Cubitt Gallery Drawing Collective 1

Applied for and have joined the Drawing Collective of the Cubitt Gallery.

http://cubittartists.org.uk/

Cubitt is a pretty good artist run space and studios quite near to home.
We have had a meeting, planning and devising workshops, and are doing a day tomorrow, Saturday 20th October, linked to The Big Draw.

http://www.campaignfordrawing.org/home/index.aspx

I'm really pleased that I am able to do theLongLine again, last year's project included in theViewergallery launch.

http://theviewergallery.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/theLongLine

I still have some stuff ready, and may adapt it a little differently. I am also bringing along a little netbook to play theLongLine animation there, so that people can see what their drawing will be added to.

Simultaneously, I and another artist have devised a different activity, which is making a large pattern drawing with coloured tapes on long paper in a corridor - The Sticky Line.

It will be an enjoyable and busy session I think, and I will post images and reflection after.

19th October 2012

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The workshops in October were as anticipated - busy and productive.
I'm always amazed at how well theLongLine works, and how quickly little children get the idea.
In fact, it's often the adults, and especially people with an involvement in art, how produce something a bit different, breaking the simple rules! Sometimes adults don't follow the marked out horizon lines, and I've had a landscape orientated piece, even when everything else is clearly portrait.

I have put together more of a folder of all the workshops I have done over the years - I don't have much documentation of some, but suddenly it all adds up to almost a practice in it. I did some school projects in my childrens' schools and a few other things.

I have never wanted to fully pursue this area of art activity, but it is an enjoyable and fulfilling creative occupation which has many transferable skills into others. There is always the joy of seeing what people come up with, and having laughs with children. There are usually some extremely talented youngsters, but I really do love the challenge of drawing out and engaging the ones who start off as refusniks - little boys usually who stamp their feet and stubbornly refuse to enjoy themselves. There is always some way to gently trick them into joining in, and once they do, they're fully there. Beautiful, really.

Most times there is a parent who thrives on overcontrol, even correcting their child's contribution. Wrong in so many ways, but even they must be accommodated.

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