Workshop

Relaxing into drawing plus little secrets & portraiture tips

with Mary Naylor

Mon, 16 May 2022

13:00 – 15:00

Ebor Studio
 

All ages, abilities and disabilities welcome

The workshop will contain some short / long and daft drawing exercises. Helping relax into a drawing practice & fingers crossed 🤞 peel away any negative feelings towards drawing abilities, wherever they may be stationed.

I will also be sharing some of the processes and tricks I use when creating portraits, which we can put into practice together.

An array of materials will be provided as drawing does not have to be limited to pencils.

Disclaimer. If you want to learn how to recreate a life like a portrait from a photograph, this is not the workshop. I work in a more naive fashion. Structure and rules send me running to the tops.

Artist Talk

Ceramics and their place in the (Art) World

With Angela Tait

Tue, 17 May 2022
19:00 – 21:00

Ebor Studio

Ceramicist Angela Tait explores the place of ceramics from their lowly position as functional objects to the wide contemporary uses of clay in the world of Fine Art. Using examples from the beautiful to the outrageous, she will make an argument for a medium that has historically been undervalued and show some of her recent practice that investigates the possibilities of clay

She is currently a PhD researcher at the University of Sunderland investigating the relationship between a creative practice and domestic obligations. She uses the vessel as a universally understood form to explore the temporal experience when public and private spaces overlap.

She is half of ATIC Studios, an ongoing collaboration with photographer Ian Clegg. Together they undertake residencies and produce creative artifacts using clay, photography, illustration and film.

Angela is also a lecturer in Fine Art at the University of Salford.

Workshop

Upcycle your own rug out of scrap yarn

With Cheryl Beswick

Wed, 18 May 2022
19:00 – 21:00

Ebor Studio

Pour yourself a cuppa and get comfy for a couple of hours crafting. It’s a simple crochet/knitting task that will hopefully mean you can complete your rug easily in the 2 hours and have a lovely chat with like-minded people in the process. We will be providing a bag of scrap fabric, kindly donated by Violet Flamingo. The fabric is offcuts from her fashion business based at Ebor and will have some crochet hooks and giant knitting needles available but if you have your own, please bring them along.

Artist Talk

Womens' Work

With Alison Cooper

Thu, 19 May 2022

19:00 – 21:00

Ebor Studio

Join artist, curator and composer Alison Cooper as she talks about female figures from the visual arts and music world who have had their work overlooked, only to be valued later on in their lives and careers for their contributions to the world of culture. The talk will include a variety of artists from painters linked to the Pre-Raphaelite movement to female electronic musicians from the twentieth century.

Alison Cooper is a musician, composer, visual artist and museum curator. Her experience as a creative educator, community worker and project manager has brought together a socially engaged practice combining these unique elements.

Seeking to develop new understandings between narratives of landscape, material culture and human interaction is a key influence on the work she creates. Influenced by the intriguing nature of archive and museum collections Alison works to bring a fresh understanding to historic narratives which can never truly be replicated, only re-visioned. The collection of personal narratives, studying of archives, folklore and material culture are central to achieving this.

Recent clients include BBC, In-Situ (Pendle), Gallery Oldham, Touchstones Rochdale, Barnardo's, Hebden Bridge Arts Festival, Yorkshire Sound Women Network, South Square Gallery and The Whittaker Museum.

Workshop

Chance Writing

With Maryanne Royle

Online workshop
Fri, 20 May 2022
18:30 – 20:30

In this workshop you will find new avenues of subject and vocabulary for your writing using a method of chance and a book of your choice.

Maryanne enjoys engaging with language and literature in an informal and playful way which brings about unexpected results. During the workshop you will learn these methods and work through a series of exercises designed to expand on a new concept or key word chosen in the session.

You will need: a book of your choice, notebook or paper, and a pen.

Workshop

Finding Your Feet in Photography

With Bob France

Sat, 21 May 2022
12:00 – 16:00

Ebor Studio

A one-day course for those with an interest in photography that want to improve their skills, learn a few tricks and perhaps find a little inspiration.

The day will consist of an initial talk/discussion at Ebor Studio, then a leisurely photo-walk to test out ideas and then return to Ebor to look at our images.

Bob is a photographic artist working with both analogue and digital processes. He often works with traditional darkroom techniques and even older processes to produce his images.

You will need a digital or film SLR type camera or similar and have a rudimentary knowledge of its operation.

Workshop

Introduction to Field Recording (Cancelled)

With Sophie Cooper

Sun, 22 May 2022
13:00 – 16:00 

Ebor Studio

Field recording in music production. Beginners level.

It will be useful for people interested in capturing sounds from their everyday environment with the view to using them in pieces of music. No previous experience or ability to read music needed. We do require creative and open minds.

Sophie is a music workshop facilitator specialising in music technology, creative mentoring and music for early years. Recent clients include Yorkshire Sound Women network, NYMAZ, Sound and Music and Rhythm Time.

Field Recording and Sound Manipulation using the Shure Motiv Audio App for phones.

Download for free here: https://www.shure.com/enUS/products/software/shure_plus_motiv

Participants need a phone or some kind of recording device and headphones.

Artist Talk

Theatre in Flow

With Liz Mytton

Mon, 23 May 2022
19:00 – 21:00

Ebor Studio

Liz Mytton is a Rochdale-based playwright, lyricist, poet and facilitator. She was a Bristol Old Vic Open Session writer in 2018, and previously took part in the 2014 Critical Mass writing programme at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. Liz went on to work with their young company on Rise in 2017, and again in 2020, co-creating Like There’s No Tomorrow, a National Theatre Connections commission.

Liz will talk about her work using theatre, arts and creativity to champion marginalised voices. Through examples of projects, Liz will describe how amplifying voices can help us to transform society and build futures.

Her other work includes Red Snapper (2016), Back Home (2017), Southside Stories (2019), The Festival of Lost and Found (2019) for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and Shame Shanties (2020). Liz’s latest play, An Emperor in the West, is set in 1937 and focuses on the exile of Haile Selassie, in the city of Bath. Liz leads Theatre in Flow, a company committed to the championing of marginalised voices and their main project, Women’s Supper Club, a Forum Theatre group for women in locations across Greater Manchester.

Liz’s current work includes drama facilitation for The Lowry & National Theatre’s pilot ‘Speak Up’ programme for young people, leading community co-creation projects at Touchstones in central Rochdale, and developing a show in Bristol exploring motherhood in a climate crisis. She loves reading, textiles, music and being out in nature.

Workshop

Indian folk and henna body art inspired drawing and printmaking

With Rahela Khan

Wed, 25 May 2022
16:30 – 20:00

Ebor Studio

Rahela Khan explores the ancient Indian art form of henna or mehndi, using mindfulness techniques.

Rahela takes a special interest in pattern and colour within her art practice. She seeks to make contemporary artwork which adheres to the tenets of the Islamic faith, which is aesthetically pleasing yet using non-figurative imagery. 

Workshop

Virtual Reality creative workshop in Tilt brush

With Babs Smith

Fri, 27 May 2022
Session 1 - 11:00 – 12:00
Session 2 - 14:00 - 15:00 

Ebor Studio

This workshop will begin with a brief introduction to VR and the use of Tilt Brush in my practice followed by a short demonstration of the use of the wands, pallet and environment to enable each participant to create their own 3d drawing in their chosen virtual scene. This will subsequently be photographed and emailed to them.

Artist Talk

Folk Art

With Lucy Wright

Thu, 26 May 2022
19:00 – 21:00 

Ebor Studio

With tongue in cheek, I call myself a contemporary folk artist. Folk is a slippery and divisive term with some uncomfortable associations, however we only need look at the UK Brexit vote and rise of populism worldwide to see how customs and traditions continue to inform our sense of self and other, often with agonistic consequences. And yet traditions are not inherently malignant: they are also heartfelt vehicles of human sociability whose infinite adaptations and calls to action help us punctuate and make sense of time and place. My practice is driven by the conviction that now more than ever, we need to pay attention to the things people make, do and think for themselves— and it is this kind of folk, and this kind of art that informs my work.

Some of my projects interrogate the problematic relationships between folk, nationalism and colonialism. Others deal with the under-representation of women, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities in the existing canon of English folk arts and the need for new, more inclusive traditions for our divided society. A lot of my past work has involved performance and craft, but I’ve also begun to integrate my studio practice as a painter. Recent commissions include Plough Witches for Meadow Arts, Chasing the Harestail for Jersey Heritage and Apotropaia for Leeds Piano Trail.

Believing that social art is a form of folk art, in my day job I’m currently heading the Social Art Library for Axis, a project to build the first artist-led archive and resource bank for and about socially engaged practice. In 2019 published my first book, ‘21st Century Folk Art: Social art and/as research’ and in 2021 launched the ‘Folk Is A Feminist Issue’ manifesta (https://www.folkisfeminist.com/manifesta). In addition to a bunch of articles and book chapters, I’ve also co-authored two reports, Beyond the Gallery (2015) and From Network to Meshwork (2020) with Amanda Ravetz, edit Social Works? Open journal and am a co-founder of Social Art Publications, the publishing wing of Social Art Network.

I also have a PhD from Manchester School of Art but I don’t like to brag about it!