The month of November has seen Blueprint100 take a new approach to their Tuesday workshops. Teaming up with local artist Frank Hayes, Blueprint100 have hosted an ongoing series of workshops throughout this past month.
The workshops approached drawing from a different perspective, with the main intention of these sessions to gain enjoyment from creating the art as opposed to focussing on the finished products.
Host of these workshops, Frank Hayes describes these workshops as follows:
“Drawing for Enjoyment is a series of free to attend workshops open to under 30s looking to get more creative learning new ways of approaching art whatever their skill level.”
The differences between drawing for enjoyment and with the main intention of creating a piece of art became apparent within minutes of the workshop. Starting out with being told to ignore a few lines here and there and then gradually proceeding into a process of creating something surreal. You find yourself ignoring where colours would conventionally go and smudging lines in a manner that cannot be replicated. You start making mistakes but leaving them on the page because you like the way that a simple mistake creates a new divide across your page.
For me everyone created something special but it really became art after you stepped away at the end of each workshop and looked at every individuals piece next to one another. When you placed all the work together you begin to see how each person interprets objects differently. You can see how everyone creates something amazing but they all do it in different ways. Some pieces consist of long lines while others are built entirely on little sketch strokes and some are made of entirely blurred charcoal lines.
We began 2017 with an exhibition opening to showcase all the works of each individual. With this exhibition we saw The Stove cafe transformed into a drawing classroom with drawing utensils and materials left out. This presented the works with a sense of realism as it showed the works as if they had just been finished and placed upon the wall adding to the genuine feel of a community art project.
Looking back upon the workshops, Blueprint100 curatorial team member Michael Moore stated:
“Drawing for Enjoyment in November had a great turn out. People were relaxed and able to have fun with their creative side as well as forge new friendships along the way! I’m hope the next series in February will repeat that.”
Drawing for enjoyment really was a community arts project. Despite being a series of art workshops it was not for the artist, it was for people. We often see arts organisations criticised because they aren’t doing enough for the everyday person but on this occasion I feel we managed to host something that really was for everyone.
Drawing for Enjoyment will return on the following dates from 5pm at The Stove:
2nd February
9th February
16th February
23rd February
By Euan Macrory of the Blueprint100 Curitorial Team
Blueprint100 