Cedar Farm Gallery

WITH OLIVIA BROTHERIDGE THROUGHOUT 2017  @ CEDAR FARM GALLERY

This year, The Gallery has been thrilled to host a number of workshops by Printmaker, Olivia Brotheridge. A Norfolk based artist, but originally from our small rural community, Olivia was willing to travel the long 5 hour journey to lead various workshops in lino printing and children’s block printing throughout 2017. 

Olivia majored in illustration, and has since become a full time printmaker, leading workshops and demonstrations predominantly in Lino Printing. 

We held 5 very full classes over the course of the year. We absolutely loved having Olivia in the Gallery and can’t wait to welcome her back for more classes in 2018.

If you missed out on classes this year, take a look at some of the incredible work students made using basic lino techniques, as well as the more advanced Reduction Printing.

Reduction printing is a tough one to get your head around at first and involves planning. It is a way of printing with two or more colours using the same piece of lino. By cutting a basic block shape and printing an edition of prints in the first colour, you then work into the same lino block again to cut away the detail you wish to remain, then print on top in a second colour.

We saw some beautiful Reduction prints in our classes, keep an eye out for the  bird and an artichoke...

PORCELAIN SPOON WORKSHOP JULY 30TH @ CEDAR FARM GALLERY 

This year we were lucky enough to be joined by Ceramic artist and renound crafts person, Emma Louise Wilson. 

Famous for her delicate and sculptural work in Porcelain, Emma works in fine detail to create and decorate her paper thin vessels.

As avid collectors and followers of Emma’s work, we were thrilled when she agreed to deliver a special workshop at The Gallery as part of our 30th Anniversary celebrations.

MORNING

The day started early as we had a lot to make. Participants each made 3 ceramic pieces from porcelain, a spoon, brooch and wall plaque. 

We began by using a mould to form the shape of the spoon, building the form up in layers carefully as to not leave any weak or thin areas. Once built up in the moulds, these were decorated with decals, lace and stamps to create detail on the spoon. Left to dry in the sun, we began working on our next pieces.

The brooch and wall plaque we built by hand. Simple clay pieces sized and cut out of rolled porcelain clay. We again built up detail with more clay and used lace patterning and stamping to form texture. 

AFTERNOON

By the time we’d had lunch most of our pieces were dry enough to work onto with oxides and glazes. We used two main oxides to bring out the texture and gentle patterns created by the lace and stamping- Indigo blue or deep brown. It was a test to apply the right amount of oxide as the colour only comes out in the firing. (Most of the class were overly cautious in this, which we discovered when our pieces arrived back from the kiln.)

Oxides applied, we moved onto glazes. Less is more in this type of ceramic as the perfect white of the porcelain is feature enough. We very carefully applied small amounts of glaze in the areas we want to highlight, and carefully packed up our little pieces for their short journey back up the M6 to Emma’s kiln in The Lake District.

FIRING

It wasn’t long before our pieces were fired and posted out to the happy recipients. As mentioned earlier, in attempt to not overdo the oxide application some pieces could have had a little more, but the entire day was a learning experience and we certainly took a lot from it, and accomplished so much. 

Looking forward to using these new skills and working with porcelain again soon!

JULY 17TH 2017

We had a full house in The Gallery in July, when local artist and teacher, Val Templeman held a demonstration on Painting with Watercolours. 

A 2 hour demonstration where Val talked us through tips and techniques of the medium. This proved to be a fantastic introduction for beginners, as Val walked us through which brushes, paper and materials to use and WHY. We looked at the difference in cold pressed and hot pressed paper, the varying quality of brushes, and the pigmentation of student quality and artist quality paints. This was an informative evening, and everyone was busily taking notes throughout.

 As the evening went on, Val introduced watercolour mediums for and discussed tips and techniques for painting in detail and creating various techniques. 

We looked at salt glazing and the mottling effect it has on your image, as well as wax resist techniques.

We compared the effects of hot and cold pressed paper, and the type of painter it would suit. 

Val talked us through some of her more detailed work, which had everyone hooked, and very impressed. Some of our more experienced painters found the tips and ideas here very useful in their practice. 

DAY CLASSES

JULY 2017 & DECEMBER 2017 @ THE GALLERY

During the year, we’ve had some excellent events and classes in The Gallery, but the Silverwood Emporium Mixed Media Card Making are high up on my list of favourites.

Rachael Silverwood joined us again after the fun we had at her Textiles Wall hanging class, to show off her skills in card making. Participants made a set of greetings cards; each using a different skill, and each totally uinique.

We looked at decoupage, applique, stamping, collage and embroidery to create a set of individual greetings cards worthy only of gifting to your bestest besty!

During our two classes we saw some amazing creations and we wanted to show you some of our favourites.

We’d love to have more fantastic workshops with Rachael in the New Year so if you’re interested, do let us know and we’ll see what we can muster up! 

Email us.. [email protected] or call 01704 822038

19TH & 20TH AUGUST 2017 @ CEDAR FARM

On a gorgeous sunny weekend in August, we were joined by Priory Terracotta who set up camp in our courtyard.

Local potters, Steve and Steve(!) set up their portable pottery wheel to help us celebrate 30 years as a craft gallery. They threw huge terracotta pots to the amazement of our visitors. We had a wealth of things going on this weekend, so plenty of folk visiting from out of town, and we were very happy to give them a show from some of our finest Lancashire makers.

Many thanks to Steve for throwing the biggest pots he could!

You can find Priory Terracotta outdoor pots available to buy from The Potting Sheds at Cedar Farm.

JANUARY 2017

We’ve had so may events and happenings in The Gallery this year that we thought we just had to put them down pen to paper (so to say!) else we’d miss something. 

Early in the year we arranged for Wigan based artist, Anthony Barrow to give a demonstration on painting with Acrylics. 

During the evening he painted two pictures, one landscape, one portrait; displaying all the different effects you can achieve with this newer painting medium. 

As suppliers of art materials for almost 30 years, we’ve seen this water- based medium become more popular in recent years and has certainly surpassed the once leading Oil paint. Painters are favouring the quick drying and versitile aspects of Acrylic. 

THE MEDIUM EFFECT

Anthony walked us through using various mediums, which is a fantastic plus for Acrylic painting- there are so many mediums and effects available. 

You’ve got your fairly standard mediums to allow quick or slow drying, thinners, as well as a variety of more exciting textured effects, such as lava and sand texture gel, iridescent medium and glosses.

Used correctly, some mediums can help maintain the stability and vibrancy of your colours over time.

VISIT US IN THE GALLERY

To see our selection of Acrylic paint and mediums, and to find out about future demonstrations.

JULY 20TH 2017 @ CEDAR FARM GALLERY

We kicked off the first of our 30th Celebration Gallery Workshops with a day long course with Rachael from Silverwood Emporium.

Many of you will know Rachael and her work from our Cedar Farm Makers and Farmers Market, where she sells her beautiful wares.

THE DAY

We set about transforming our shop into Workshop space and opened the doors on a sunny Monday, while the rest of Cedar Farm was resting after a busy week.. and welcomed 7 glorious ladies in for the day.

Rachael creates mixed media textiles and cards which are made from her vast collection of old linens, silk threads, memorabilia, collectible stamps and other ephemera. Her work is light hearted, fun and appreciates the patterns and design in everyday items we’d normally throw away.

This was the mantra of the day, as our ladies were encouraged to work with a variety of media to build a wall hanging unique to them. Waste nothing, and embellish everything!

I watched as throughout the day our hardworking ladies designed and created their piece, which became so unique and personal to each of them. So much personality!

Keep an eye out for future workshops in The Gallery, we have a range of art and craft classes, full day or Evening, All materials are provided and all have a break with delicious homemade cakes and refreshments.

WIGAN WOODCRAFT SOCIETY AUGUST 3RD 2017 @ CEDAR FARM GALLERY

Members David and John joined us at Cedar Farm for a day in July. 

With a portable lathe, the crew can set up just about anywhere they can plug into. It’d take David about half an hour to create a small bowl from a block of wood. Using tools not just for cutting into the wood but also for steadying the hand. The all important factor in wood turning is keeping the carving the same as the lathe spins in rotation. The video will give you a better idea.

If you’re keen to give it a go, make sure you have a broom handy!