Craft
Autumn leaf printing
With Autumn in full effect, it’s a great time to have a go at printing using natural materials.
Our lesson on Wednesday night provided the chance to experiment with this monoprinting. This can be a quick way to produce a beautiful and unique print.
One method is to apply ink to a board and draw into it with tools or material, removing some of the ink. A piece of paper is then pressed onto the board to create the picture.
Another method is to apply ink to materials then use them to print onto paper, producing wonderful results. There are so many different leaves on the ground and they hold ink perfectly.
Here are some of the pictures produced on Wednesday night.
Workshop with Rona
Places are still available for a two day workshop with our member, Rona Smith.
Activities include:
* Using printing and stencilling techniques on gelli-plates;
* Painting on silk;
* Making different types of books using folding and binding techniques
The workshop will be held at Nethy Bridge Village Hall on March 16-17, running from 10am-2.30pm each day. Refreshments will be provided.
The price is £80 for two days, £45 for one day.
Contact Rona for more information by emailing ronas4@btinternet.com
Sewing the seeds of new skills
The opportunities for building new skills are coming thick and fast this month!
Fast on the heels of silversmithing, pottery making and the SBSA art extravaganza comes something completely different from anything the group has taken on before.
Our member Ally Wardlaw has organised an embroidery workshop for Saturday May 6 at the Nethy Bridge Community Centre.
She’ll be teaching two or three different stitches (with a contemporary twist!) that you’ll be able to use to create some unique artwork. Ally will provide some materials, including backing material, threads, beads and needles but participants should bring their own scissors, threads or material scraps they wish to use, and an embroidery hoop if possible.
The workshop will run from 10am-3pm and the cost is £20 per person. The community centre has disabled access, kitchen and toilets. Bring you own lunch!
Spaces are limited to 10 so please contact Ally by email to let her know you wish to come.
And a wee reminder that we’re back on Wednesday for a new term. See the Summer Term page for a provisional timetable.
Summer learning
Our counterparts in the Society of Badneoch and Strathspey Artists are holding a week of free art classes in the Iona Gallery in Kingussie.
Subjects on offer include acrylic and watercolour painting, felting and weaving. And there’s even a class teaching how to make “fauxidermy” – needle felting to make a fake animal head trophy.
Organisers are trying to get an idea of numbers interested so they can ensure that there is enough material and equipment to go round and spaces in some classes may be limited.
Best of all, it’s in the school holidays so if you’re babysitting or have some children to entertain, this could be a welcome addition to the schedule. But children must be accompanied by an adult.
The climax of the event is a big exhibition of all the work created during the week
Anyone looking for more information should contact: calypsoart@btinternet.com
How to spend your holidays
Even though we’re on our Easter break, the art doesn’t stop – particularly with lots of upcoming exhibitions. Our annual exhibition is in June this year and there’s a few more events planned.
And there’s a chance to join our tutor Angus on a silversmithing course in the evenings. He’ll be down at Kingussie High School every Tuesday during May, teaching how to make silver rings with stone settings.
There’s more information on Angus’s own website or here on the Cairngorms Learning Partnership’s site.
Be warned: we understand that there are still spaces available but they do fill up very quickly!
March 29: Finishing off
We’ve nearly made it to the end of another term – one of our busiest. This week we’ll be trying to finish off any outstanding work from the past few weeks – or if you’re supr-organised, starting something new.
Last Wednesday night, there was another opportunity to see your designs on bangles. And we also got our hands on our photo-ceramic transfers for blank mugs. Here’s a few wee pictures.
March 22: Bangles
The return of another popular class from last year – bangle design.
These pieces of jewellery are fairly narrow so this needs to be factored into your design. But the colours reproduce well in the printing process so photographs and repeating patterns work well.
Designs are printed onto special paper and then go through a heat transfer process in a press to put them onto the bangles. With Wednesday night classes growing in popularity, Angus will be tied up with this process for much of the night. Any digital images you want to use, please email to Angus beforehand so he can prepare the image properly beforehand. High-resolution images are best.
There is a choice of two sizes of bangle: a narrow white one and a wider silver one.
Each printed bangle costs £5.
And just for good measure, there will be a committee meeting.
The Spey Art Group Clay Fest
Working with clay is always a highlight for the group and Wednesday night (Mar 1) proved no exception.
There were the usual whoops of delight (?) as members got to grips with the range of potters wheels in the art department.
While we are probably not ready to join the ranks of the BBC’s current series of The Great Pottery Throw Down, everyone loved having a go. And there were only a few jokes about Ghost.
Elsewhere, the mood was more sedate as people worked on wee pinch pots, which were harder to construct than Angus made them look.
Everything is now drying off in preparation for a firing. Get ready for more pottery work next week!
Grantown craftiness
Just a reminder that some of our members will be selling their wares at the Grantown Museum’s Christmas sale on Saturday.
The Spey Art Group will have a table at the event, which includes a coffee morning, with a range of products made by our talented members.
But if you’d rather get your hands dirty, there’s still time to sign up for Angus’s jewellery workshop, which is on the same day at Inverallan Parish Church Hall.
Contact the Cairngorms Learning Partnership on 01540 662 420 or find more information at the CLP website.
Workshops galore!
There are plenty of chances to learn something new this autumn.
As part of our new association with the Cairngorms Learning Partnership, our tutor Angus Grant is hosting a jewellery workshop.
It’s a chance to get started on making some Christmas presents – you’ll end the day with three pairs of earrings and a bracelet.
The workshop is on Saturday November 12 and will be at Inverallan Church Hall in Grantown, from 10am-2pm. Just £45 for Spey Art Group Members. For non-members, it’s £55 but for that extra tenner you get to be a SAG associate member for a year.
All you need to take is your lunch and some enthusiasm! Book your place here!
And the week before, Rona Smith will be taking a silk painting workshop at Grantown Museum. This is one of a series of craft workshops at the museum over the winter.
This is an introduction to the art and participants will get the chance to create a small mounted picture. All materials will be provided.
The class runs on Thursday November 3 from 7pm-9pm, at a cost of £10, including refreshments. Booking is essential – phone 01479 821762.
Spey Art Group 