The Artist's Year - a transformative art course for passionate artists
- LS
- Jan 9
- 3 min read
For the first time this year I have been running The Artist's Year. The idea for the course sprang out of conversations I had had with a sizable group of students who kept returning to Long House Studios for weekend workshops, short courses and summer weeks. They told me how they particularly enjoyed the feeling that they were improving their skills and knowledge over time, and how they longed for a course that would help them to develop as artists rather than hobbyists. Many told me how they had loved art at school but been unable to combine it with science subjects, or how work and family had got in the way of part of themselves which they felt had been neglected ever since. Other's had taken up art later in life but really wanted to become good at it and commit time and energy to doing so. They needed support and direction.
I could see there was a thirst for a serious, challenging, but supportive programme that could offer these students an experience of art education that, for whatever reason, they felt they had missed.
And so, The Artist's Year was born!
My proposal was to run a course which would be a day a week, from October to June (30 weeks, with breaks). I thought hard about what it should include, given that the course's aim was to develop each participant as an artist. What makes a good artist? Not an easy question to answer!
Having speculated about various approaches, I eventually established four main aim’s.
To improve skills (particularly drawing – as this underpins and dictates the quality of everything else)
To broaden everyone's experience and understanding of art history and the work of leading artists as a means to understanding artistic practice
To develop personal ideas and a personal ‘voice’
To provide an environment, time, space, and encouragement, to experiment, explore, discover and discuss.
My hope was that group would become a thinking, creative and supportive community of artists and that by the end of the year everyone would feel more confident in their own way of working and direction.
With this in mind I planned the course over three terms, each one building on the previous one, culminating in an exhibition of work in the summer.
Term 1 was to be fairly directed– covering a variety of media and processes, aiming to improve drawing skills alongside exploring ways to creatively develop a simple starting point into a body of interesting and unexpected work.
The studio days would include introductions to new artists, creative tasks, discussion and feedback, whilst between sessions students would be encouraged to respond to the work of new artists, develop work started in the sessions, and to keep a visual or reflective diary.
As I write this I am about to begin Term 2. My intention is to gradually lighten the amount of direction given, whilst maintaining enough challenge and support. It was interesting to learn from the reflective discussion we had at the end Term 1, how many felt 'not as good as the others' and often, despite recognising that it was a 'good thing' to be pushed outside their comfort zones, quite overwhelmed by the discomfort of using new media or not knowing where an activity was heading. I realised that this attitude, of experimental 'play', of embracing the process rather than worrying about the outcome, is so crucial to artistic practice and can be hard to relax into. So many of us feel anxious about being judged or looking foolish, and this anxiety is the enemy of creativity. My task in Term 2 will be to support each student to build confidence and ease into their working practice.
So, it is an exciting journey! There has been much laughter and learning and I can't wait for the next ten weeks!
Student feedback for Term 1
"a great first term, I've LOVED it (despite being right outside my comfort zone) and really looking forward to the next one"
"thanks for a wonderful, if challenging term, and to everyone for their companionship and humour on our exciting journey"
"this course has kept me sane! Thank you"
This year I had so much interest in The Artist's Year that I have run the course on two days with two groups. I may do the same next year, so if you are interested but cannot do Fridays, let me know.
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