And just like that another block of workshops has finished with the lovely residents at John Street House and Project Ability tutor Alison; time goes quick when you’re having fun!
The first week the group used the shaving foam and ink technique for marbling. They made 11 lovely prints!
Over the next few weeks the participants had fun experimenting with clay and decorated beautiful bowls and plates.
“They did well to roll out the clay first of all, then they all took a different approach to adding embellishments. Stephen did a mixture of drawing and stamping, he got straight onto it and filled the clay with bountiful characterful drawing and pattern. Allan’s approach was more considered and he made a portrait of him and his sister in a car and enjoyed making some marks with different tools around the drawing. Neil did very well to fill his clay slab with different kinds of pattern pressed into the surface.” – Alison, tutor.
Alison fired the bowls and plates back at Project Ability and then brought them in the following week with a selection of glazes. The residents glazed their decorated pieces ready for a final firing. A few other residents joined in to do some drawings.
Towards the end of the block the group worked on some nice silk pieces.
“Allan worked over an image of Landseer’s Monarch of the Glen and once he was happy with his stag he followed the lines with pens of different colours until he had a very groovy semi-abstract drawing. His second drawing looked a bit like them, quite minimal, experimenting with different types and widths of pen. Stephen didn’t need any prompts or visual stimuli! He made a second piece with pens blending together in a lovely, painterly way. They both managed two drawings, filled with colour and pattern. I used the wee circle cutting tool to make frames for the first pieces and they were chuffed to take them away, ready to display in their rooms.” – Alison, tutor
