Two Day Course
Saturday 22nd and Sunday 24th August
The overlooked details found on a daily walk or favourite place combined with the use of found materials can be rich resources for inspiration. Find beauty and meaning in things retrieved from the everyday connection to the built and natural elements of landscape
Take the fear out of creating a sketchbook or journal. Explore creative ways of developing ideas through mixed media including dyeing and staining pages, drawing with found objects, stitching and layering to open up the thought processes to the creation of your own work.
What you will achieve:
A sketchbook started for developing your own ideas in mixed media, stitch and paint. The colours used and images and collages developed encourage an open approach to investigation as a means to achieve greater confidence in composition, colour, design and mark making in an imaginative and playful way exemplified by Cas Holmes’ own practice.
Includes homemade lunch and refreshments both days
About the Artist
Cas Holmes trained in fine arts and works between the disciplines of painting, drawing and textiles. She refers to the wild spaces, the wasteland, roadside verges, waterways and the places where our gardens meet the greater landscape.These are the ‘common places’ which are not town or countryside, but rather ‘edgelands’, and have a strange beauty all of their own.
She produces artworks for public and private spaces and is represented in major collections including Arts Council England, Museum of Art and Design New York and the Embroiderer’s Guild. Working on collaborations with the community is an important part her practice and this is reflected in her publications which include Textile Landscape (2018) ‘Stitch Stories’ (2015) and the seminal ‘The Found Object in Textile Art’ (printed for the four times since publication in 2010.
For further information on current exhibitions and projects see:
Student preparation:
Select images, photocopies and details of old work, textures of interest to work with. This could be on any theme, nature, the world around us, family something which makes you tick.
Plan for the course:
Walking, looking and collecting. Making first marks
Painting sketchbook pages/lining paper as backgrounds
Cutting and preparing collage paper, mark making.
Making a narrative, drawing a line and adding collage to your pages.
Discussion;further developments. Why keep a sketchbook? Its value and use as a personal record.
What you will need a bring
Materials
*An A5 or small spiral bound sketchbook landscape (when open should be no larger than a sheet of photocopy/inkjet paper. (Please have about minimum-140 gsm paper weight, lighter paper not good enough quality.)
Small quantity of p.v.a. glue or pritt stick. Craft knife, cutting board, scissors
*You can use watercolour paper, pelmet Vilene/card/canvas or other found materials for a cover and watercolour pages or lining paper (heavy duty wallpaper) to make an improvised sketchbook if preferred)
Dry and wet colouring materials (wax crayons/pencils/pens/watercolour/acrylic paints, Koh I Noor inks…whatever you have)
Additional materials for collage: Papers: tissue include white tissue, patterned wrapping paper, magazines, oriental specialist papers, hand made-paper etc. extra white paper, photocopy paper fine.
A small amount of lightweight coloured fabric scraps selection of photocopied or printed images (some will be cut up).
Needle and some threads.
Markmaking: A range of improvised found objects will be found on location to create marks and make prints with ( natural and man-made, etc)
Also useful:camera (optional) Aprons and plastic gloves