiring selection embracing new and old, traditional and cutting edge, international and local and all, in their own way, telling us something, not just about the arts and the creators skill, but nature in all its diversity.

This talk will take place online via Zoom.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK

Apr
2
Sat
Loose Floral Abstract Paintings Transferred onto Fabrics with Christina Sadler (FULLY BOOKED) @ Nature in Art (Education Centre)
Apr 2 all-day

THIS COURSE IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

Course Suitability: All Abilities

Maximum Participants: 10

*Every effort will be made to maintain social distancing during the course and the wearing of masks will be encouraged.*

Course Description:

A relaxing and fun filled day creating loose abstract floral paintings with sublimation inks and then heat pressing them onto fabrics.

Working from life you will spend the morning creating interesting fluid floral paintings. The paint acts like ink and watercolour and so will blend and disperse in a very magical way. You will be taught how to create quick, loose and free abstract florals which can also be applied to other subjects.

In the afternoon you will experiment with transferring these images onto fabric, using a heat press and irons. You will be able to take your fabrics home to frame, to work on further with embellishment or simply use the day as a chance to unwind and learn something new.

This is an ideal class for the complete beginner (in both painting and sublimation inks), it’s also ideal for painters who want a chance to free up their painting and try abstraction.

What is taught in this class can easily be carried on at home without the need for high tech equipment.

Materials Required:

Christina will provide the required materials for an additional charge of £15 per participant to be paid to Christina on the day of the course. This will include a little selection of inks to carry on using at home.

If possible please bring two jam jars for water

Artist’s Profile:

Christina is an abstract artist based in Gloucester. Inspired by the natural world she works with inks and paints to create layers of translucent colours resulting in soothing and relaxing art.

Christina has had lots of experience in the arts and running workshops and at one stage was even the Education Officer here at Nature in Art.

She has exhibited work on the London underground, Saatchi Art and is represented by Wychwold Art Gallery. She had a pop up shop in John Lewis and produced artwork for Gloucestershire Hospital to improve their mental health in Crisis room.

www.makerwhodoesntmake.com

Instagram and Facebook: @makerwhodoesntmake

Art Course Cost: £45 NiA Members, £55 Non-members

(cost does not include lunch (available to order and purchase on the day from the Coffee Shop))

THIS COURSE IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

 CLICK HERE to book other courses & events.

Apr
5
Tue
Adventures in Porcelain: David Burnham Smith Retrospective @ Nature in Art
Apr 5 – May 8 all-day

 

A retrospective exhibition of work by David Burnham Smith who died in 2019. His instantly recognisable ceramics display humour, beauty and creativity. Trained as a draughtsman, David turned to ceramic restoration and then, later, applied that attention to detail to his own work inspired by history, nature, spirituality and the rich heritage of the ceramic world.

CLICK HERE for further information about David Burnham Smith.

Glorious Cotswold Grasslands @ Nature in Art (Education Centre)
Apr 5 – Apr 24 all-day

In the summer of 2021, the Cotswold National Landscape launched the Glorious Cotswold Grasslands (GCG) Art Competition, calling for artworks from young artists. This exhibition displays the inspiring artworks submitted.
The GCG is an ambitious long term project aiming to restore the largest network of flower-rich Jurassic limestone habitat in the UK! Over the last three years the project has collected and sown wildflower seeds across the Cotswolds, resulting in the restoration of more than 200 hectares of limestone grassland – double its original target. Every hectare restored helps to reverse the decline of this unique and precious habitat, and helps wildlife thrive.
The display features the creative responses of young artists, aged 11-19, to the GCG project. The artworks are inspiring depictions of meadow scenes, wildflowers and climate-aware messaging, in a range of styles and media.
Alongside the display of artworks by the young artists there will be further events and activities to take part in. The winners of the competition will also be participating in an exciting and exclusive workshop for them, with model maker and character designer Jim Parkyn creating an amazing wildflower scene!
When visiting, why not also check on progress of the wildflowers sown in our own nature garden with the help of Harvey Sherwood, GCG Project Officer.

Come and meet people associated with the project and plant some wildflower seeds in our garden on Saturday April 9th.

Apr
23
Sat
Paint Your Own Silk Scarf with Jackie Cox @ Nature in Art (Education Centre)
Apr 23 all-day

Course Suitability: Absolute beginners – Advanced

Maximum Participants: 12

*Every effort will be made to maintain social distancing during the course and the wearing of masks will be encouraged.*

Course Description:

The art of painting on silk goes back many centuries and watching the silk paint spreading within an area can be very therapeutic! Silk is a luxurious fabric and pure silk scarves have a unique feel and drape. On this course you will learn how to paint one of your own using gutta as an outline and then using a number of different techniques with the silk paint to achieve the result you want. After this you’ll learn how to fix the colour so that your artwork is washable.
No previous experience required!
Materials Required:

All tools and materials will be provided at a cost of £10 per head.

Please bring a hairdryer is possible and any ideas you have for a design.

Artist’s Profile:

In 1981 Jackie had her first exhibition in Tewkesbury and since then has exhibited her work around the UK and abroad.

She moved to the Forest of Dean in 2001 where she had the opportunity to take over a local art class.

“I have always been interested in trying out different mediums and surfaces and this has stood me in good stead now that I am an art teacher”.

Jackie regularly exhibits with the Society of Feline Artists, the UK Coloured Pencil Society (of which she is a member and has won several awards) the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art (another award!) and has exhibited with the Society of Equine Artists and the Society of Wildlife Artists.

“These successes have spurred me on to further experiment in new mediums, concentrating even more on light, shadows and nuances of colour”.

https://www.sindencox-art.co.uk/jackie.html

Art Course Cost: £45 NiA Members, £55 Non-members

(cost does not include lunch (available to order and purchase on the day from the Coffee Shop))

Places will be offered on a first come first basis.

To secure your place on this course a £20 non-refundable deposit is required. If you would like to book a place please CLICK HERE

Alternatively, you can call 07467 138355 (Tues – Thurs) or 01452 731422 and we will be happy to assist you with your booking.

Apr
26
Tue
Regeneration: The Queen’s Green Canopy @ Nature in Art
Apr 26 – May 22 all-day

In celebration of The Queen’s Green Canopy project, Regeneration is a new exhibition to help promote tree planting: a vital strand of the environmental crisis recovery strategy. Trees are the lungs of the planet and this exhibition showcases a diverse range of approach, style media, and scale – and interpretation of this uplifting and positive subject.

Trees provide a wonderfully versatile subject for artists, not only in terms of the rich variety of form, texture and colour they provide, whether individually or collectively, but also through the wealth of association – myth, folklore, religious and symbolic significance, that they have come to embody over many centuries. In Britain, trees as a subject have inspired artists from Gainsborough and Constable through to the Pre-Raphaelites, the Neo-Romantics and the Ruralists. Piet Mondrian and Victor Pasmore used the tree as a device to turn abstract and Paul Nash famously stated that he loved and worshipped trees and believed they were people.

The Arborealists were founded in 2013 by artist and curator Tim Craven following the seminal exhibition Under the Greenwood: Picturing the British Tree, staged at St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery, Lymington, in the heart of the New Forest. The Arborealists are a loose association of some 50 professional artists of diverse art practice who share the subject of the tree. Although united by their subject, the artists employ a diverse range of working practices: scale, medium, philosophy, style and technique. The results are by turn dramatic and contemplative, expressive, abstracted, hyperreal and surreal and they demonstrate that trees still have a deep relevance in contemporary art and retain their power to move us as a vital element in our landscape

The group is far flung with members from Wales and the borders to East Anglia and London and every southern county from Kent to Cornwall. The group enjoys a national profile and have already staged 26 exhibitions to critical acclaim in the UK, France and Gibraltar with many more planned for the future, including site-specific projects. The Arborealists have forged successful partnerships with National Park Authorities, Areas of Outstanding National Beauty and The Woodland Trust and The National Trust.

Image: ‘Amongst the Trees, Bluebell Wood, Perivale’ by David Wiseman, acrylic on canvas.

Apr
30
Sat
Mini Craft Market @ Nature in Art Education Centre
Apr 30 @ 10:00 am – May 1 @ 5:00 pm

Mini Craft Market in the Education Centre Atrium
Saturday 30th April & Sunday 1st May
10am – 5pm
Free entry to the market

Stallsholders:

  • Jackie Cox (silk painting, stained glass pics, jewellery)
  • Maz (nature artist)
  • Hazel Locke (crochet items and quilling)
  • Sue and Tony Chandler (wood work, pebble pictures)
  • Irene Crawshaw (hand made bags, textiles)

Image: ‘Pink Orchids’ Silk Scarf by Jackie Cox

May
6
Fri
The Tree in British Art History from Thomas Gainsborough to The Arborealists – An Illustrated Talk by Tim Craven @ Nature in Art
May 6 @ 6:45 pm

This illustrated talk will consider the origins of the British School of Art and how the tree became an important early motif and subject, much loved by Thomas Gainsborough. It will explore the tree’s deployment by the Romantic Movement of Turner and Constable of the early 19th century, the Pre-Raphaelite landscape painters and the pastoral etchers of the 1920s, the Neo-Romantics of World War 2 influenced by Picasso and the Modern Movement, and the Brotherhood of Ruralists of the 1970s who returned to romanticism in reaction against the excesses of Modernism.  All employed the tree in different guises and for different ends including portraiture. It will close with the rollercoaster story of The Arborealists, founded in 2014, a loose association of some 50 artists of diverse art practice who share the rich and versatile subject of the tree.

Doors open 6.45pm to view Regeneration exhibition and meet some of the artists. 7.30pm finger buffet, followed by talk. Tickets £8

This talk will take place in person at Nature in Art, Wallsworth Hall.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK

 

Image: © Lesley Sight

May
7
Sat
Lino Landscapes featuring Water with Beth Jenkins (FULLY BOOKED) @ Nature in Art
May 7 – May 8 all-day

THIS COURSE IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

Course Suitability: Absolute beginners – Advanced

Maximum Participants: 12

*Every effort will be made to maintain social distancing during the course and the wearing of masks will be encouraged.*

Course Description:

Explore a variety of different ways of depicting water in your landscape lino prints.  Over the course of two days, you will learn about how to manipulate ink to give different textures and effects, how to add colour to black and white prints and how to make prints with two or three blocks.  You will also learn about successful registration techniques, design, colour mixing and more.
At the end of the weekend, you will have made a number of finished prints and should have enough information to carry on printing at home.
This course is suitable for all levels, from absolute beginners to those who really want to expand their existing printmaking knowledge.


Materials Required:

All tools and materials will be provided at a cost of £10 per head.

Students will need to bring pencil and paper, some ideas to use as a starting point (we will be working on A5 and A6 blocks), gloves to avoid inky hands and an apron or old clothes.

Artist’s Profile:

Beth Jenkins is an experienced artist and tutor. Her love of the natural world is shown in her landscape prints, often of trees and water. Following her residency at Slimbridge, birds are now becoming a regular feature of her work.

Beth is a member of Gloucestershire Printmaking Co-operative. Her work was selected for the inaugural Masters of Relief Print Exhibition by the Royal Society of the Painter Printmakers. She exhibits widely in the UK and beyond and has work in private collections in the UK, Europe and North America.

www.bethjenkins.co.uk

Art Course Cost: £90 NiA Members, £110 Non-members

(cost does not include lunch (available to order and purchase on the day from the Coffee Shop))

THIS COURSE IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

 CLICK HERE to book other courses & events.

May
14
Sat
Painting an Eagle Owl Portrait with Kim Thompson (FULLY BOOKED) @ Nature in Art (Education Centre)
May 14 – May 15 all-day

THIS COURSE IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

Course Suitability: Beginners – Intermediate

Maximum Participants: 12

*Every effort will be made to maintain social distancing during the course and the wearing of masks will be encouraged.*

Course Description:

This two day workshop will guide you through the painting of a popular wildlife subject, the Eagle Owl, with a portrait study in acrylics.

Tackling this subject will introduce participants to the tutor’s techniques for painting eyes and feathers as well as applying glazes and layers and the fine details that are a feature of her wildlife art and illustration. Participants will leave with a better grasp of this versatile medium and how to progress a painting from drawing to final brush strokes.

The course will appeal to those looking to achieve an understanding of working in acrylics or who have already tried acrylics and want to learn more. Kim is a considerate and encouraging tutor and will bring a relaxed approach to the two days.

Materials Required:

Kim will supply all the paint and painting surfaces at a cost of £15 per person payable directly to Kim during the course.

 Please bring:

– Large palette
– Water pot
– Any brushes you like to use although I will be supplying some brushes.
– Please feel free to bring any acrylic paintings you might like to show to the group or discuss with Kim.

Artist’s Profile:

Kim Thompson enjoys painting the intricate textures and patterns found in nature and her vibrant artwork is characterised by these details.

Working as an illustrator, much of Kim’s work has been for magazines and books but she also exhibits at the Mall galleries and various UK art events. She has led painting safaris and wildlife conservation projects with children in Botswana where she finds much inspiration for paintings.

Kim’s work has been sold to collectors from around the world, including HRH Princess Michael of Kent and she has been commissioned by clients such as Royal Doulton and Blenheim Palace.

www.kimthompsonartist.com

Art Course Cost: £90 NiA Members, £110 Non-members

(cost does not include lunch (available to order and purchase on the day from the Coffee Shop))

THIS COURSE IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

 CLICK HERE to book other courses & events.