From the studio

The challenge I set students this week was to paint a black and white portrait from the photograph they bought in. The process involved using carbon paper to transfer their image on to their painting surface. This resulted in a lively debate, as it always does, about whether or not using a transfer process to…

I wanted to find some new art podcasts! I think I’ve listened to all the interviews with visual artists on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs and This Cultural Life, and I’ve caught up with the new episodes of The Banksy Story. I do still have a few Moving Pictures left to listen to, preferably whilst…

Dad with Martin Parr at Dorchester HospitalWatercolour on Paper14x19cm2025 I find hospitals disorientating and time bending. Whether we are a patient or a visitor, it doesn’t take long before our connection with the outside world fades and we start to feel a bit institutionalised. Coming across art in a hospital can be a pleasant distraction;…

The start of the year has been yet another very successful period for Studio Fridays artists. Here’s a round up from January to March: Melissa Harris’s paper sculpture, ‘Purple Legged Spiral’, and Diana Sandetskaya’s oil painting, ‘Sunset in Mill Hill Park (XVII), were both selected for this year’s Wales Contemporary, and shown at the Garrison…

Whereas half of the term’s sessions are dedicated to lively, fast paced, one off, ‘mystery challenge’ workshop sessions, the other half are devoted to helping students develop their own ideas for making paintings. Here are some of the paintings that have been produced by painting students in the studio during the recent spring term.

I’ve decided to try out some alternative art podcasts. I’ve had a search and narrowed down to the following eleven that sound most interesting to me. The Lonely PaletteMeet me at the museumTalk ArtDialoguesOnly ArtistsRecording ArtistsThe week in artThe Art World: What if?An art to itAsk an artistA brush with Once I’ve had a listen…