Sanctuary Arts Art Retreat Part One

A couple of weeks ago I went on an art retreat over in Saltburn-on-sea, organised by the fabulous Beth Sigsworth of Sanctuary Arts.  It was a fabulous weekend, full of workshops, meeting new people, and of course, the sea!

One of the workshops I took was run by Beth, who usually works with the driftwood and sea glass she finds on the beach, but for the Saturday afternoon session had chosen to offer a slightly different take on working with wood.

For aaaaaaaaaages I've had 'do transfers using magazine paper and gel medium' on my 'to do' list.  I have all the materials, and an idea of how to do it but had never got around to having a go!  We started by choosing a word (mine was 'grace') then choosing some imagery to go with it.

A song has been going round and round my head for a few weeks now, one we've been singing in church, which includes the line

"caught up in grace like an avalance"

which was my reason for choosing the word 'grace'.  I can't, however, explain why, when I thought of avalanches I thought of water and picked shades of blue from the magazine lol!!!  I transferred some lettering but mostly used my trusty rub on letters before coating the whole board with wax.

My next workshop was a painting one, all about responding to the paint/supplies/resources rather than worrying about what the final piece looked like.  My favourite activity was painting blindfold!!!

We worked in pairs, one person blindfolded, the other making sure the painter knew where the paint was and the paper!  We were painting the jar of flowers in the centre of the table.  It was amazing how interesting the paintings turned out

One lady didn't have a partner so Keith (the tutor, above) guided her whilst she was blindfolded, then when it would have been his turn to work blindfold, asked her to paint the jar with her eyes open.  I wish I'd taken a photo because the blindfold version was so much more lively and interesting.

I need to take some photos of the other work I produced over the weekend to share the rest of the time with you but hope this gave you a bit of a taster.  I'd forgotten I'd not blogged about it, and remembered when I saw Dyan Reaveley's list of workshops at Art from the Heart where 'faith journaling' was one listed.  This sounds fab, and Bernice and Caroline both went to the first workshop and had a great time!  Click on their names to read their accounts.  I'm gutted I can't make either of the next workshops, ah well!