Tag Archives: life drawing

Art with friends

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DOK Artist Space, The Steel Shed, in Leith

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Antony Gormley figure, Photo: Peter Stubbs

I’ve recently been lucky enough to have separate visits from a couple of dear friends – one from Union Hall in Ireland and the other from London.  Both were keen to see as much art as possible during their trip to Edinburgh so although I am a relative newcomer to the city, I was the tour guide, which turned out to be not at all as hopeless as it sounds.  One of the places I’ve been fascinated by since moving to Leith is the DOK Artist Space an extraordinary steel shed, constructed with ship-building techniques, that sits on the Dock just near the Royal Yacht Brittania and the Ocean Terminal shopping centre.  This time with my friend we were lucky enough to find someone inside, so we had a guided tour from artist Karen Fleming.  It is a brilliant space in a stunning location and they do terrific work in offering and campaigning for affordable artists’ studios and yet this historic building faces eviction from its site.  Tragic.  I hope a new home can be found for it.  We waved to the solitary Antony Gormley figure out at the end of the rotting pier, staring out at a forlorn housing development and proving to be a popular staging post for seagulls.  One of the galleries we really enjoyed is a new-ish one in gallery-laden Dundas Street, with the unusual name of &gallery.  We were particularly taken with the work of Liz Douglas, with its delicate palette and intriguing layering.  The Dovecot Tapestry Studios has become a regular haunt of mine and my London friend was as taken as I am with this tranquil hub of creativity.  One of its most recent commissions has been to work with the Turner prize-winning artist, Chris Ofili, whose tapestry ‘The Caged Bird’s Song” has just been unveiled at the National Gallery in London as part of an exhibition entitled “Weaving Magic”.  Another highlight for us was the Scottish Parliament building, which I know has its detractors but which I find visually stunning.  I’m a great fan of polished concrete so that might explain it.  I’ve been wanting to visit for years, not least to see an artwork by Alison Kinnaird called Psalmsong, which combines glass etching and music and didn’t disappoint.  

Dropping in to Life Drawing in Edinburgh

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File0122 2 copyFile0120 2 copyIn all my moving around from one country to another, it was quite a while since I had done any life drawing but the abundance of drop-in sessions available in Edinburgh has ended the fallow period.  The first one I went along to was on a Wednesday night in the historic Summerhall building.  This was a couple of hours’ drawing to curated music, with the added attraction of being able to bring in a drink from the bar.  I’d come across this kind of event in London last Summer and I was an instant fan.  Until that time, I’d only ever been to silent, reverential classes/sessions so it was quite a revelation to experience the combination of professional life models in such an informal setting.  I think these kind of sessions are fun and a great way to get people drawing who might otherwise feel intimidated by the hushed, more traditional life room.  Another venue for this kind of life drawing, where they have music and up to three models, is on a Tuesday night at the Cabaret Voltaire organised by the wonderfully named All the Young Nudes.  I haven’t been to this one yet but I’m looking forward to it.  All that said about how great these alternative sessions are, I’ve also been really enjoying the more traditional sessions at the Saturday afternoon untutored groups offered by Leith School of Art.  I went along for several weeks in a row to take advantage of the long, continuous pose, i.e. the same pose each week. The bonus for me is that the School is only a ten minute walk along the Water of Leith.  Such a luxury.  Also on my doorstep, so to speak, is a drop-in group at Leith’s Custom House organised by Trina Bohan on a Thursday morning for a couple of hours.  The images above are from the School of Art short poses.