R u r a l A r t s

October visitors to The Old Courthouse in Thirsk will have the chance to try their hand at drawing, doodling and sketching. For the whole month Rural Arts is taking part in The Big Draw , a national festival organised by The Campaign for Drawing, to encourage people of all ages to pick up a pencil, and rediscover the simple joy of drawing. Free drawing activities will be available in the cafe, gallery and workshop spaces, every day from 10am to 4pm.  Come along and make some hand drawn bunting, have a go at projected drawings, design fingerprint bugs or try drawing with sticks! During half term come along with your autumn leaves and seeds to take part in communal drawing activities with an artist. Throughout the month our Rural Arts’ regular Arts Clubs will also be getting into the spirit of the Big Draw with special workshops.  On the 8 th and 15 th October Saturday Kids Club will feature big drawing activities on big paper.  On the 7 th and 14 th October the adults get

There are a few spaces left on the arts workshops for aimed at people working with primary school age children - teachers, trainee teachers, artists, childminders etc. The courses are all one-day courses run by artist Jo York and will cover a range of subjects - see details below.  For more information or to book a place contact Rural Arts or email: janice@ruralarts.org and we can send out a booking form.

ThirskWriteNow held their second meeting last Tuesday, with four more writers joining us at The Old Courthouse. Throughout the evening we shared examples of our writing, with sonnets, flash fiction, children’s stories and novel excerpts. The work showed how much writing talent there is in the Thirsk area. For the next meeting we set a little challenge to stretch the brain cells; to write up to 500 words, in any style (short story, script, poem etc.), based around the word ‘bubble’. Or just come along and meet some fellow writers in a friendly, laidback environment! The next meeting will be 4 th October, The Old Courthouse, Westgate, Thirsk. There will be a small charge of £2 per person to cover the hire of the room.

Friday’s private viewing of the new life drawing and painting exhibition showed the high quality of work achieved in the classes run by artist Rosie Skaife d’Ingerthorpe. Friends and colleagues had a chance to talk to Rosie, and the students themselves, about the different pieces of art on show. The artwork covered many different styles, with pencil work, charcoal, pastels, paintings and some beautifully simple ink and bamboo sketches. The exhibition runs until 27 th October. Life drawing and painting classes at  The Courthouse begin again on Saturday 1 st October, with four one day sessions. Drawing and painting classes start on Monday October 3 rd, running over eight morning sessions. Both courses are open to anyone over 18. To book a place on the courses, or for more information, please call WEA on 0113 245 3304 Also as part of the exhibition Rural Arts are exhibiting ceramic sculptures by Leeds based artist Mandy Long, based on contemporary dance.   (The proceeds from sales of Ma

We had our oldest workshop participant to date at the Felt making workshop here at The Courthouse. A delightful lady of 92 who kept everyone entertained with her remarkable stories of organising her own 90th birthday party (which went on for 5 days and which she did all the catering for and made her own birthday cake!)  She also has Sky Plus and follows sport avidly and has been to the Millennium Stadium to watch Cardiff play rugby and to watch Manchester United play!   She made green felt balls and is going to add red balls to them to make dangly Christmas earrings (we asked her to send a photo of her wearing them!) She came along to the workshop with her daughter, Marion, who has been a keen supporter of Rural Arts for several years now.  We look forward to seeing them both again soon. We also had a Mum of one of the girls who comes along to our Saturday Art Club - there could be some competition there - who has made the best keyrings - Mum or daughter!!

A new exhibition at Rural Arts aims to show the importance of life drawing to the practice of art, displaying recent work by Thirsk based WEA students. “Life drawing underpins all art,” says Rosie Skaife d’Ingerthorpe, WEA art tutor at the Old Courthouse, “Working with a life model, you can capture the gravity and life force that is absent when working from photographs. This is not just important for portraiture, but all art. In London, architects used to be sent for life drawing classes as part of their training.” The students exhibiting come from all walks of life, including retired surgeons, writers and college students. The course gave them a chance to work with professional life drawing models, gaining skills they can take in many different artistic directions. Ken Blakeson, one of the WEA students, says, “I came to this life class because I have always drawn, and I wanted to learn to do it properly. Yes, I have learned technique, but also I have managed to cast off a few preconce

Hambleton and Richmondshire's Alzheimer's Society's would like to invite you to the first Community Dementia Forum to be held at Rural Arts on Thursday 22nd September (10am - 12noon).

Tuesday saw The Old Courthouse play host to the first ThirskWriteNow, a new group set up by writers in the area to get together, share work, exchange ideas and provide encouragement. We spent the first session introducing ourselves, and the type of writing we are interested in. The group included comedy writers, published novelists and short story writers, as well as some writing purely for their own pleasure. The evening was relaxed and friendly, with the group deciding to meet up every other Tuesday. Future sessions will include guest speakers, talks on self publishing and evenings sharing new projects. The next meeting will be 7:30pm, Tuesday 20 th September. Writers are invited to bring a piece of writing, about 500 words to share, so we can all get a bit more familiar with each others’ work. This can be from a script, novel, poem or short story, all are welcome. If you would like to meet fellow writers in the area, please come along. This is a fantastic opportunity for writers

Congratulations to Lisa and Jamie, we have all  had a fantastic day at their wedding.  Lisa looked amazing and Jamie so smart in his army uniform.  They are a lovely couple and we wish them a long and happy married life together.

ThirskWriteNow Are you a writer? ThirskWriteNow is a new group for enthusiastic writers, either published or unpublished, who are based in or around the Thirsk area. The group will meet regularly to provide a forum for writers to share their work, give and receive constructive feedback and exchange ideas and support. All writers are welcome to join us for our first meeting on: Tuesday 6 th September 7.30 pm – 9.30 pm Thirsk Rural Arts / Old Courthouse Building. We look forward to seeing you there. Please feel free to join us on the night or, for further information, please email: thirskwritenow@aol.com .

A fantastic day here at The Courthouse today, the Homemade and Vintage Fair has been really busy with a lot of visitors all delighted with their finds!  Come along tomorrow (10am - 4pm) and see for yourself, there really is something for everyone. New delivery of cupcakes too so you can treat yourself after you have had a browse.

This weekend we are hosting the Homemade and Vintage Fair (Saturday and Sunday 10am - 4pm) - a delightful collection of hand painted  furniture, textiles and home wares (past and present). Lots of handmade and vintage goods to buy, as well as craft projects to try at home and on the day. With good ideas, inspiration and a well trained eye for a bargain you really can make a house a home without spending a fortune! Come along and enjoy browsing at this free event then relax in our cafe and sample our delicious coffees, homemade cup cakes, tray bakes and quiche.