Last week, a group of Fine Art & Photography Sixth Formers attended a series of lectures by four artists working across a range of disciplines. The focus of the lectures was how each artist approaches the creative process in their practice.
It was a very insightful day which began with the renowned British ceramicist ‘Kate Malone’, who was also a presenter on the first series of the TV programme ‘The Great British Throwdown’.
The second speaker was Cathie Pilkington RA, a sculptor and figurative artist renowned for crafting increasingly ambivalent forms. Her sculptural practice combines the interrelated and antagonistic worlds of fine art and craft.
Stuart Pearson Wright is one of the UK’s leading portrait artists. He studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and has won the National Portrait Gallery’s BP travel award. We heard at times witty renditions of how he came to paint a number of well-known figures, from John Hurt to J.K Rowling.
Finally, Simon Norfolk, an award-winning documentary photographer who often captures moments of war or crisis. His works have been collected by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Tate Modern in London.
The students were left feeling energised and enthusiastic about their own individual practices as art students, and inspired for the next chapter of their own creative processes.