Battling On and Winning Steps South West joined forces in October and November. The purpose was to invite Andy from West Devon Art Workshops down to South Hill Parish Hall for a series of eight art sessions. How did it go? Short answer: Spiffingly. Long answer: The eight-session workshop was split into halves, the first four tackling modroc sculptures, and the second abstract painting. Andy encouraged attendees to join each session, to take full advantage of the artistic journey we’d be voyaging on. With the odd exception here and there, the cohort remained intact throughout the workshop and developed a strong group dynamic. By the end, it was like a big group of friends.
Andy, the instructor throughout, was patient and professional. While he always remained in control of the art aspect of the sessions, he never came became a stereotypically, stand-off-ish teacher. He was involved in the banter and provided assistance where wanted. A grand show!
As for the art itself… The modroc sculpturing was a novel concept to the attendees, but Andy was able to turn some absolute beginners into people who had at least SOME idea of what was going on. The sculptures produced were far beyond anybody’s initial expectations, which goes to show how invested they became. I created a sumo wrestler – because of course – and even though it looked more like a Christmas Turkey, I was still surprised at how well it came out.
The latter four sessions were a little more familiar, starting with abstract watercolours and then bringing in the acrylics and a real divergence of styles among the attendees. The most important lesson Andy taught the group revolved (pun-intended) and the colour wheel – mixing and creating colours. Something that, on its face, seems easy and obvious, but in reality is far more challenging.
In the end, the group came away with a splendid array of artpieces and sculptures that they can be rightly proud of.
But is that really the end? No. There will be an exhibition in Callington Library in January, where all their works will be on show, along with (potentially) some other pieces. The date is yet to be confirmed. If you’re interested, keep a close eye on our social media pages to find out more when the info becomes available.
A massive thank you to Andy, the West Devon Art Workshops, South Hill and Parish Hall, and all the attendees who made the eight sessions so marvellous!
