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Map Dedham Higham Introduction Abstraction

Art Course Venues in the UK.
for more information on the venues click on the spots on the map .

Dedham Hall, Dedham.

The Vale of Dedham lies about 70 miles from London between the towns of Colchester and Ipswich. It is a wide valley through which runs the River Stour, the boundary between Essex and Suffolk. The Vale is probably most generally known by John Constable's famous landscapes. Dedham Hall began as a farm house in AD1400 and now functions as a well known restaurant and painting venue dedicated to running Adult Education art courses the whole year round. Bedrooms have en suite facilities, the food is very good and the studio is converted from one of the original timber beamed barns. Tuition is probably the best available in practical painting. There are many and varied locations for painting outdoors. Flatford Mill is just a gentle walk from Dedham Hall, along the River Stour. This has got to be high on everyones list of painting venues.

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Higham Hall, Cumbria.

Highham Hall was built as a substantial Victorian country house within its own park land. Since then it has served as a Youth Hostel and as a teachers training college, but is now in its 25th year as an Adult Education Residential College. Courses cover a wide range, through music, fine arts, various crafts, information technology, archeology, history, architecture, geology, geography, writing and walking. Over its time as an Adult Education College it has been continuously upgraded such that almost all rooms have en suite washroom facilities and there is now a large new art studio just across the small courtyard. The food is good, the tutors are excellent and the prices very reasonable. What more could you want?

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Introduction to Abstraction Course.

This is a course for beginners and the more experienced, but tailored to those who have not attempted abstraction before. We begin with a review of the components of a picture - the artist's tools and the techniques available to him. Each day we explore a different relationship between these tools and techniques usually starting with a realistic source then moving it into abstraction. This will give us a completed painting by evening when we will review progress through an informal critical session. In addition to the practical side to the course John will be attempting to put abstract painting into context by offering talks covering pertinent aspects such as:- Depiction and perception, - the distinct roles of the artist and the viewer. An analysis of the attractions in a picture, - why do we like one picture and not another? Creativity and brain function, - why do we need to paint? Realistic painting versus abstract painting, - how are they inter-related? By the end of the course we will have explored the various approaches to abstract painting, we will each have a portfolio of exciting pictures, we will have an understanding of how fundamental abstraction is to all of us and of why we find it so stimulating.

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The Abstract Course.

This is not a course for beginners to painting as it presumes a degree of knowledge and skill, but it is tailored to those who have not attempted abstraction before. We begin with a review of the components of a picture - the artist's tools and the techniques available to him. Each day we explore a different relationship between these tools and techniques usually starting with a realistic source then moving it into abstraction. This will give us a completed painting by evening when we will review progress through an informal critical session. In addition to the practical side to the course John will be attempting to put abstract painting into context by offering talks covering pertinent aspects such as:- Depiction and perception, - the distinct roles of the artist and the viewer. An analysis of the attractions in a picture, - why do we like one picture and not another? Creativity and brain function, - why do we need to paint? Realistic painting versus abstract painting, - how are they inter-related? By the end of the course we will have explored the various approaches to abstract painting, we will each have a portfolio of exciting pictures, we will have an understanding of how fundamental abstraction is to all of us and of why we find it so stimulating.

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