'Colours of Nature' workshops at Percolator Gallery

I'm still getting used to this new blogger post set up...I must have been pretty preoccupied of late... it crept up on me .... didn't see it coming at all!
Busy time... I even forgot an appointment this morning with a lovely person who forgave me ...thats the down side of getting too busy... mistakes like that. On the other hand I'm finding great people to connect with at the moment ...I guess this is the time of year here when a lot of things happen... winter is not tough on us here ... summer can be... so everyone really gets busy in the cooler months!

The recent workshops are a perfect example... there's been great interest ... and two sessions down have been very stimulating and a lot of fun! They're providing a great opportunity to reflect on the ideas I wish to share and place value on ... then afterwards to take in all that has occurred in the space of a day with a new group of people.  Its interesting to have the opportunity to engage in a way that allows one to offer and receive in return ideas and enthusiasm.

I have posted on my studio blog more at length about the grid works
and the value of doing these kinds of exercises to get started.

plenty of material that was collected and brought into use as subjects.

this magnifying light works really well ... even more so if your eyesight is challenged at all...
those of us getting on know all about this. I found it recently at the Australian Geographic
Store and have been delighted with how useful it is.

a lot of the work was experimental... pushing the boundaries... trying new ideas. 

loved this combination of a mono-printed ground with an ink drawing over it.
Can you see the pomegranate form? And the red juice like inky lines!

These images above were from the June 25th session ...read much more at this post.

The images below are from the July 9th workshop last weekend which you can read more on here at this post.

We started with music in this session and drawing with the non-dominant hand...  you can see those pics at the blog post here. Its a great strategy for getting people relaxed and there's ben plenty of times when it some in useful in my studio if I wanted to stop thinking and just  chill out a bit. 

I could write pages about how I've seen it work for many people actually. I used to use this process when teaching music and I wanted to get students really listening... thats a whole other story!

In the afternoon session we got onto painting... first the grounds and then the natural objects... paying particular attention to the subtleties of colour.  These are a few of those works.

This one has the most fascinating ground ... the white ink drawing just started
works into this ground beautifully and then the black seaweed skeleton
lying on the left is perfectly placed

these leaves have a really interesting ground of paint and oil pastel

something quite magical in this one... the layers... the colours and that loosely worked drawing

Workshops have a way of ending just when you're really getting started. Still... as long as participants experience some new possibilities for their work ... see how they feel about trying different things... and have the pleasure of working alongside others... then I guess its been a productive time.

I can certainly say that it worked brilliantly for me to be discussing ideas with others ... experiencing that pleasure of shared time creating... a few laughs ... stories being exchanged. And of course that wonderful surprise from seeing the magic that others make with often the simplest of tools and media!!
Fertile ground!