SELF-STUDY PROGRAMME IS NOW AVAILABLE!
Not sure if Self-Study is the right option for you?
Each year, I offer a few slots for Building a Body of Work with full mentoring. Read more about the full mentoring option. If you'd like to be placed on the waiting list for Building a Body of Work with full mentoring, sign up here and be the first to know when slots become available.
See below for a comparison of your options for Building a Body of Work.
Do you wish to create a series of work that is absolutely unique to you?
Knowing where to begin or how to progress your art practice can be overwhelming.
Art tutorials, ecourses and art classes that focus on technique have inspired you to create and make art. But as you’ve grown as an artist, they may have left you feeling frustrated, replicating the work of others. Is it time for you to go further and create art that can only come from you – a unique, individual human being?
It takes more than paint and Pinterest to create artwork that is a meaningful embodiment of your own unique experience.
We can create art that is unique to our own personal history, inspirations, curiosities, loves, challenges and dreams. Building a whole body of related work allows you to go deeper into what inspires you and cements your place in the world as an artist who has something unique to say.
Each one of us has something unique inside of us – our own voice.
Whilst this journey is one of great discovery and exploration, it can also lead us down pathways of indecision, doubt and uncertainty. We may even at times think about turning back – unsure about which direction to go and how to continue.
In my own journey to becoming a professional artist, I often longed to have someone to guide me, to help me navigate my own unique odyssey – a mentor. Someone who has been there before and made it through the various highs and lows of creating unique and meaningful work that could only have come from their own experience.
PICTURE THIS:
IT’S ONE YEAR FROM NOW.
You have a portfolio bursting at the seams with sketches, studies, and finished work. You are ready to confidently approach galleries or plan a solo exhibition or host your own open studio tour. You fill out applications for the kind of exhibitions you could only have dreamed of applying for before. You may even be considering an art residency.
You have a unique, rich, cohesive body of work. It doesn’t look like the work of your teachers or guides or favourite artists.
It looks like YOUR work.
Every piece bears your signature and tells your unique story.
Are you ready to discover the inspiration that is already within you?
Need help to build a strong body of work that is cohesive, rich, and focussed?
Looking for support as you go through the joys and inevitable challenges of creating the work?
Are you ready to...
- Ask questions that will help you get to the heart of your creativity and what makes you a unique individual and artist?
- Unearth several possibilities for creating a series of work (and choose one of them!)?
- Identify a strong focus for your art practice for the duration of the programme?
- Learn about the unique ways in which our celebrated artists have crafted a rich identity and body of work?
- Navigate the highs and lows of building a sustained art practice with a strong framework of guidance (and additional support if needed)?
- And most importantly, create a rich and cohesive body of work?
*Please note – THERE ARE NO VIDEO TUTORIALS IN THIS PROGRAMME. The expectation is that you already have the techniques and tools and know how to apply them to your art practice. This programme is about building a body of work in a subject, medium and materials of your choosing.
Building a Body of Work – Your Art, Your Way is for artists committed to a regular art practice, who are seeking additional structure and support to help them on their journey.
It requires an openness to discover the initial seeds of an idea, confidence to sow those seeds and create the work and concrete strategies to navigate the challenges of motivation, doubt, and procrastination that occur for every artist. You then need ways of staying on track as the work is being created and a steady momentum to bring it all to life.
Through weekly lessons, prompts, and challenges, this programme will guide you to figure out whether you are following your muse or simply going through the motions.
As a professional, exhibiting artist, I have experienced every joy, doubt, breakthrough, and pitfall that can happen when you amake art. A focus on creating artwork that is unique to my experience and my story has been the most rewarding and fulfilling thing I have experienced in my art career. I have created this programme to share with you everything I know about the power of creating a rich, cohesive body of work that only you can create.
Could this in-depth and intensive online programme be the framework and map you need to explore your own creativity and deepen your art practice?
AFTER SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROGRAMME
You’ve unearthed a unique, rich, cohesive body of work from within you. Every piece bears your signature and tells your unique story.
Your journey might include portraits, landscapes, abstracts, intuitive explorations, paintings, textile art, drawings or mixed media. But it holds together as a strong body of work because it is all connected – it represents you. It represents the artist you know you can be.
You will be ready to take the next step – to go wherever your artwork wants to take you. The months spent discovering and developing your artistic voice have brought you to this place.
The hard work has paid off.
Are you willing and open to commit to a sustained period of intense creativity and growth in your art practice?
Prepare to be amazed at how consistent progression can take your work to the next level.
This intensive Programme includes:
- An online programme of weekly study
- Regular downloadable prompts and assignments
- The option of purchasing a mentoring session with Gillian as needed (or a package of mentoring sessions).
OPTIONAL MENTORING
You can purchase optional mentoring sessions to align with your study and development, allowing you to receive support, encouragement, and feedback for your practice.
Each session takes place via a one-hour Zoom call. Before the call, you will receive an email with suggestions on how to prepare. After the call, you will receive an audio and video recording of the call and a feedback summary to help you move forward.
Each session costs £150.00. For a discount, five sessions can be purchased for £700
Please email [email protected], and Gillian will contact you to arrange a suitable date and time for your session. Places for these single mentoring sessions are limited and on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Keys to Success in this Programme
COMMIT TO THE PROCESS
This programme will take a dedicated amount of time and focus to work through. Be prepared to create space in your week for the work involved. You will be asked to set your intentions for the week and plan your schedule. I estimate that the lessons will take around 4 – 5 hours a week (although most are available as an audio file that you can listen to whilst creating if you wish). This will allow you even more time for creating the work!
CREATE THE WORK
How much art you create during the programme is completely up to you. You can dedicate as much time as you wish to the creative/practical focus of creating your artwork although you will be expected to submit at least one art piece each chapter for review. (You can create many more, of course!)
You will be encouraged to have a regular sketchbook practice and create studies to support your body of work. The aim is to have at least six fully resolved pieces of artwork by the end of the programme.
It is recommended that you already have a regular art practice before pursuing this programme as dedication and engagement is key.
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