Catching up with myself

 











                                                                                             



So university has broken up for four weeks - do I get a nice relaxing holiday? No of course not, in fact I sometimes wonder if university is the thing I do to escape! For the last 3 months I have been saying to myself 'When I get a break I will........' and now the time has come to catch up with all the other things I have put on hold.
As you can see the biggest project to organise at the moment is the building of my new studio which is speeding along while we have a break in the weather. There is also a push to get the majority of the outside completed before Christmas. It is then that the hard work starts as we are completing the internal structure ourselves, so plumbing, plaster boarding and electrics are all on the horizon.
All of this is in preparation for my graduation and for me to be able to consolidate the majority of my projects into one location. 'Downend Studio' will be a centre for art and craft tuition, art materials, picture framing and a fully functioning workshop in the heart of North Dorset.
Alongside this and my work as Gallery Shop Manager at Walford Mill Crafts, the past few days has seen me writing all my classes and workshops for the 2013 spring term. I love writing classes and deciding what projects myself and my students will tackle in the coming months and the new year is going to see me re-visit some old favourites with new twists and techniques. The two monthly Thursday night groups will be looking at a very specific subject matter and introducing a new media to each. The Drawing Group will be considering 'Trees', particularly textures in both watercolour pencil and water soluble ink and The Painting Group will experiment with 'Flowers' in Acrylic paint.
The Saturday Workshops will continue once a month and are already booking fast. In January we will combine charcoal and ink to represent Rocks and Sea in an atmospheric and expressive way and in February, alongside the programme in the painting group, we will use Acrylics to record Vintage Vehicles. The term will conclude with a very popular subject - Farmyard Animals - but we will mix our media in order to exploit the best of watercolour and collage techniques.
If you would like any more information regarding my classes or view my work, please visit my website: alisoncboard-fineart.co.uk or email me: alisoncboard@gmail.com and I will be happy to help. In the meantime have a wonderful Christmas and see you all in the New Year.