New Art Courses

05/12/11

Here's the descriptions of these two new courses. Check out our website HERE for further details.

Explore your creative side;

The Art of Collage with Miranda Corcoran

www.MirandasArt.com
www.theArtHand.com
Registration……………………Monday April 9th at 7pm
The course is 3 full days....Tues 10th / Wed 11th / Thurs 12th April 2012

Some people collect shoes (I do a bit of this too) but my main passion is collecting art supplies and anything else that could help me to make a piece of art. Over the years I have built up a large collection of materials and my friends are always finding me bits and pieces.

I have designed an intensive three-day course that will enable participants to explore their creativity in a stimulating environment. You don’t need to be an artist to do this course. I believe that the materials and your surroundings will bring the artist out in you. You will be inspired!

The Art of Collage; I will introduce you to many of the techniques I use through the application of paints, gems, jewels, beads, buttons, gold leaf, felt and wire. You will each plan a specific artwork that will allow you to experiment with a wide variety of materials on board or canvas. By the end of the third day you will be able to take your masterpiece home. You will also leave with the ability to share your new skills and inspiration with family and friends.

Materials are supplied but bring any extra bits you want. Bring a camera. The cost for the course is €295 which includes an evening meal on Tuesday and Wednesday and lunch on the final day. Accommodation is not included but can be arranged at a nearby house. Numbers are limited so booking is essential.

On my website you will see some of my paintings and please check the Photo Blog page on The Art Hand website for some of my current work. Please read the About our Courses page for further details of the course structure and contact me at any stage with any queries.

Check out our website HERE for further details.



But is it Art?

Photography with George Munday

Registration………………………….Monday April 16th at 7pm
The course is 3 full days……………Tues 17th / Wed 18th / Thurs 19th April 2012

As can be expected from someone who has been a professional photographer for over 35 years, I have to confess that I have been a little sceptical about “art photographers”. It probably arises from my time as the picture editor at Slidefile, during which I saw somewhere in the region of 1.5 million images.

Commercial photographers often submitted material to me that had very little artistic quality and conversely others, who seemed to think that the label “art photography” could raise bad photography to an acceptable standard. All too often photographs were submitted that were appalling – on one occasion by a photography lecturer, which left me rather concerned for his students! So, my guiding principle was and is that images have to be aesthetically and commercially excellent.

This course is designed to cater for all ability levels from the keen novice or amateur to professional photographers and artists. Maybe you need a creative break in an inspirational place on the edge of Ireland. We shall go on photo shoots to some of my favourite places along the Copper Coast – and possibly slightly further afield. Rain or shine, dawn or dusk there is always a photo opportunity here.

The three days will be intensive; we will collaborate on ideas and experiment with techniques. By the end of the course you should have learned many new skills and I hope you will have developed a new visual understanding. The images you capture during the course will be a permanent record of your creative development. On the final day we will print and discuss a selection of our new photographs.

All photography, whether art or otherwise, demands an ability to understand the basic fundamentals of a camera in order to be able to achieve quality results. For those of you who are self taught there are, more frequently than not, gaps in knowledge. Filling in these gaps will give you the technical expertise and confidence to achieve the results that you visualised just before you pressed the shutter.

If you don’t have a lot of technical expertise you can be brought up to speed with a reasonable degree of technical competence within the first day of the course. After that you will need to spend time getting to grips with the new skills that need to become automatic, so that you can stop thinking about your camera and concentrate on the subject.

Composition is often a topic that I cover with novice photographers, although for those who are more advanced my aim is to develop a higher level of understanding. The rule is that there are no rules!

The class size will be small so I can give each person a lot of individual attention. You will be allowed to work at your own pace and to your own specific assignment if you wish. Read the About Our Courses page for more details; and for those that prefer a more structured approach, I will concentrate on the following three topics.

1. Photographic discipline: There are too many folk who use a shotgun effect – blast at everything in sight – and hope that there will be a useable image. The reality is that photography needs an inquiring, experimental outlook that is tempered with technical and visual discipline. For this reason I have designed a series of challenging exercises that are designed to make photographers think when shooting.

2. Self assignment: Deciding what to shoot is often the biggest barrier to producing high quality work. I will spend time finding out what each participant wishes to shoot and work with them on methods to obtain the desired result. But I will also make sure that you step out of your comfort zone to open your mind to all kinds of new and exciting possibilities.

3. The art of editing: It’s not as simple as it sounds and most people don’t do it. It needs the photographer to get into the right state of mind which is not always easy. We shall be working with Photoshop. Editing is absolutely essential in order to be able to present your work in its best possible way.

Bring your camera! Preferably a DSLR type. Bring whatever other equipment you like. Lenses if you have, a tripod if you have, an umbrella, rain gear. Don’t forget memory cards, batteries, chargers, a usb lead to connect to our computers or bring your laptop. Lay out your gear before you leave and consider what your own personal objectives of the course are and then bring a little or bring a lot. But remember, the camera is a tool, that merely records an image, it’s your visualisation that creates it. I look forward to working with you at The Art Hand.

The Cost for this course is €295 which includes an evening meal on Tuesday and Wednesday and lunch on the final day. Accommodation is not included but can be arranged at a nearby house. Numbers are limited so booking is essential. For more information please read the About Our Courses page.

About George Munday

George has an impressive photography background, graduating from the Birmingham College of Photography to become a photo-journalist in the UK. After this he spent eleven years in advertising and commercial photography, then ten years running Ireland’s leading stock photography agency.

He moved to the Copper Coast in 2003 to escape urban life and to focus on his personal photography projects. George has been running digital photography workshops for over six years from his home, but now takes up the position as the official photography tutor at The Art Hand.

A new book featuring George Munday’s dramatic work will be launched shortly. His passion is shooting the landscape and we have put a selection of his work together HERE. More of his work is featured on his blog HERE and some of his prints are available for sale HERE.

Check out our website HERE for further details.



Introducing Technology to Stained Glass;

with Sean Corcoran

www.SeanCorcoranArt.com
6 full days, April 2-7, 2012

I have worked in Stained Glass for nearly 20 years but for the last 6 or 7 years I have concentrated on Digital Art. It might seem like the other end of the artistic spectrum but for me there are many things that technology has to offer the age-old tradition of Stained Glass. I’m not talking about some new method of making stained glass with a computer, in fact the basic production methods I will be teaching in this course haven’t changed for hundreds of years.

This is a very intensive full 6 day course. While it is a challenging programme no real experience in either glass or computers is required. This course will be tailored to suit each individual’s skill levels.

I will be introducing simple ways that today’s technology can help to create designs, templates and visualizations. We shall be drawing (yes with pencils!) scanning, photographing, image editing, enlarging and printing. A digital image can be printed on special DeCal Paper and baked permanently onto the surface of a piece of glass in our kiln. A small pencil drawing can be enlarged and printed to any specific size using a simple piece of software called Rapid Resizer, handy for full size templates.

Once our templates are complete we will individually set about producing our chosen artwork. We shall be using the full facilities of The Art Hand including the Tech Room, the Art Room and the Tool Room. We may even look to the outdoors for artistic inspiration. Land, Sea, Sky and Cliffs are on our doorstep.

You can use your newly acquired knowledge to execute your designs in a variety of ways. You might decide to be cutting glass and leading a stained glass panel in the traditional method or you might prefer to acid etch your design onto glass or to print photographs onto glass or to paint and bake your design into glass. You might even prefer to develop your design skills further while still learning the different techniques that will be going on around you. Whatever you have completed by the end of the course will be yours to take home.

Please bring a digital camera. Don’t forget the charger, memory card and a USB lead to connect to our computers. You could bring your laptop if you wish. We supply all the basic materials you will need for the course but you can bring anything else you feel would be of benefit to you.

The cost for this course is €595. Booking available now, places are limited. Accommodation is not included but can be arranged. Evening meals for six days are included, breakfasts and lunches are not. If you have any specific queries please contact us.

Check out our website HERE for further details.