When we stand before a painting, sculpture or print we
surrender ourselves to their expressive address and enter into a silent
dialogue with their creators. We re-experience their feelings, we read mental
backgrounds, or we try to find out how a certain work of art was coming into
existence. The exhibits assembled in the Permanent Collection of the National
Gallery of Slovenia are a rich source of creative inspiration. For this reason,
in addition to guided tours and lectures for visitors, we have been organizing
various creative courses for a number of years. The courses are meant to invite
visitors to make drawings and sculptures in front of the exhibits in the collection
or to test their abilities in printmaking. The present exhibition shows the
works of participants to four courses that were held in the National Gallery
from September to December 2018.
Drawing course
Sixteen draughtsmen and women studied in detail landscapes,
still-lifes and portraits mounted in the Permanent Collection. They drew in
front of the works of our masters, sometimes choosing a detail and at other
times capturing the whole. The students mainly used pencil and graphite. In the
Creative Studio, they worked from templates and life models. While depicting
objects, they became more skilled in shading and modelling. They continued by
learning about picture space, the laws of perspective and about organic shapes
of still lifes. Their final endeavour was portraiture, where they also drew
from life. The students used drawing to develop continuously their own artistic
interpretation.
Watercolour painting course
Twenty participants spent
their Wednesday evenings by the Ljubljanica River or in Tivoli Park and painted
cityscapes and landscapes. They observed nature, learned about elementary laws
of picture space, and at the same time searched for their own artistic
viewpoint in the method known to every child but at the same time known for its
difficulty. The nature of watercolour painting demands going with the flow on
one side and control and quick decision-making on the other.
Intaglio printmaking techniques course
Fourteen participants of the course were trained in
different intaglio printmaking techniques: drypoint, etching, aquatint,
reservage, vernis-mou. The intaglio technique also enabled them to vary
different techniques. They prepared matrixes themselves and learned how to make
quality graphic impressions. The prints they made evidence their acquired
technical skill and the development of their own artistic idiom. Each
participant expressed their own linear lyricism, selected composition, and
colour or tone mood.
Clay sculpture course
Seven participants modelled clay in a relaxed
and friendly atmosphere. We learned about the basic principles of modelling
clay, about the tools needed for this sort of work, different paints for
colouring clay and glazes. We started by making a relief, then a cup, vessel,
hollow sphere, animal figure, human figure, portrait, etc. We found inspiration
for our work in the wonderful sculpture collection of the National Gallery of
Slovenia and in the exhibition of Ivana Kobilca.
Mentor of the Drawing course
Teja Vučko
Mentor of the Watercolour painting course
mag. Miha Pirnat ml.
Mentor of the Intaglio printmaking course
Tina Mohorović
Mentor of the Clay sculpture course
Sabina Mattersdorfer
Coordination of the exhibition
mag. Kristina Preininger
Preparation of works
Tina Buh, mag. Miha Pirnat ml.
Translated by
Alenka Klemenc and Michel Mohor
20 December 2018 – 11 January 2019
National Gallery of Slovenia
Prešernova 24
1000 Ljubljana