Recently, I was asked to devise and help run a collagraph workshop for local school students, as part of the University’s provision for the National Saturday Art Club.
The Club’s co-founders, John and Frances Sorrell, both started their professional journeys by attending Saturday art classes. John and Frances ran an internationally successful design business, Newell and Sorrell, before setting up The Sorrell Foundation in 1999, with the aim of inspiring creativity in young people.
The National Saturday Club website states: ‘If there isn’t a space in the school timetable for the imagination to thrive, then we hope we can create this space at the weekend – a space that is challenging and educating, but also inspiring and fun.’
A partnership with the UK’s leading universities, colleges and cultural institutions, the National Saturday Club offers programmes of expert tuition in four subject areas to 13–16 year olds, for free. There are Saturday Clubs in Art&Design, Fashion and Business, Science and Engineering and Writing and Talking, and each runs for up to 30 weeks across the academic year, using the specialist facilities of its locations.
We have two studio sessions planned. The first would concentrate on making collagraph plates, while the second would be on producing prints.
A few weeks before the session, I suggested that a range of suitable plate-making materials be gathered. As with most collagraph workshops, there is a temptation for people with little experience of the technique to glue as many different materials as possible, in layers that are too thick to be successfully printed.
This meant that much of the session involved advising the students on limiting the depth of materials on the plate, or suggesting that different combinations of materials might yield better results in the final print. Luckily, the students would have a full week before printing their plates, which gave adequate time for the plates to dry. I insisted that they seal the plates with shellac, to avoid any adverse reactions with the PVA glue used to stick the materials to the surface of some mount board.
The plates produced were very interesting – full of intriguing materials and textures. I’m really looking forward to helping them with their prints!
Reference: The National Saturday Art Club
https://saturday-club.org/
