FREE PORTRAIT PAINTING WORKSHOPS AND CALLING POMPEY CENTENARIANS!

I am recruiting for free portrait painting watercolour workshops, but there is a specific person I need to reach out to.......

BOOK A FREE WORKSHOP HERE

PORTSMOUTH 100/100 PORTRAITS

Portsmouth 100 Portraits is a participatory visual arts project engaging 100 residents in creating 100 painted portraits through a series of intensive, artist-led free workshops delivered across the libraries of Portsmouth.

Funded by Arts Council England and in partnership with Portsmouth City Council, Portsmouth Creates and The International Ferry Port the project focuses on individuals who do not currently engage with arts and culture, particularly those who lack confidence or feel excluded from creative activity. Workshops will take place in the Portsmouth libraries using an accessible and supportive approach to enable participants to complete a portrait regardless of prior experience.

The resulting works will form a city-wide exhibition arts trail in Portsmouth libraries increasing access to art beyond traditional venues. The project culminates in a final portrait of a Portsmouth centenarian, painted by me creating a centrepiece in a final exhibition at the International Ferry Ports showcasing the collected works of the project.

So if you are an aspiring artist, secretly drawing and painting at home or never drawn, or painted a picture before but fancied having a go? I am reaching out to you to join me in a free portrait painting workshop using watercolour. I want to tap into the hidden cultural activity in Portsmouth. I have spoken to many people over the years who are secretly creative but think the local arts scene isn’t something that applies to them as a hobbyist. Well, I think it does. Yeah, not everybody wants to put their work out there - I get it, but some do, and if YOU do, here is an opportunity!

I want to give you the opportunity to take part in a project that promotes your work in the wider community of Portsmouth.

My own work is about challenging the way the word culture is perceived in the city. I’ll paint anybody from any background no matter what their religion, politics, ethnic background, gender, race to capture the person beneath the surface of how someone looks as best I can. People judge by appearances but underneath we are all human beings and that’s why I am interested in the stories behind every person, no matter how simple or uninteresting someone might think their story is.

I think the word culture is often perceived in the city as an elitist activity that requires long winded, waffly language.  Going down the pub, watching Eastenders or going to the football is as much a cultural activity as going to an art gallery or the opera - the words sports and culture are often used together for this reason and I find it amazing why, so many men for instance, don’t consider themselves ‘cultural’. Dig deeper and they’ll have an interest in history or woodwork, DIY, all highly creative activities and yet cringe when the word culture is used. I want Pompey people to reclaim the word to describe their own stories, family histories or their own person journeys.

The painting created in the workshops will create pop up exhibitions in the libraries around the city culminating in a final exhibition at the international ferry port to greet travellers as they enter the city. The centre piece will be a portrait of a centenarian painted by me. So if you know anybody that was born in 1926 and would like their portrait painted,  hit the link below.

BOOK A FREE WORKSHOP HERE