Breon O’Casey: Drawing Birds

Jo Blaker joins LDG for a class exploring and celebrating the enigmatic bird themed works of Irish artist Breon O’Casey…

LIVE ONLINE CLASS: Wednesday 10th June, 18:30 BST

(Live link can be found via your "Tickets" on the "Online Event Page" just before the event begins)

+ 14 Days Recording Access sent automatically via email

Taught by Jo Blaker and hosted by Luisa-Maria MacCormack

Please read our FAQs carefully for all the information required for this class ⭐

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EVENT DESCRIPTION:

Join us for a class in which we explore and celebrate the enigmatic bird themed works of Irish artist Breon O’Casey. As a painter, printmaker, jeweller, weaver and sculptor O’Casey is known for his versatility and ability to capture an animism across multiple forms.

A former assistant to artists Barbara Hepworth and Denis Mitchell, O’Casey came to sculpture later in life.

“Although my paintings are almost always abstract, my sculptures are almost always based on an animal, bird or person. Why this is, I don’t know, nor do I care. It’s as well to let questions like that alone”

Breon O’Casey’s birds teeter on becoming abstract. Yet somehow they convey the essence of “bird”. Despite heavy brush marks or the solidity of bronze we feel the lightness of flight and the quickness of gesture.

In this new class from Jo Blaker we will draw from both O’Caseys sculpture & prints. Beginning with mark making exercises to encourage flow in our movements and marks we will pay close attention to the edges that define his silhouettes. Guided by O’Casey’s methods and inspirations we will explore ways of carving drawings and seek to produce our own responses to his work.

MATERIALS LIST:

As ever, with Jo’s experimental approach you will be encouraged to explore what media you have.

The class will include these processes:

ERASURE. Suitable materials include - eraser + pencil, graphite, charcoal, soft pastel or coloured pencil

WAX RESIST - wax crayons or oil pastel & fluid media such as watercolour, inks, or ink based pens

ARTIST BIO:

Jo Blaker (b. Huddersfield, 1983) is a visual artist based in Marsden, West Yorkshire. Jo holds an MA in Visual Communication from the Royal College of Art (2011). Since 2019, Jo’s drawing practice has focused upon the sketchbook as a site of expressive, observational work generated through the course of day to day life, with a frequent focus on landscape. Her work combines a holistic approach to drawing with playful material enquiry & a love of observation. Natural rhythms, forms & cycles often feature in her work on paper & with people. Alongside her personal practice Jo is a regular contributor to the learning programmes of leading cultural venues such as Yorkshire Sculpture Park & The Hepworth Wakefield. In 2022 Jo founded an Urban Sketch Meet & has been a regular guest tutor with LDG since 2023.

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FAQs - Please read these thoroughly so you can be fully prepared for the class ⭐

WHO IS THIS FOR:

This class is suitable for ALL LEVELS.

TICKETS:

We suggest an amount of £20. However, we understand that may not be possible for everybody. Please be honest and pay what you can afford so that we may continue to offer our sessions on this basis whilst also giving our tutors a sustainable wage.

There is also a ticket option to "Pay It Forward" to support us and our students! We offer classes for free to those who can't afford the minimum amount (If this is you please email us to join for free). This continues to ensure our classes are available to everyone!

ONCE BOOKED:

You will receive a confirmation email and be able to access information on how to join the event via your eventbrite "Online Event Page" . You can access this by signing into eventbrite or creating an account using the email address that you booked with. We do not email out the live link.

IN THE CLASS:

You can't be seen or heard in our classes, your audio and video are automatically turned off and there's no way these can be turned on. You can talk to us and others in the class in the chat box! Our classes last between 1.5 - 2 hours.

AFTER CLASS:

We love to see your drawings or anything else our classes inspire! You can share them with us by tagging us on instagram (@londondrawinggroup) or emailing us if you don't have socials.

ARE YOU TRYING TO BOOK VIA THE EVENTBRITE PHONE APP?!

We have been in touch with Eventbrite, and they have informed us that currently you cannot book tickets to online events in their app. It's very frustrating and we have been assured they are working on a solution. In the meantime, we recommend that you book tickets to our events outside of the iOS app - either via a web browser or a desktop. If you book our classes regularly we recommend deleting the Eventbrite App.

RECORDING ACCESS:

We will email the recording link to everyone who has booked approx 2 hours after the live class finishes. This will be available to watch anytime within 14 days. Please reach out to us via email right away if you do not receive the recording - make sure you check your spam folder first!

Please note that our recordings expire permanently 6 weeks after the class takes place.

IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS OR QUESTIONS PLEASE EMAIL:

hello@londondrawinggroup.com

For tickets, click here.