Workshops
I have experience of running a wide variety of workshops and classes for Glasgow City Council, South Lanarkshire Council, Highlife Highland and Viewfield Garden Collective, Portree, Isle of Skye, as well as those highlighted below. I can offer workshops for groups or one to one drawing tuition, whether you have art making experience or not. I like to work with groups of maximum 8 participants in person to ensure the quality and depth of input to your work. I am happy to work with larger groups via video conferencing. I can also help with portfolio development. Please get in touch for a chat about your requirements, I will be delighted to hear from you!
Drawing On Compassion
A Practice Webinar for the Association of Contemplative Mind in Higher Education (ACMHE)
August 2021
Is it possible to use the physical activity of drawing to help us consider the notion of self-care and the quality of compassion? If we want to extend compassion towards others in our lives, we must start with ourselves but this is not always the easiest of tasks. Drawing involves a synthesis between mind and body and it has the potential to be a fully sensory experience that allows us to witness and respond to the workings of our minds.
This event explored the practice of making marks and impressions upon surfaces firstly, as a way of becoming present to oneself and then of effecting the beginnings of a move from self-criticism to self-compassion.
You can find out more about this webinar here
Breathing in the Wood
A Contemplative Drawing class in Uig Shore Woods, Isle of Skye.
May 2018
Participants drawings courtesy of Caroline Dear and Alison McClaggan.
The aim of this class was to encourage the practice of drawing in its potential to bring about a deeper appreciation of environment, in this case, of Uig wood on the Isle of Skye. The class worked through a series of breathing and body awareness activities and were then invited to engage with all their sensory responses to the wood. A number of drawings were then undertaken in exploration of the breath and its overlap with these senses, with the simple tools of paper, pencil and charcoal.
With the main emphasis on the process of drawing rather than on any defined end product, this sort of approach to drawing outdoors can lead to an enriched experience of, and a deeper relationship with, one's surroundings. It is not the case that techniques, skills or results are unimportant however, indeed it's likely that contemplative drawing practice, undertaken regularly, will naturally begin to have positive impacts on one's drawing processes.
All participants reported that they greatly enjoyed the contemplative element of the class and some felt that it had brought about a shift in the way they thought about their own drawing practice as well as having an impact upon thier quality of observation.
Uig Wood holds the designation of 'Ancient Semi Natural Woodland' and is a unique habitat in a relatively treeless landscape. The wood is owned and managed by The Woodland Trust. My thanks to the Trust Site Manager Ross Watson for his support with this project.
