Plants are our Teachers
Archive: 2024
Nobody sees a flower – really – it is so small – we haven’t time – and to see takes time…. So I said to myself – I’ll paint what I see – what the flower is to me, but I’ll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it.
Georgia O’Keeffe
Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world, receiving the gifts with open eyes and open heart.
Robin Wall Kimmerer
A series of bi-monthly weekend workshops leading participants on a journey of plant-based learning and deep attention. Different approaches to drawing, painting and printmaking will open up new ways of seeing, to build a conversation and kinship with the natural world. Workshops take place in the A+E project space, located in the Chapter House of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh. Participants will be expertly guided through different approaches to drawing, painting and printmaking by the experienced artist and teacher Sarah Gittins – with additional input from guest artists and ecologists.
These workshops are suitable for all levels of experience and ability, from beginners to advanced.
March 2nd and 3rd
The Sap is Rising: making and using earth pigments and green plant inks to celebrate the coming of spring.
With artist Sarah Gittins.
We will grind rocks to make paint and process leaves to create sap green inks. These materials will be used to pay close attention to the form and energy of plants pushing up through the warming earth.
Studies will be made on paper, using brush, reed pens and incorporating collage.
May 4th and 5th
Dynamic Plant Drawing: making charcoal and oak gall ink to respond to the dynamic energy of plants through attentive and expressive drawings.
With artists Sarah Gittins and Annie Lord.
This workshop will begin by demonstrating the process of making oak gall ink and with a session of charcoal making. These materials will then be used to engage with the form and energy of plants through a series of short and playful exercises (Saturday) and to grow a sustained drawing (Sunday). We will work from plants growing in the grounds of the Cathedral.
June 29th 10am to 1pm
A Morning with Moss and Lichen: explore the world of mosses and lichens in the Cathedral grounds and under the lens in an introductory workshop.
With ecologist and nature guide Ian Edwards.
Mosses and lichens are fascinating, ubiquitous, incredibly diverse and have an important ecological role and yet they are frequently overlooked. Their exquisite and varied forms can create a rainforest in miniature covering the forest floor, rocks and trees; and moss-dominated communities form most of our peatlands.
July 6th and 7th
A Forest in an Inch of Moss: making drawings and papercuts by closely observing mosses – the coral reef of the forest.
With artist Sarah Gittins.
This workshop offers the opportunity to look closely at the wonderful forms of mosses through the making of attentive drawings. The forms seen will then be distilled into a series of paper cut collages.
The art-making of this weekend would be enhanced by attending Ian Edward’s Moss and Lichen workshop, but this is not a requirement for the course.
September 7th and 8th
A Book of Bramble and Blaeberry: celebrating the fruit and foliage of hedgerow and heath by making berry inks and drawings, compiled into simple concertina books.
With artist Sarah Gittins.
This workshop will begin with the cooking and crushing of berries to make inks. These materials will then be used to study and celebrate the form and characteristics of berry bearing plants. Drawings will then be arranged to tell a story in images across the pages of a hand-made concertina book.
November 2nd and 3rd
Carrying a Kernel of Hope into the Winter: making linocut prints using the reduction-cut method, inspired by the form and energy of tree seeds.
With artist Sarah Gittins.
The beautiful, complex forms of tree seeds have evolved over millennia to aid dispersal and protection. This weekend will take time to study these forms, making drawings using oak gall and horse chestnut inks. The forms discovered in these drawings will then be carved into a block of lino to make a small edition of two-colour reduction-cut prints, using plant-based printmaking inks.
Further information
Workshops are suitable for all levels of ability from beginners to advanced.
All weekend workshops run from 10am to 4.30pm and cost £120. (Block booking all 5 workshops qualifies for a reduced fee of £100 per workshop.)
The half-day workshop with Ian Edwards runs from 10am to 1pm and costs £40.
All materials are included in the fees.
A limited number of subsidised places are available on each course.
Please contact A+E for further details.
A+E 