Getting back into the studio

Since October I've been taking a bit of a break, following the completion of my MA degree. However, after a good rest, I felt it was important not to leave it too long before getting back into my studio and getting paint under my fingernails again! To make this super easy I signed up for Karen Stamper’s concertina sketchbook online workshop called ‘Free up your sketchbook’, something I've been wanting to do for ages. And I thought you'd like to see what fun I've been having. Click HERE to find out more about the course.

Mixed media mark making

This was a great opportunity for me to pull out all the art materials I've gathered over the years, some of which I've never actually used before. Karen got us to work in a concertina sketchbook which I've never tried. I loved creating a flow from page to page as it took the pressure of any individual part of it and helped me just to play and experiment. We began with mark making with ink and whatever else we could find.

Collage

Next we added collage - pictures and lettering from magazines, pieces of collected paper and some exercises that showed us ways of making our own collage paper involving tissue and sandpaper. I fell in love with the immediacy and patterned precision that collaging provides.

Experiments

Beyond this there were a range of helpful exercises and opportunities for experimentation, from fingerpainting, to reworking one of my paintings and back full circle to monochrome juicy marks.

Here's a little video of the completed first side of my sketchbook from the course.

I would highly recommend this course (see link at the top), it was just what I needed at the time and has provided some interesting ideas that I look forward to developing and pursuing in the New Year within my own practice.