Digging deeper into your art practice with Nicki Heenan

Product Description

THE MIND IN THE CAVE – DIGGING DEEPER INTO YOUR ART PRACTICE

A 3-day residency based in Cambridge with facilitator Nicki Heenan RI

Often working in your studio is reminiscent of being in a cave. You are searching in the dark for the nugget of inspiration that will illuminate your artistic vision. The title for this residency comes from a book that looks at the earliest development of visual arts recorded by humans. By aligning ourselves to the motivations of why we create and what we are communicating to the outside world, we will be looking at concepts for developing a body of work. To do this we will need to dig deeper than representation and utilise sensory processes and techniques to unveil our subconscious.

Working closely with the natural environment, there will be opportunities to learn about pigments, inks and preparing surfaces to provide a platform for investigation. A range of exercises to inspire and challenge will be included in the days offering and you will be encouraged to incorporate these ideas into your existing work. The focus of the 3 days is on self-development – to assist in this there will be 1:1 tuition and guidance as well as group activities and discussion.

Mediums: Bring your materials of choice for working with away from the studio, I want you to be as comfortable as possible. There will be items provided for the process-based exercises and these will be suitable for all mediums.

We each have our own scale we feel comfortable working with so stay with this during the course. It would be helpful to send me 3 images of your style and approach to painting. I will share my methods of working and how I prepare for long sustained periods of self-directed learning. Try not to attend this workshop from ’the cold’. It would be very helpful if you could bring working sketches and unfinished pieces to develop.

At the end we will look at possibilities for residencies, exhibitions and managing your portfolio in a sustained and organic way.

About Nicki

Nicki Heenan is a member of  the RI – the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours and then the RWSW – the Royal Watercolour Society of Wales.  In 2016 Nicki was awarded a Fellowship at Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Co Mayo, Ireland and her painting that is held at the Museum at Ballinglen was selected by the US Ambassador to Ireland to hang in the Embassy offices.

What people say about Nicki Heenan’s Workshop

“I recently completed an advanced oil and cold wax workshop’ with Nicki Heenan. I was impressed, as a teacher myself, with the individual advanced preparation Nicki had taken time to organise for each student. She had brought books and photocopies of artworks that were pertinent to each of us and had obviously thought about our needs, as students, prior to the course. Nicki was a generous and inspirational teacher. She guided us through new processes and was encouraging and supportive at each stage. Nicki was also ‘down to earth’ and we managed to learn a great deal, at the same time having fun in a relaxed environment. I can thoroughly recommend Nicki’s courses to anyone thinking about taking one. My advice would be do it!”

Hilary Garlick

To find out more about Nicki, visit her website.