RURAL ARTS

New exhibition starts 1st August (exhibition runs until 21st September).   Open Monday to Saturday (10am - 4.30pm, cafe also open. For more information about Jeff Josephine visit   www.jeffjosephinedesigns.co.uk

An exhibition of the work produced by the young people who have attended the popular Saturday Art Club is currently exhibited in the café area at Rural Arts. They worked with artists on drawing skills, collage, ceramics, printmaking and digital media – details below: Creating Your Design Using inspiration from objects such as plants, fish, shellfish, vintage cups and saucers and work exhibited in the gallery space they developed their ideas and sketched illustrations with watercolours and acrylic inks on watercolour and ingris paper. Collaged Canvases They painted a background onto a canvas and then painted their designs onto fabrics, dyeing with inks.  They then collaged work onto canvas to complete their first piece of work. Porcelain Plaques and Pictures They prepared the porcelain, made impressions in it and colour. They then made ceramic and porcelain cup cakes, plaques and animals. Printmaking Design ideas were printed onto paper

On Saturday, with the Courthouse playing host to a Raku workshop and a handthrown ceramic demonstration, fingers were crossed for fine weather. Clear, sunny skies meant the umbrellas and waterproofs could stay packed away as one corner of the car park contained a raku kiln, and the other a potter’s wheel. Harrogate College tutor Fiona Mazza took the workshop participants thorough the process of producing raku pots, from choosing glazes, decorating the pots, to drying and firing them. The fairly spectacular final stage is for the pots to be placed in a metal dustbin. The sawdust and newspaper held within bursts into flame, giving the raku pots their distinctive patterns and appearance. The audience was shown how to create horse hair decoration, by the positioning of horse hair on the pots as soon as they were removed from the kiln. The hair sizzles and burns, leaving a lightning like decoration, and a very distinctive smell. Young people from the Saturday Arts Club worked alongsid

On Thursday 22nd July Lynn Cook brought a touch of alchemy to The Old Courthouse.  As part of the Fired Up series of events Lynn, a member of the Flux Arts Group, demonstrated the lampwork technique, giving visitors an opportunity to see the process of making glass beads. Lynn uses rods of soda lime glass, each a different colour. These are heated and wound around a ceramic covered bar to create the basic bead. The beads are adapted by twisting or adding smaller nodules of glass, building up into miniature complex works of art. As the beads cooled the colour of the glass went through several changes, often ending up very vivid in contrast to its appearance while in the gas flame. Once the beads are made Lynn combines them with silver to make necklaces, earrings and bookmarks, transforming the beads again as they are put together in different combinations. Lynn showed how she took inspiration for her work from walks in the Scottish countryside, the Rocky Mountains and visits to ar

The current Fired Up exhibition contains many different styles of work, one of the most striking being the clay heads sculpted by Kay Latto.  Today Kay ran a very popular course where the nine attendees sculpted a small clay head. Kay demonstrated how these heads started with two thumb pots pressed together to give the basic shape, the hollow form protecting the sculpture from exploding in the kiln. The features are then slowly built up with eyes, nose, lips and ears added to bring the face to life. By the end of the session real personality and humanity was captured in these small sculptures, with goddesses, ex military men and at least one faerie waiting to go in the kiln. The Fired Up exhibition programme of events continues for the rest of the week. On Friday 22 nd Harrogate college student Lynn Cook will be demonstrating glass bead making, using the lamp work technique (10-3). Saturday 23rd will be another busy day with a Raku workshop running 10-4 (Cost £10 per person, pl

Despite the awful weather a very successful Raku workshop took place at The Courthouse on Saturday, however, umbrellas and waterproofs were required in the morning to watch the impressive firing process in the "dustbin kiln" which was sited in the car park. Don Hannant (who currently has work exhibited in the Flux exhibition here at The Courthouse) ran the workshop and guided 10 participants through the exciting process of raku - designing, decorating and firing the pieces of work - he had brought slip cast pieces with him for people to use including tiles, bowls, fruit platters etc. Visitors to The Courthouse and young people at the Saturday Art Club also took the opportunity to watch the workshop and the firings and chat to Don and the participants. The photos below show the process involved and if you would like to have a go at raku Dave Oxley and Fiona Mazza (tutors from Harrogate College) are running another course this Saturday 23rd July (10am - 4pm - £10 for a mi