3 September
Lemos&Crane have been working with the National Gallery to pilot a relaxed version of their flagship adult outreach programme, Talk and Draw.
In a Talk and Draw session you explore a painting, or set of paintings, in two different ways. First you listen to a short talk on the artist and painting, and then make your own response to the artwork by making your own drawing, perhaps comprising an element of the artwork or some element from the talk.
In our first Relaxed* Talk and Draw we found ourselves in the Dutch Gallery, a remarkable room with some fantastic landscapes and still lives. The two facilitators for the session, Sian and Karly, brought our attention to a number of paintings in the room as the participants all got to know the space a little better. We finally settled on a landscape by Aelbert Cuyp, River Landscape with Horseman and Peasants, and began to talk through various elements of the painting such as its composition, what the artist may have intended and our favourite parts. The 'talk' part of the session ended with a musical accompaniment to the painting, with each participant playing an instrument to make up an orchestral accompaniment to the painting.
For the 'draw' part, we were all invited to take up a piece of paper, either white, beige or black, and using three different chalks, in the same three colours, draw a section of the painting that we liked, the whole thing, or whatever else the 'talk' section of the session had provoked in us. Some brilliant pieces were created (although my attempt at a cow ended up more "like a squirrel") and we all gathered round at the end of the session to look at each others drawings.
All attendees were delighted with the day and we are all looking forward greatly to the second session later this week!
*Relaxed sessions are adapted specifically for improving accessibility and comfort for people with sensory requirements, autistic spectrum disorders and other learning disabilities.
Find out more about this project.
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