Tag Archives: valerie armstrong

Valerie Armstrong : printmaking school workshop

Each year Artworks offers the opportunity for local schools to apply for one of four fully-funded one-day artist workshops, with the schools selecting an artist of their choice from the Artworks exhibition. The four workshops are then planned, organised and run by the selected artists.

Schools are encouraged to visit the annual Artworks exhibition in September, and this is often the time when teachers (or the children!) decide on which artist they would like to work with later in the school year.

In 2011, Artworks artist Valerie Armstrong was selected to run a one day workshop with Great Whelnetham Primary School:

This year I was invited to Great Whelnetham primary school to run a printmaking workshop with eight and nine year old children.


Realising I would need considerable time to turn an organized multi purpose classroom into a printmaking studio, it was agreed that I should run the workshop in two sessions; an afternoon workshop followed up by a workshop the very next morning, giving me time to set up and clear up in the two lunch breaks.



I planned several ambitious techniques for the children to explore. To my delight they had just begun a classroom project on India, a country I have a deep involvement with, so I was able to provide lots of images and material to work from.



The children embraced the experience with focus, joy and enthusiasm and produced some vibrant and thoughtful pieces of art. The results of the two half day workshops will be on exhibition in the schools section of the next Artworks exhibition in September 2012.

Visit Valerie Armstrong‘s website.

www.valeriearmstrong.com

More information about planning school visits and applications for artist workshops is available on the Artworks Schools page. While some school groups simply enjoy looking at the exhibition, other groups come to sketch, paint and draw. There is always someone from Artworks on hand to offer more information on the art, encouraging the children to study, enjoy and absorb all the art in the exhibition.

N.b. To avoid possible clashes with other school visits please contact our Schools Coordinator who will assist you in planning your visit to the Artworks exhibition.

The Artworks exhibition this year runs from the 8th to 30th September 2012 at Blackthorpe Barn, open daily 10am to 5pm.

A virtual visit to the Artworks Shop!

Welcome back to the Artworks blog! Today, we thought it would be a lovely idea to give our visitors a virtual tour (or taste!) of the small delights in the Artworks Shop!

The Artworks Shop is always a favourite destination for people visiting the main Artworks exhibition at Blackthorpe Barn. All the art currently on display in the Artworks Shop is available for immediate purchase.

Browsers containing original prints, paintings and drawings

One of the most exciting things to do is to riffle through the browsers (shown above) and discover a small work by one of your favourite artists in the main exhibition! Many of these unframed works come straight from the artists’ studios and may have not been exhibited (or even seen!) before.

We are happy to offer some advice on framing should you require it (just ask at the sales desk). Recently discovered in one of the browsers is this charming original linocut print by Elaine Nason, ‘Woman bathing‘.

All the artworks on display on the walls of the Artworks Shop can also be purchased and taken away immediately. Why not treat yourself or a loved one to an original, framed work of art at an affordable price.

Works by Lynn Hutton, Valerie Armstrong, Gill Levin, Gillian Crossley-Holland & Ben Quail

In addition to the many works on paper and small framed paintings for sale, there are also some delightful sculptural pieces offered by the artists Jazz Green, Carol Pask and Virginia Wright. 

Jazz Green’s intriguing papier mache vessels (shown below) have the appearance of ancient stone relics, the pleasing combination of light blue ceramic and grey stone or slate in Carol Pask’s assemblages evoke the colours of the coast and the free-standing glass works by Virginia Wright in translucent greys and browns conjure up walks in the woods.

Papier mache bowls by Jazz Green

Small sculptures by Carol Pask

Sculptural glass works by Virginia Wright

As usual, there is also a fabulous range of original greetings cards for sale, many of which are printed in small runs and are not available to purchase elsewhere. Shown below are the very popular cards by printmaker Penny Bhadresa.

Prints and cards by Penny Bhadresa
Highly recommended are Katie Millard’s & Eileen Revett’s unique range of artist cards. Katie’s are original watercolour paintings and Eileen’s are handmade woodcut prints, with both ranges perfect for framing to hang on your wall! 
Janet French’s cards feature one of her environmental tree prints, as illustrated below.
Helen Dougall’s colourful collection of cards include her stunning wax batik designs but much reduced in scale. In the Artworks Shop you will discover we have greetings cards to suit all tastes and occasions!
We hope you will enjoy the many delightful works of art on offer in the Artworks shop. The wall display changes as sold works are replaced with new works for sale. 
From left to right, artworks by Helen Dougall, Janet French, Eileen Revett, Anthony Jones & Lynn Hutton
Something worth a closer look is Lynn Hutton’s exquisite porcelain relief sculpture, ‘When Eve met the serpent‘ (shown above and below).

When Eve met the serpent by Lynn Hutton

All in all, the Artworks Shop is a most tempting addition to the art in the main Artworks exhibition. 
So, we welcome your visit to the Artworks Shop!

ARTWORKS : Artists making an exhibition of themselves

A not-to-be-missed special evening of artists’ demonstrations, in association with the annual Artworks exhibition at Blackthorpe Barns. This special event is sponsored by The Curwen Press. New to Artworks in 2007, the Artists Making an Exhibition of Themselves evening (AMET for short) was a resounding success.
Artists Making an Exhibition of Themselves
on Saturday 1st October 2011, from 6pm to 9pm.
Lynn Hutton demonstrating image transfer techniques
AMET is a special, one-off event when some of our Artworks artists set-up mini working studios in front of their work in the Artworks exhibition at Blackthorpe Barn, to demonstrate the media, materials & techniques used in their art, ready to answer any questions that visitors to the exhibition may have about their art.
Valerie Armstrong explaining collagraph printmaking
The atmosphere is always bustling, creative & very inspiring – and refreshments are also available in the adjoining cafe gallery. In previous years our artist demonstrations have included:
Pastel Painting NOT Drawing
Taking a (wax) line for a walk with brilliant dye colours
Wire Sculptures
Watercolour Landscapes
Lost Wax
Transferring textures and images onto surfaces
Linoprinting
Acrylics in Action
Flowers in Watercolour
Constructing a Collagraph Plate
Printing on Slate
This special event proves very popular year after year and the next Artworks AMET evening is 
on Saturday 1st October 2011
 from 6pm-9pm, at Blackthorpe Barn – a special date for the Artworks diary!
We also have artist demonstrations throughout the Artworks exhibition so please follow our new blog and check back in early September 2011 to find out who will be demonstrating on the days you might like to visit the Artworks exhibition!
The Artworks 12th annual exhibition runs from 10 September – 2 October 2011, open 10am – 5pm daily, at Blackthorpe Barn, Rougham, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP30 9JG. Admission is FREE.
You can read more about Artworks history and view full profiles of all our exhibiting artists on the official Artworks website.