Artist for the Day

It is one thing to visit a famous gallery and take part in a workshop, but for the Artist Educator from a gallery to actually visit you and facilitate a workshop under your own roof is quite another experience! This is exactly what happened for people with sensory impairments from Gordon Road Service, when Artist Educator Angela Wright from the National Portrait Gallery visited.

The title of the workshop 'Changing the Way We Look' introduced the group to the work of artist Maggi Hambling, a controversial figure, who was, in fact, the first Artist in Residence at the National Gallery in 1980-81.

Thomas Stearn's painting of the writer and poet T.S. Eliot, was studied at great length by the group. Apparently Eliot had a dark melancholy side to his character and a light happier side. The group drew portraits which were embossed images, allowing the group to explore them from a tactile angle. The raised images added another dimension to the work.

The group also had the opportunity to dress-up with theatrical props to take on the guise of the characters in the artworks. This added humour to the workshop and the group had no inhibitions about changing roles.

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