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10Programme
We meet at Southlands Methodist Church, Bishopthorpe Road, York YO23 1NX. There is parking at the church, on nearby streets and in the local car park by the shops, a few minutes' walk away. There is cycle parking too and it is on a bus route. There is level access and the meeting room is on the ground floor.Events start at 7.30pm (unless otherwise stated). Doors open at 7pm – please aim to be seated by 7.15pm.
Admission: members £2, non members £5.
Membership and programme enquiries to:- info@yorkartworker.org.uk
Izabella Gill-Brown, Art Historian and Conservator of Fine Art
Sculptural Narratives: The secret and surprising history behind two marble busts
Monday 3rd October 2022
Has a piece of figurative sculpture ever enthralled you to the extent you’ve used your own initiative to reveal the story behind it? That’s what happened to Izabella when she came across two rather unusual but stunning marble busts painted in watercolour that were commissioned by Queen Victoria. With only a name to start with, she has over the last 3 years worked to uncover and piece together their unique narrative. Ranging from the Royally appointed sculptors, to who the subjects were and the lives they led, she now looks at the shocking context of the culture these sculptures now represent. This talk is a remarkable account of what she discovered.
Peter Maris, Sculptor
Monday 4th September 2022
Sculptor, Peter Maris was invited by Forestry England to submit proposals for a series of new artworks in Dalby Forest which then gained funding from Arts Council England. He chose to use this opportunity as a period of intense professional development by setting up collaborations with a small but diverse range of practitioners and with the aim of examining his own practice and extending his horizons through experimentation and the development of new creative approaches.
In this talk he reveals insights into the transitions he was able to make in each collaboration, the engagement of a rigorous self-critiquing process and the attempts to meet the challenges in the process of breaking down personal ‘perceived barriers and taboos’.
The talk will be complemented with illustrations of each collaboration and will also feature the work of artist photographer Peter Heaton, stained-glass artist Ann Sotheran, writer Jayne Murphy and musician Sean Noonan.
Visit the Cartshed Studio Art Projects Facebook page
Monday 4th July 2022
For
more than 50 years Forestry England has been engaged in outdoor arts
activities across the country. Many people will have heard of the arts
in Grizedale and Kielder Forests. In 2017, Forestry England launched an
arts strategy for Dalby Forest as the latest venue for high quality arts
activities. Petra Young, Forestry England’s funding & development
manager, developed this strategy in partnership with Crescent Arts and
Helen Sear. Petra will talk about the achievements so far and the plans
for the near future. Stories about sculpture as well as arts education,
workshops and exhibitions.
Petra at Rachel Whiteread’s Nissen Hut © Tony Bartholomew
Peter Bayliss, photographer
Exploring Creativity: A Photographer's Journey
Monday 6th June 2022
Traditional photography aims to capture what is there. The glorious building or a dramatic Landscape.
For some this is their life’s passion. Others are known to emulate the best by going to the same locations to copy their images. For me I was looking for more…
In my journey I wanted to do something different. Working in projects, ongoing and evolving. These include ‘Creative Composition’, ‘Monochrome madness’, ‘Camera movement’ and ‘Altered Reality’. Using my own work this talk aims to demonstrate that fine art photography goes beyond the record shot.
Peter is currently President of York Photographic Society and offers a wide variety of photography talks in person and on Zoom.
Ben Porter, Founder/Managing Director of York Creatives/portrait and lifestyle photographer
He will also talk about the book which he produced and published last year. York’s Creative Spaces is a collection of photographs and interviews profiling the studios, workshops, galleries, creative offices and independent venues of York, UK. Created by Ben Porter, this book documents the quirky, historic, repurposed spaces York’s creative community inhabits and creates work from, and is a beautifully illustrated and fascinating volume.
Visit Ben Porter photographer's website
Hannah Arnup, ceramicist
Julie Held, painter
Julie studied at Camberwell College of Arts and The Royal Academy Schools, London. Exhibitions include: The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, The London Group, The Jerwood Drawing Prize, The Threadneedle Prize, Flowers Central, The National Portrait Gallery and The Barbican, London, as well as solo shows in Prague, Leipzig and Hamburg. Her work is held in a number of public collections, including Nuffield College, Oxford University, New Hall, Cambridge University, The Open University, The Ruth Borchard, The Ben Uri Gallery & Museum and the Tomas Choir School in Leipzig.
Julie is an elected member of the London Group, NEAC, RWS and the Arborealists.
"As a sculptor working to commission, what I do seems to fall into three broad categories: Architectural Sculpture; Ecclesiastical Work; and, Sculptural work with Text. A broad range of materials get used in this work. This is not ‘fabricated’ work however. These are objects made through a direct involvement with material, and their form grows out of that.
As commissioned work, what gets made is also determined in part by a specific site, or purpose for the work, and it is perhaps influenced by whoever is commissioning it, or by consideration for those for whom it is commissioned. This is frequently public work and a number of things can inform what gets done.
Hopefully, I can involve the audience in some discussion of the work shown. I will be very selective and illustrate a very modest cross-section of what I do, in the hope that a range of issues might be brought-out that are part of what informs the design and making of the sculpture".
charlesgurrey.com
Mini Talks by YAWA Members
We're starting the year with our popular and relaxed Mini Talks evening. Members will tell us about a piece of their work or an object which may have inspired them or they might demonstrate a technique or process. A whole range of subjects will be covered in these short talks of 10 - 15 minutes; come and be entertained and pick up all sorts of snippets of information that you didn't know before.
Christmas Party after enjoying a talk by our guest speaker, Patrick Smith.
The evening started with a brief AGM.
Tim Hunkin
Monday 1st November 2021, Friends Meeting House, Friargate
Engineer, cartoonist, writer and artist, Tim Hunkin, talked about his fascinating and varied work.
Known for projects ranging from The Under The Pier Show of coin-operated automatons, to the TV series The Secret Life of Machines and his long-running The Observer comic strip, The Rudiments of Wisdom, Tim's talk will undoubtedly be rich and entertaining.
Owen Jones
Oak swill and basket maker
Monday 4th October 2021, Friends Meeting House, Friargate
Owen Jones has been making traditional oak swill baskets for more than 30 years. He coppices oak and hazel in local woodlands and enjoys the challenging journey from working in the woods, to cleaving, boiling, riving and dressing the oak; before relaxing into the mastered rhythm of weaving to create beautiful and rugged baskets. Owen also makes cleft oak gates, welsh frame baskets and rush hats. From oak log to finished swill, Owen will demonstrate and talk about his life as a traditional craftsman.
Bethan Griffiths