Creative Drawing Workshop

Monday 19th February

Cedar Farm Gallery

We were joined by Suzanne Riley for a one off drawing workshop. Suzanne has been a further education teacher in Art and Design for many years, and recently took the leap to focus full time on her own creative business- leading workshops in creative art and textiles. Suzanne's passion is surface design and textiles which comes through in all of her classes, with texture, mixed media and layered techniques being encouraged throughout all of her classes. Sumptuous textures, 3D refief work, stitch and colour play a strong role and we just LOVE her style! If you get the chance to take one of her classes you must!

There were many different techniques covered in the drawing class, but the day kicked off with discussing the variations of graphite pencil and simple mark making activity where participants explore pattern and marks to use within their drawing. Following this we explored drawing in pencil from the sumptuous array of organic still life material on the table which I'm sure we wont look at again in the same way! Mushrooms, pineapple, colourful shells, pine cones, and explored pencil drawing and shading.

Next was the drawing pen, creating simple and precise line drawings and playing with continuous line drawing. Once we'd created these very beautiful but flat images, suzanne then showed us a technique of spraying water over the top of the pen drawing, which seeps into the ink and causes it to blot and spread in the most beautiful way! Another display of Suzanne's for surface and texture.

After that- lunch! and time for some delicious homemade cake for everyone.

The afternoon was spent working on wax resist techniques. Adding colour through dye application or scraping back oil pastels to reveal colour and pattern below. 

This was a truly creative and experimental day covering so many techniques from simple line drawing to applying colour and building layers. Thank you Suzanne for joining us in the Gallery! We'd love to have you back!

The Drawing workshop focuses on visual awareness by learning to look and see. Through using a variety of media you will explore line and tone, and experiment with a range of mark making techniques. Exploring pencil, charcoal, fine liner, water- based paint and wax resist to draw natural and organic forms.

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MODERN CALLIGRAPHY

Creative handwriting at Cedar Farm Gallery

The latest edition to our Gallery Workshop lineup is Modern Calligraphy. Being a big fan of the writing style for a long time, I was very excited to see such a resurgence on Instagram and Pinterest. Calligraphy has appeared everywhere, not just in writing books, but on chalk boards, wedding stationery, even on restaurant walls! 

After searching for local calligraphers, artists and illustrators able to run a class in this modern style I was coming up empty handed, and so was delighted to come across the brilliant workshops of Mellor and Rose. Trained Graphic designers, their workshops are jam packed with lettering and design ideas from Beginners Modern Calligraphy, brush pen lettering and even chalk board writing.
They're a family outfit, like us, and they're based in Lancashire. The perfect team!

We've had 2 workshops in Beginners Modern Calligraphy, with 3 more and a brush lettering class booking up fast. 

If you'd like us to keep you informed of our workshops when they are announced just fill in a a contact form below.

PAINTING WITH WATERCOLOURS

JULY 17TH 2017

We had a full house in The Gallery in July, when local artist and teacher, Val Templeman held a demonstration on Painting with Watercolours. 

A 2 hour demonstration where Val talked us through tips and techniques of the medium. This proved to be a fantastic introduction for beginners, as Val walked us through which brushes, paper and materials to use and WHY. We looked at the difference in cold pressed and hot pressed paper, the varying quality of brushes, and the pigmentation of student quality and artist quality paints. This was an informative evening, and everyone was busily taking notes throughout.

 As the evening went on, Val introduced watercolour mediums for and discussed tips and techniques for painting in detail and creating various techniques. 

We looked at salt glazing and the mottling effect it has on your image, as well as wax resist techniques.

We compared the effects of hot and cold pressed paper, and the type of painter it would suit. 

Val talked us through some of her more detailed work, which had everyone hooked, and very impressed. Some of our more experienced painters found the tips and ideas here very useful in their practice. 

DAY CLASSES

In the New Year we plan to host a one off day class in portrait painting with Val Templeman, so please do keep an eye out in The Gallery and via our emails for details. 

A Weekend of Pottery Throwing

19TH & 20TH AUGUST 2017
@ CEDAR FARM

On a gorgeous sunny weekend in August, we were joined by Priory Terracotta who set up camp in our courtyard.

Local potters, Steve and Steve(!) set up their portable pottery wheel to help us celebrate 30 years as a craft gallery. They threw huge terracotta pots to the amazement of our visitors. We had a wealth of things going on this weekend, so plenty of folk visiting from out of town, and we were very happy to give them a show from some of our finest Lancashire makers.

Many thanks to Steve for throwing the biggest pots he could!

You can find Priory Terracotta outdoor pots available to buy from The Potting Sheds at Cedar Farm.

cedar farm gallerycedar farmgallerycraft centrecraftceramicsmakermakersmovementpotterpottery throwingpottery wheeldemonstrationclayterracottaday outlancashire

Textile Wall Hanging Workshop

JULY 20TH 2017
@ CEDAR FARM GALLERY

We kicked off the first of our 30th Celebration Gallery Workshops with a day long course with Rachael from Silverwood Emporium.

Many of you will know Rachael and her work from our Cedar Farm Makers and Farmers Market, where she sells her beautiful wares.

THE DAY

We set about transforming our shop into Workshop space and opened the doors on a sunny Monday, while the rest of Cedar Farm was resting after a busy week.. and welcomed 7 glorious ladies in for the day.

Rachael creates mixed media textiles and cards which are made from her vast collection of old linens, silk threads, memorabilia, collectible stamps and other ephemera. Her work is light hearted, fun and appreciates the patterns and design in everyday items we’d normally throw away.

This was the mantra of the day, as our ladies were encouraged to work with a variety of media to build a wall hanging unique to them. Waste nothing, and embellish everything!

I watched as throughout the day our hardworking ladies designed and created their piece, which became so unique and personal to each of them. So much personality!

Keep an eye out for future workshops in The Gallery, we have a range of art and craft classes, full day or Evening, All materials are provided and all have a break with delicious homemade cakes and refreshments.