Art in the garden

There is wonder in every corner of the garden

This weekend we held a Summer workshop at our home studio. The theme was flower still life – against a background of trees and the newly unveiled view at the end of the garden. It was a day of play and experimenting, using a range of different art materials and finally building up to a collage piece on canvas board. We looked at different techniques and ideas,.

The scene was set Boards, acrylic paints, inks, papers, boxes of tools and brushes lined up and ready to go.

Priming colours were prepared for the board’s background. Acrylic paints in soft colours for a strong paint ground.

Each table held a still life mix of flower and print fabrics, shells, violets in teacups and painted bowls and jugs of fresh flowers.

Let the fun begin

After priming the boards for later, the Artists drew quick sketches through card viewfinders from various sections of still life and landscape. Artwork could be as abstract or composed as they chose. At this stage they experimented using ghesso on scrap boards to let these dry and play with inks or paint on top later.

Next came the fun bit. The studio cupboards salvaged for tissue paper, inks, scratchy tools, scrapers, printing things, glue, brushes, sponges, bubble wrap….

On several sheets of paper, samples of textured paint effects bloomed, tissue paper layers evolved, ink and oil pastel resist techniques appeared and tables were full of a rainbow of gorgeous stamped patterns, scratched marks, brush marks, splashes, and tissue layers.

The corners of the lawn were quietly, happily busy and productive

With a brief lunch break

Working on final compositions began by simple line drawing using an oil pastel to sketch a rough composition. Previously painted and printed papers were now dry enough to cut, tear, layer and playfully develop into initial placings. Collage is a forgiving media application, giving us the chance to step back and control, taking away bits, adding bits, swapping colours, clashing colours, finding rhythms and surprising us with outcomes we couldn’t have painted by planning alone. Neat p.v.a was used to glue thick papers to the boards, leaving some areas of ground showing.

Next our artists used decoupage and tissue papers as a second layer, and to join the thick papers to the board. The best glue for this stage is a mix of 50% pva and 50% water or a specialist decoupage glue which has a little varnish to it to seal each layer. This is also useful for your top layer.

In one lovely (mostly) sunny day, this fabulous group created unique and beautiful artwork, transforming playful experiments and initial interpretations into colourful, stunning, finished pieces.