Seeking Inspiration: where to start

Teresa Sands talks about finding inspiration during lock down.

If, like me, you are in need of a little guidance when it comes to producing a new piece of work, the following might be useful. For talks about artists, or art related subjects, The Art Society is offering a series of on-line talks and lectures for free. You do not have to be a member of the society to access these – they are open to all. Go to : connected.theartsociety.org or email enquiries@theartsociety.org

The Royal Academy is running programmes about past exhibitions so you can re-visit – or see for the first time – some of their ‘greatest hits’. Again, this is on-line at: royalacademy.org.uk. Along with tuning in to the Royal Academy, don’t forget that The Tate Galleries and the National Gallery are also showing past exhibitions on their websites!

If you are a member of The SAA (Society for Amateur Artists) you may already be tuning in to their on-line tutorials. They cover a range of subjects and use of different materials and are informative and helpful: saa.co.uk

Listings site Time Out shows offers which are available from professional artists. Currently there is a 50% off offer for live, on-line instructions for drawing classes using ‘Zoom’ at news@offers. timeout.com or courses@fru.co.uk (these are valid until July 31).

WVAS member Denise Wright recommends the Facebook Isolation Art Challenge which was initially set up for a 14-day period but has now been extended. The idea is that you post one piece of art daily and there is a theme for each day. It doesn’t have to be a full-on painting - it could be just a sketch. There are artists from all over the globe: some are very accomplished, others who haven’t drawn/painted for years and others trying art for the first time. There is some beautiful work on there. The comments are all very encouraging — negativity not allowed! Denise says she has found it difficult to commit to every day but it really doesn’t matter – people can dip in and out. The main thing is to enjoy doing art and focus on something creative during the lock down. She ends by saying: “It has given me the impetus to carry on with art - even though I really miss our community classes and all my artist friends!”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

Of course, you don’t have to go too far for instruction, advice and reassurance. Local artists have organised themselves and can be contacted via the web.

As mentioned in her Profile, Andrea Naylor offers advice/tuition on working in pastels: andreanaylor.co.uk

Claire Daniel uses Zoom and Houseparty systems to offer tuition for a range of creative classes. Contact Claire on: clairedaniel99@yahoo.com

Jax Hives has also let us know what she has been up to – creatively of course! She writes:

“I have been asked to do a drawing exercise for ACTIVE Magazine – a fabulous local, free magazine full of interesting information and ideas – which will be on-line from Wednesday, April 29: theactivemag.com and you’ll find Jax’s contribution on page 19. This is a simple still life for beginners/refreshers

– just to help with a creative nudge during these difficult times. Jax is also re-vamping her Instagram page – take a look: JAXCREWARTIST

Jax organises the Tinwell Art Group, where a number of the participants are also WVAS members. The group was originated by Trevor Tanser who sadly passed away a few years ago. The Monday meetings are not running at the moment (we all know why) but members are actively keeping their art practices going, sending photos of work to each other and keeping in touch by e-mail.