Printmaking

Here are some statistics from Finishing School’s lesson in lino-cutting and fabric printing night that took place at our brand new venue the Island Queen on 26th October.

Teacher = 1.  East London printmaker Catherine Walsh was on hand to suggest block carving techniques and provide design inspiration for all.  Head over to her webpage for details of her upcoming classes if you want to hone your skills further.

Attendees = just the right number (to allow for elbow room and no arguments over paint rollers).

Injuries = 2.  There are many dangers in this world and it turns out that lino cutting is one of them.  For other crafting dangers click here (at your peril).

Plasters used = 8.  Gougers are sharp, kids.

Litres of fabric paint = 1.5.  The messiest session so far!

Successful nights = 1.  Everyone took home a tea towel and tote bag decorated with their own stamp (or a stamp nabbed from another student as everyone had such great ideas it was a shame not to share!).  Check out our flickr for more pictures of the evening.

Thanks to everyone who turned up and had a go at creating some really original prints.  I went out the following day and purchased my own set of tools from a lovely art shop in Clerkenwell and I know for a fact that Atlantis Arts does a good range of lino so that’s Christmas sorted then.

If you had as much fun as we did (or frustratingly missed out on space this time) do keep a keen eye on our facebook page and our events page for details of November’s session.  See you soon x

Tags: art, Craft, event, handmade, paint, textiles

Making a mark

What a fantastic evening! Finishing School was bursting with eager artists at our second lesson: life drawing.  Louise Reade managed to calm us down, suppress the giggles and get us to focus on making that first mark and loosening up our personal interpretations of the human body, helped by our superb model Steven Wheeler.  It’s clear that Finishing School is home to quite a bit of talent.  It was also great for those of us who have limited drawing ability as Louise had a real knack of coaxing something ‘interesting’ out of everybody through the group drawing tasks.

I’ve added a few of our creations here, more photos and news can be found on our Facebook group.  I’ve also asked Fiona nicely if she could make another slideshow of images from our Flickr page.

Thanks to everyone for putting up with the heat – we promise to keep the doors open at all future events that don’t include a naked model…  Thanks also to the staff at the William IV for allowing us to bring together what could have been a rather dangerous combination of nudity, red wine and sharp pencils in a controlled environment!  If Finishing School has inspired you, Broken Arted answers many of the questions posed during the class (including what to do with the rude bits).

Keep an eye on our events page for clues to our next Finishing School event in August.  Whether it’s flower arranging, car maintenance or French lessons, we look forward to seeing you there.

Tags: art, drawing