Exhibitions, hard work and Alice in Sunderland

Art Studio Sunderland

News update: 

We have an exhibition of pinhole photography in Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens Open Gallery Space from November 7th 2015 until January 24th 2016. For more information click on our page headed 'Pinhole Photography'.

Exhibition poster (Click to enlarge)

We will be showing work with Alice150 in their exhibition in Sunderland University Design centre from November 16th 2015 until November 23rd 2015. With one of our members due to collect a prize in the competition. 

Tanya Howat, Harlequin Elephant Teapot, Alice150 Competition

Alice150 Competition Photography group entry

A raging success!

Invite image for the Private View
by Jo Howell

Our Oriental Museum exhibition opened last night to a great response. There were over 130 people in attendance which is one of the best turn-outs that the Museum has seen for one of their private views.

Over the course of the last year, the members in The Art Studio have created an abundance of artworks inspired by Oriental culture- in particular India and the Himalayas. The work has been wonderfully varied incorporating ceramics, painting, printed works and video.

The members from the studio who worked tirelessly all week should be very proud of the final look of the show. Several members travelled to back and forth to the Museum to oversee the set-up. This included mounting the large silhouettes, labelling, hanging the work and organising the cabinet displays.

The exhibition will run at The Oriental Museum in Durham until 18th April, so if you couldn't go to the private view you still have plenty of time to go across yourself.

You can access our write-up in the Durham Times here.

What's been going on?

Photography

In the last few weeks we have been taking our chances when they occur and have headed out into the local vicinity to get some interesting photographs. Here are some of the examples from the members:

"Web" by William Heathway 2014

"Boat" by Conor Hanley 2014

The guys have been working on their composition within the frame. We have been looking at the rule of thirds and then trying to use it to create an aesthetically pleasing image. These photography walks have so far been around the area that the Art Studio is in Hendon and down towards the river.

"The Heaven" by Steven Gallagher 2014

Ceramics

In ceramics the guys have been working tirelessly to create their final piece for exhibition at The Oriental Museum in January 2015. They have also been learning how to coil build with our new member of staff, Lois.

Ceramic Hands by Jo Howell

Printmaking

In the printmaking workshops we have been creating some really lovely responses to Indian art, also for The Oriental Museum exhibition.
Our printmaker Karen has been unwell lately, so a lot of hard work has been put in by the members to ensure that the work is top quality.

Hand print by one of the members
Photo by Jo Howell

Working hard....

Oriental Museum inspiration
By Jo Howell Photography

THE ORIENTAL MUSEUM PROJECT

We have started the Oriental Museum collaborative project in earnest now. Cath, our Artist Coordinator and Ceramicist, has begun creating the moulds of each of the members hands to eventually bring together to create our final piece.

There is a lot of work involved in the creation of the ceramic hands.

Creating a hand mould
By Jo Howell Photography

 First we have to make a frame that we can use to pour the moulds of everyone's hands in. We made a 2 part mould for each hand out of plaster of paris.

The hands will be brought together to create a lotus flower, which was inspired by some of the objects that we got to see and handle at the museum as part of the new Indian exhibit.

The first person to the mould room was Mac. He was very patient as he waited for the plaster to finally set.

Mould making
By Jo Howell Photography

Whilst Cath is working on the creation of the hands, myself (Jo), Mick, and Barney (Studio Manager) will be doing our best to capture every second of the project so that we can make a wonderful film that we will broadcast online once the project is complete.

THE BEACH

The weather lately has been absolutely lush! (To use a great Sunderland colloquialism...) And, as the weather was so lush we thought that this was an opportune time to get the studio cameras out to take some photos.

Several members took the chance to jump in a taxi together and head down to the cat-and-dog steps at Seaburn beach. The studio provided us all a nice cup of tea or a soft drink, and the guys had great fun taking photographs.

We are going to edit the shots and share them via Facebook at a later date.

Seaburn Beach
By Jo Howell Photography

Remember for more info on projects and what the members are up to then you can check out our website or follow us on Facebook.

Kelp and seaweed
By Jo Howell Photograp

Painting Workshops in May...

Painting workshops in May 2014
Photo by Jo Howell

Painting workshops in May 2014
Photo by Jo Howell

Hi Everyone,

We have started running an evening course in painting for our members on a Thursday evening after our normal studio day.

A local artist is teaching our workshops, and its a great excuse to use The Art Studio building much more. At the moment these course are only for the members but we will be holding some workshops for the wider public in the near future, so watch this space!

Starting with basic colour mixing, today the members have been trying their hands at creating their own colours from the 3 primary colours.

(NB: For those who were not in the session the primary colours are RED, YELLOW and BLUE.)

Using a colour wheel to guide them the members used the primary colours to create the secondary colours- GREEN, ORANGE, PURPLE. Then after making the secondary colours they completed the colour wheel by creating two more secondary colours that were in-between the two.

This proved to be an interesting as well as challenging exercise for some and for others the evening served as an excellent refresher for basic colour.

Everyone came away having learned a lot about mixing colours. The course will run throughout May, and we are looking forward to learning new skills.

If you couldn't attend the evening course but don't want to miss out, you can have a go at home. Create your colour chart by drawing around a decent sized dinner plate, and then segment your circle into 12 sections. Start with YELLOW, RED and BLUE then try to build the rest of your colours in the wheel using only those 3. Good luck!

Painting workshops in May 2014
Photo by Jo Howell

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Flying the flag (kite) for The Art Studio

The Art Studio Kite Arch
Photo by Pauline Taylor

Infinite Arts Kite Project- Malaysia Tour

Pauline Taylor from Infinite Arts did a wonderful workshop with The Art Studio members about creating their own kites.

The kites created were beautiful and very varied, with the vast majority of the members taking part to create a kite. The kites were then taken on tour around Malaysia and displayed together in a floating arch alongside other schools and groups.

The members are very proud to have taken part and are excited to now be internationally displayed artists!

The Art Studio Kite Arch
Photo by Pauline Taylor

Pauline has now returned from Malaysia and we are very happy to be able to share her photographs of the work with you all here. The work looks wonderful floating so gracefully in the sky, and all of the people at the festival look like they are having an awful lot of fun!

If you would like more information on Pauline's international kite flying project or any of the workshops/projects that she is currently running or taking part in, then please click into this link for Studio Infinite website.

The Art Studio drawing workshop
Photo by Jo Howell

The Art Studio drawing workshop
Photo by Jo Howell

Ex Boxer gone a bit sketchy drawing
Photo by Jo Howell

               The Art Studio Drawing Workshop

                    Every Saturday in the month of March, The Art Studio has been running a fantastic drawing workshop for the members.

A local artist has been working with the guys to progress their skills and confidence in both mark making and drawing.

Each session has been learning something completely new. They have been running round the table, drawing with pencils, pens, charcoal and even with inks!

A member of staff even modelled for life drawing (not nude), and some really amazing drawings were created showing off the level of talent in The Art Studio. You can check out some of the other pictures that were made by clicking here.

Finally, the drawing workshops have encouraged the members to make their own drawings at home and to explore new techniques.

Everyone has been getting thoroughly into creating their own work using the new skills that that they have been learning through the various different workshops.

Oriental Museum

A couple of weeks ago we also had an outing to the Oriental Museum in Durham, where we got to handle a few of the artefacts from the museum collection. This was a rare opportunity and we were very happy to take part. We will now create our own responses to the objects that inspired us the most. Watch this space for more info!

Artefact from The Oriental Museum Durham
Photo by Jo Howell

Drawing on our experience...

The Art Studio Sunderland Drawing Workshop
Photo by Jo Howell

For the month of March we are holding workshops in drawing on each Saturday for the members. The first workshop is actually happening right now and there are some wonderful expressions both on paper and on faces!

The Art Studio Sunderland Drawing Workshop
Photo by Jo Howell

The workshops are being conducted by a local artist who lives and works in the Sunderland area.

Todays session has been tackling the subject of lines and looking. Our members have been challenged in a fun and interesting way to use new drawing materials to explore new ways of mark making. A lot of giggles have ensued with portraits of each other drawn without looking at the page you are drawing on. Some interesting egg-like head and squiffy eyes, but immensely entertaining and great for encouraging expression.

We look forward to the coming weeks and learning new skills!

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Or check out our website. 

The Art Studio Sunderland Drawing Workshop
Photo by Jo Howell