This week sees a new exhibition of work by Jacqui Mair at Jack House Gallery opens on Thursday 25th October from 6pm to 8.30pm and then from Friday onwards.

It was Henri Matisse who first described the art of collage as ‘drawing with scissors’ when he adopted the technique in his old age. The simple pleasure of chopping, snipping and gluing and the ability to move shapes and overlay textures and colours, ‘cutting directly into colour, abolishing the conflicts – between colour and line, emotion and execution,’ reinvigorated the art of his later years and sparked a new and bold creativity which was breathtaking to his great contemporary Picasso. Jacqui Mair loves the freeing nature of collage and the pleasure of juxtaposing shapes to build compositions:

‘I have been collaging for most of my life; I trained as a printmaker and found that the process of layering is very similar to collage. I think my major love is paper and I am at my happiest with a very sharp pair of scissors and a glue pot, cutting and pasting and drawing with scissors.’

Workshops

Jack House Gallery are offering the opportunity to have a go yourself –  Jacqui Mair will lead 2 workshops on the art of collage and you are welcome to take part, ‘collage compared to other art forms requires few tools or supplies and practically anyone with an appreciation for found objects , paper, and a love of composition can do it.  Our priority of the day is to understand the sorts of papers we may use and how we can through simple techniques make our own too. We will look at a small film that illustrates aspects of design and composition, colour choices, layering, cutting and gluing.  I would like to show some of my pieces and other artist’s work, the techniques they have chosen as inspiration and hope you will enjoy creating your own works of art.‘ The workshops will take place on Saturday 10th and Sunday 18th November 10-5pm. Places will be limited and they must be booked to ensure you don’t miss out. For further details go to the gallery website HERE.