“DRAWING, YOU’LL NEVER GET RID OF IT. IT’S LIKE DANCING AND SINGING. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE DANCING AND SINGING, AND THERE WILL ALWAYS BE DRAWING. THEY’RE ALL ANCIENT.” ~ DAVID HOCKNEY
In an age dominated by screens and feeds, where looking has become not only cursory but perpetual, immersive yet distracted – drawing is a refuge of contemplation and perception.
Drawing with Mindfulness aims to help people reclaim drawing as a part of their lives, to reconnect them with something that is slow, and present, and ancient.
All welcome! Artists, acrobats, accountants: these classes accommodate the full spectrum of experience.
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UPCOMING CLASSES
MAKING FRIENDS with FIGURE DRAWING
25th May-13th July
FREE INTRODUCTION CLASS
20th JUNE
DROP-IN DRAWING
WEDNESDAYS/THURSDAYS
EXPLORER’S DUO
ABOUT ME
Some of the things that have led to my teaching Drawing with Mindfulness: a witchy, inspiring drawing lecturer from my Fine Arts degree; twenty years of working as an artist and finding ways to maintain interest in my studio practice; a deep belief in storytelling expanded by a Literature degree; and an interest in creating spaces for people, both physical and psychological.
This portrait of me emoting during class is by talented artist and Drawing with Mindfulness student Julia Sullivan.
“The classes have been really inspiring and I've learnt so much. I can't thank you enough for re-igniting the love of drawing in me.” Julia
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“I haven't touched a brush or a pencil for a year and this has made me want to draw and paint again. Your talks have been so enlightening, inspiring and articulate; to look and listen and to understand exactly what the image was about has been a revelation.” Elaine
MAKING FRIENDS with FIGURE DRAWING
25th MAY - 13th JULY | Wednesdays 6pm
This course surveys the powerful attraction that both academic and informal figure-drawing has exerted on artists and viewers through the world and through the ages. It also examines the powerful frustrations it elicits, in both new and experienced drawers! Making Friends with Figure Drawing, as the name suggests, aims to make the most enduring and most challenging of subjects, approachable. Through exploring line, tone, proportion and gesture, this course focuses on helping you develop your own authentic relationship with drawing the figure.
4 x fortnightly classes | ZAR 650 / $42
8 x weekly classes | ZAR 1200 / $75
*The 8 class option includes practical classes that further explore the previous week’s theme. All courses include access to summary notes, recordings and an interactive class page.
Image: Alice Neel, Hartley and Ginny, 1970
FREE INTRODUCTION CLASS
14th JULY | THURSDAY 6pm SAST
This class gives some background to the Drawing with Mindfulness philosophy and is also an introduction to some simple drawing exercises. If you're unsure about signing up for a course or a drop-in class, you're welcome to attend this one to find out more and get a feel for the classes.
Image: Albrecht Durer’s Monkey Dance 1493
DROP-IN CLASSES!
Wednesdays/Thursdays 6pm SAST
Schedule too uncertain? Drop in for just one session.
To be notified about classes follow Drawing with Mindfulness on Instagram or request to be added to the weekly newsletter.
ZAR 175 per session
Francisco Goya, Young Witch Flying on a Rope, 1828
NATURAL HISTORY
23rd JUNE - 14th JULY | Thursdays 6pm SAST
This very popular course themed around Natural History celebrates the craft of observation. We'll explore mindful drawing through ideas such as the importance of the intrepid amateur, the contrasting impulses behind a drawing, and the simple pleasures and benefits of observing the wonders of nature. A course brimming with colour, texture and a global cast of characters, both human and non-human!
ZAR650 | 4 x weekly classes
Image: Nudibranch by Kumutaro Ito, ca1908
TRAVEL (Oh the places you’ll go!)
21st JULY - 11th AUGUST | Thursdays 6pm SAST
A course for wanderlust. We look at how drawing has always been used to record travels and explorations, from the first known map of the world drawn almost 3000 years ago, to the spirit-world depictions of the San, to the Moroccan notebooks of Delacroix. As we draw the places we've been, to the places we long to go; as we delight in journeys both geographical and metaphorical, it's clear that both drawing and travel hold the promise of connection.
ZAR650 | 4 x weekly classes
Image: Susan Veeder's journal of the whaling ship Nauticon, 1848 -1853
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