WORKING WITH LIGHT at Mollie Meager’s workshop

 

 

 

I invite you to a series of 3 day courses in my new workshop in the Forest of Dean

www.molliemeager.co.uk email molliemeager@earthy.f9.co.uk Tel. 01594 562396

 

 

I am a painter and a glass artist. Recently I have begun working from my strawbale workshop in Pillowell and am now ready to begin a series of courses. The paddock, in which the workshop stands, is edged by the forest on 2 sides. The 3rd side is bordered by a track to the forest  and the workshop itself looks out onto open country.

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The courses last for 3 days, beginning with an introduction accompanied by a shared meal the evening before. The first day explores design ideas and the descriptions below show how we will begin before moving onto glass. It is a chance to let go of preconceptions and make something unexpected and experimental.

 

 The courses will cost £250.

 

 I have invited artist Ken Stanway to come and give input in the design process of 2 of the courses. Catrin Davies and I are running the March course together. Penny Somerville and Davina Kirkpatrick are running individual workshops in May and June and I will also be there.

 

Fri. evg. 24th – Mon. 27th Feb

 Life and Light. Rose, our life model will work with us when she is not modelling. Ken 

 Stanway will offer an option to respond to the work of major artists such as Picasso and Matisse.

 

Fri. evg. 30th March – Mon. 2nd April.

Working with Light. Catrin Davies will join us exploring markmaking in the paddock around the workshop and on the windows of the workshop itself, playing with light and the view beyond.

 

Fri. evg. 27th – Mon. 30th April

From Language to Visual Art. Interpreting the visual using written language to then produce  work based on recorded observations. Ken will lead the first day of this course

 

Fri. evg. 25th –Mon. 28th May

Enamelling on Glass. Penny Somerville is an artist who works across the boundaries of painting and glass design. Her work is inspired by a love of colour. On this course, painting and drawing in the landscape will provide a starting point for working on glass with enamels.

 

Thurs. evg. 28th June – Sun. 1st July

Memories and Dreams: Davina Kirkpatrick. The use of narrative and found objects in glass. This course will begin with writing and lead into the creation of memorial panels using a variety of glass processes and techniques including glass painting and kiln forming.

 

 

The course begins at 7.00 in the evening, when you are invited to join us for supper. If you have any work that you would like to show, including sketch books, this is a good opportunity. The tutor will then introduce us to the theme of the course. This evening gives us an opportunity to meet each other before the course begins.

 

Lunch and light refreshments will be provided throughout the course. Please let me know any individual requirements. Sessions: On the first 2 days: 10am – 5pm with lunch and coffee breaks. On the final day, we will finish at lunch time. After clearing up, we will make an exhibition of the work we have done. We can invite people along to view it and have afternoon tea.

 

Techniques available: Sandblasting, engraving, painting, enamelling, silver staining, etching, leading, gluing, drilling, slumping and fusing.

 

Come with an open mind and see what you can do!

 

There are tools here for you to use, but you can bring your own. Basic materials and wndow glass are free. Other glass and materials can be purchased at cost price.

 

 Bring sketch books and pictures, CD’s or slides of your work if you have them.

 

Artists profiles

 

Mollie Meager: I am a painter. I trained as an interior designer and mural artist and  spent many years as a mural artist and calligraphy teacher. I became fascinated with light, through living in a forest, and in 1987 moved to glass, when I began training in Stained Glass at Queens Road in Bristol with Mark Angus. I have worked with glass ever since.

 

Davina Kirkpatrick’s background is in Theatre Design, Public Art, Socially Engaged Practice, and Collaborative Inter-disciplinary Projects. She also trained in Architectural Glass, Vitreous Enamel and Print. In 2010 she gained an MA in multidisciplinary Print. She reads a lot of fiction particularly magic realism and is fascinated by stories that bind, define and divide us.

 

Penny Somerville: “Being in landscape is usually the starting point. I respond to it by making sketches and paintings on location, wondering at the immense forces of geology, wind and rain which go to construct the environment”

Penny studied glass in North Wales and theory and practise of public art at Chelsea. Until 2004, she ran the Architectural Glass course at North Wales School of Art and Design

 

Ken Stanwa. Has a background in Jazz, Social Work, Painting and Social Action. From Birmingham College of Art and Crafts to current participatory interactive work under the title Refluxus (see .com and facebook). He follows a path charted by John Cage and Joseph Beuys and considers that "an artist is not a special kind of person but every person is a special kind of artist" - Coomaraswamy. 

 

Catrin Davies: Born and bought up in Rhandirmwyn in the Upper Tywi valley, she studied art at Camarthen and Fine Art at Sunderland. She lived in Scotland and moved back to Wales in 2001 where she has recently completed a BA at Swansea.

“ I paint and work with glass. The urgency of this side of my life has intensified with age, and the realisation that time is all we have and that it all too quickly passes”

 

 

 

 

The Forest of Dean is situated between the Severn and the Wye, the triangle of land between Gloucester, Ross on Wye and  Chepstow. It is an area of mystery and natural beauty where among the trees, there are standing stones, roaming sheep, wild boar, deer and a sculpture trail. My workshop is in a paddock with the forest as its border on 2 sides.

 

Accomodation

 

I have located self catering accommodation, B&B’s and friends who would provide accommodation, some within walking distance, and will give you further information when you book.

 

How to get here:

 

From Chepstow, take the A48 to Lydney. Go into the town and after the level crossing, turn left directed to Whitecroft and Parkend. This goes past the Norchard Steam Centre.  When you enter the next village, Whitecroft, instead of turning left over a level crossing, take the right hand turning to Pillowell and Yorkley.  Continue up this road which goes through a number of bends.  Just as you come out of the last bend Corner Road is on your right. Our house is the first house you come to on the left. For the workshop, take the track turning left just beyond the garden. Go through the  farm gate on your left just beyond a house on your right.

 

From Gloucester, take the A48 to Chepstow. When you have gone through Blakeney, go up the hill and take the right hand turn to Viney Hill and Yorkley. At Yorkley go to the top of the hill and at the Bailey, take the middle of the 3 roads with the Bailey on your left. At the next junction turn left down the hill into Pillowell. At the bottom of the hill, the road turns right and Corner Road turns left on that bend. The instructions from there are above

 

 From the Forest, take the Parkend road towards Lydney. At Whitecroft, go over the level crossing and immediately turn left up the hill signposted to Pillowell and Yorkley. Follow the instructions from Chepstow for the last bit.  

 

We are in the Forest, so don’t be surprised when you find there is a cherry tree cottage oneach side of the road. We are the one on the left. Parking is difficult so please knock on the door if you need help. Bring boots and a torch. If you get lost, you can contact me or Andrew at the house - 01594 562396. A gentle warning: mobiles don’t work well in the forest.

 

molliemeager@earthy.f9.co.uk: www.molliemeager.co.uk

 

Look forward to hearing from you.

 

 We are setting up a permacuture "mini holding" and are always in need of help on the garden and the buildings. I am interested in swopping glass training for help. Please let me know if you would be interested.