The aim of this course is to enjoy the materials and allow the painting to evolve as you work. You will be experimenting with the careful layering of paint, repetitive brush strokes and mark-making with varying rhythms to create densely constructed forms which shift and change through the process.
This course is about applying the wabi sabi philosophy directly to your work. Wabi sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that celebrates the beauty of the handmade, imperfection, nature, incompleteness, ever-changing qualities of the materials and not having the outcome as a priority.
You will be discovering and exploring materials through deconstructing, manipulation and playing with fabric, pigments, paints and drawing materials, allowing the work to make itself. This is very much an eastern philosophy, connecting the inner to the outside world and its ever-changing qualities.
We will be looking at artists mainly from the east, namely Korea and Japan, including western artists too.
The course is structured in the sense that there are set techniques that you will be learning. You will use different paints, inks and pigments in varying forms. This will be the starting point for making your work, alongside one-to-one tuition from the tutor.
The natural forms from the West Dean Gardens will be used as inspiration, as well as the work of other artists.
Working in a group helps generate the sharing of creativity and processes. Using the wabi sabi philosophy as a particular way of working can take the stress, completion and hard work out of the making of art.
This course is part of our Japanese influences week led by talented artist-tutors:
Yoichi Fujimori (Japanese paper making)
Mieko Fujimori (Indigo dye on paper)
Wayne Meeten (Japanese hammer chased and inlayed moon dish)
Rie Tsuruta (Exploring Japanese pottery)
Lucy May Schofield (Japanese woodblock printed landscape bound in a scroll)
Rie Takeda (Calligraphy)
Helen Turner (The art of imperfection in painting wabi sabi)
Each course explores a different aspect of the influences and techniques of Japanese art and craft and how they may be applied to contemporary practices.
Each tutor will be invited to give a short talk (10 minutes) about an aspect of their work relating to the theme of the week on Tuesday evening at 5.15pm. Participants will also be encouraged to visit other courses to see work produced across the varied approaches offered in the week.
Included
2 X MDF boards (40cm x 30cm), some heavyweight (300gsm) cartridge paper and some lightweight (130gsm) cartridge paper, newsprint paper, glue and masking tape per student, plus some Zest-it, linseed oil, household gloss varnish, plaster, filler, primer, gesso, lining paper, a large roll of Fabriano 220gsm and rabbit skin glue to share amongst the group
What students need to bring
- Sketchbook
- Brushes: big and small
- Drawing materials – charcoal, pencils rubber
- Paints: tubes of oil colour, acrylics
- Ink
- Pigments and glitter (suppliers Brodie and Middleton, AP Fitzpatrick) e.g. Prussian Blue, black, earth colours are cheaper, UV colours
- Canvas: 1 – 2 metres and linen, 1 – 2 metres
- Old pillowcases
- Fabric of any kind
- Cellophane
- Old bits of anything you have
- Clothes
- Rags and yoghurt pots for mixing (the more you bring, the more you can experiment with)
Available to buy
Available from shop:
- Oil paint, acrylic paint, paper, inks, canvas and linen, sketchbooks, charcoal, pastels
Available from tutor:
- Pigments and any extra plaster
Additional information
Choosing your own materials before you come is personal and will resonate in your work rather than relying on buying everything from the College shop.
Please wear appropriate clothing/aprons for the workshop or studio, this includes stout covered footwear (no sandals or open toes).
Arrival day
Residential students can arrive from 4pm, non-residential students to arrive by 6.45pm for registration
6.45pm: Welcome, followed by dinner (included)
8 - 9pm: First teaching session, attendance is essential
Daily timetable
Course teaching 9.15am - 5pm (lunch included)
Dinner: from 6.30pm (included for residential students)
Evening working: students may have access to workshops until 9pm, but only with permission from the tutor and provided any health and safety guidelines are observed
Departure day
Course teaching: 9.15am - 3pm (lunch included)
Residential students will need to check out of rooms by 10am
Please note, the tutor may make slight variations to the daily timetable as required
