I’ve been working in the craft shop on Saturdays on and off for a couple years, having started off doing a week of work experience in year 9. I’m now at the end of year 12, doing an A Level in art, and looking to continue art into university next year, and to gain more experience in art in the real world, I’m doing a couple days work shadowing to see how New Brewery Arts functions as an organisation. Since I’ve had a fair amount of experience with New Brewery Arts, I’ve put together a list of what I find the most engaging here, and what I think other people my age would enjoy the most. I often find that people my age who have an interest in art steer clear of art organisations like New Brewery Arts as they think there’s nothing for them here and tend to overlook really good opportunities because of that. With that in mind, this is my list of my favourite things in New Brewery Arts for people under 20.
Hopefully, you find these as interesting as I do and consider paying a visit or booking a course. I think it's really important to encourage younger artists to interact with the art already being created and develop their own art by doing so. We as a generation will shape the future of art, which is vital now more than ever as art has surfaced as an even more crucial part of human wellbeing, especially during lockdown, and equipping young people to be in the best position possible to create and inspire will ensure we can make our voices heard through our art and contribute to a better life for everyone in the future.
1- Tracey Elphick in Studio 1 is a talented mixed media painter who combines acrylic paints and inks with collage to create busy paintings, often landscapes of the local area or beautiful places further afield. She also creates smaller still life oil paintings usually of food or birds. I love her use of excitement and colour as it comes across and fresh and different, and I think this would be really appealing to young artists, as it entirely lacks the boredom associated with a lot of traditional art.
2 - Louise and Colin Hawkins are passionate professional glassmakers whose studio at New Brewery Arts is open from Monday to Saturday most weeks. Their process is entirely nonstandard to traditional art forms, extremely exciting to watch, and perfect for a young artist looking to connect with alternative art forms. They perfectly showcase how glass can be used to create interesting and unique pieces, and entirely subverts the expectation of the medium to just be used for practical objects like cups or vases. This is one of the many studios that demonstrate the range of options for creating personal art.
3 - Daniella Wilson-Dunne works with stained glass in Studio 5. Her studio is open 6 days a week, although times vary. She also uses nonstandard mediums and creates beautiful pieces, especially her more personal pieces which often include wildlife or the female form. Her process is very gradual and spans over multiple days, but the end products are breath-taking and a perfect example of creating images in different ways to create unique atmospheres, and would be perfect for anyone who is currently primarily a painter or anything similar and is looking to expand their options.
4 - Anyone interested in fashion and wearable art may want to visit Studio 9, belonging to jewellery designer Hayley Kruger, who is a professional in the jewellery industry and has worked in many aspects of the industry over 17 years. Her designs are iconic and have featured on Vogue.com, Tatler, Stylist and Glamour magazine, and have also been seen at the V&A Museum, London Jewellery Week and Fashion Week. I have always been really interested in jewellery making, and make my own jewellery, so I love Hayler Kruger’s work as it represents how far you are actually capable of going in that field.
5 - Misshapes, the Making of Tatty Devine is an exhibition open until the 5th of September in the gallery, and is full of loud, fun and complex jewellery, which I find interesting due to its eccentric nature and how complex it is despite for the most part being entirely acrylic. It displays a wide range of Tatty Devine’s work over the years, from conception in the mid 1990’s to today and is a great way of seeing how other artists have managed to progress. The exhibition is a monument to self-expression, DIY, and personality in art, which I feel especially resonates with younger generations of artists.
6 - The Japanese Ink Painting workshop held on the 16th of August is one of many workshops designed specifically to connect teenagers aged 13-17 with their creativity. I like this one particularly as it’s a very distinct style of painting, however I haven’t seen it being made accessible to people anywhere else. Ink painting, especially in this style is really therapeutic and uses simple techniques to create impressive looking pieces, and because of that is accessible to a range of abilities. This makes it a really good way to expand your skills easily and relatively stress free.
7 - Recently, I’ve seen far more young people become interested in creating whimsical, escapist art over realism and traditional styles, so I think the Enchanted Forests in Watercolour workshop on the 19th of August would really help anyone looking to follow that style by teaching them how to effectively create whimsical atmospheres. It is another workshop that aids in expanding skills, but I think it would be appealing to younger people because of the subject matter. This workshop would allow young artists to pursue subject matter that they are passionate about in a way that they can transfer to art as a profession, and because of that would be really worthwhile.
8 - Mandalas are often drawn by young artists as doodles, as repeated patterns and growing a design from the centre out. Drawing like this can be is very relaxing, so If you want to develop your art abilities for your own personal use Mandalas in Pastel workshop on the 27th of August may be for you. Because of this I think this workshop would be really beneficial to the majority of young people, but especially those who find comfort in art, as being good at creating relaxing art would improve both the benefit of the creative process and also the end result.
9 - Looking at the work of others and discovering their processes is always a beneficial exercise that I’m constantly encouraged to do by my art teacher, who I agree with entirely. If you’ve always wanted to create art like world-renowned artists, the Drawing like Picasso workshop on the 20th of August, the Frida Kahlo inspired Self Portrait workshop on the 26th of August and the two Dynamic Abstraction workshops on the 23rd and 24th (inspired by Robert Delaunay and Jackson Pollock) would be ideal. Not only would you be able to learn the techniques and creative styles of art icons, you would also be able to enhance your own abilities and explore your own personal style. It would also allow you to create a varied range of work, or just to try out one new style, entirely depending on what you want to achieve. These courses would be perfect for anyone trying to expand their skill set or just have fun in creating art.
10 - Finally, the craft shop. The shop is a really good way to get a first look at a range of artists, and despite at first appearing to be mostly crockery and ornaments has a surprising amount of things that appeal to younger people. My personal favourites are the jewellery, which always has a really varied stock and at the moment includes pieces from Tatty Devine to pair with the exhibition, David Meredith’s bronze animal figures, the various chicken bowls and dishes by Uffington Pottery, the fox in the red jumper by Gwen Vaughan, and other animal figures by various artists. It’s well worth seeing what other artists are making, especially if you are thinking of being a professional artist yourself.