Short Term Workshops 2021

Within the first week of the painting workshop, the participants were introduced to the origins of pastel painting, which began in the 15th century with the introduction of so-called Rötelstifte (red chalk pencils), under the direction of Maja Drachsel (Workshop for Painting Technique). Red chalk belongs to the mineral colors, consisting of a soft mixture of clay and hematite, the so-called iron oxide mineral. The course participants were able to admire early works made with red chalk.

Slowly, the students approached the practice in the course - they first drew with red chalk - gradually added two more colors. Also important are the substrates that were worked with during the course. They consist of paper primed with paint. The primer also contains pumice powder, which makes the paper somewhat rough and thus gives the pigments a hold.

The participants then began to make pastel crayons, using milk as a binder. Later in the workshop, more "recipes" for making the crayons were tried out. With the first crayons in their pockets and armed with a sketchbook, the course participants went to the Old Masters Gallery of the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD) to draw in the temporary exhibition "Johannes Vermeer - On Pausing". During another visit to the Gemäldegalerie, the focus was mainly on the pastels, such as the portraits of the artist Rosalba Carriera or the artist Entienne Liotard with his famous work "The Chocolate Girl".

In the workshop, more and more crayons with various shades, in gradations of black and white and with different binders from milk, whey, beer, honey, gelatin as well as gum arabic were produced, which were used on three days for 2 hours each in the model drawing (portrait). In addition to discussions about the picture, there were also "analyses" and considerations about the quality of the chalks, the substrates and the advantages and disadvantages of the painting technique. The participants also gained a unique insight into the custody of the "Städtische Galerie", which showed pastels by artists from Dresden from the 19th century to the 1980s.

In the course there was a lot of time to experiment with structures, chalks, ink and mixed media with egg tempera. For example, the participants also made ink from gall apples. Gall apples are growths that occur in autumn on the underside of oak leaves, among others. A gall apple is formed by the laid eggs of the so-called gall wasp. The decoction of coarsely ground gall apples yields deep dark compounds with iron salts, which can be used as black ink. In addition to the production and experimentation, the focus was at all times on the exchange between the participants and the mutual learning from each other, which was a positive challenge due to the communication in English.

The graphic workshop "Lithographic Transfer Using Transfer Paper and Techniques for Further Work on the Stone" under the direction of Peter Hofmann (Lithography Workshop) and the Swiss artist Ernst Hanke focused on the topic of transfer printing and the subsequent further processing of the stone.

Some participants first drew on transfer paper. The use of transfer paper is useful in that it allows the image to be printed in a mirror image. If you draw directly on stone, for example, you would always have to keep in mind that the result is mirror-inverted.

Over the course of the two weeks, the focus shifted to color and multicolor printing. The artist Ernst Hanke showed the participants how to handle color in this regard and how to implement and achieve anything with it. For example, several colors were printed in one printing process - including color gradients - and different colors were printed several times in succession. Also, for example, negative conversions were made: the stones were first printed positive - as drawn. Then the black was reversed to white or the white to black. This was a very attractive technique, as it gave a lot of scope for color variation.

This graphic workshop included several consecutive parts, which were intended to sharpen the understanding of paper as a medium in its own right and, in this context, to provide an insight into the professional papermaking craft as well as into artistic work with paper and fiber material for the production of, among other things, artists' books.

On the first day, a thematic introduction with illustrative materials on "Paper Art" and "Book Art" was given by the head of the Workshop for Artistic Publishing, Dorothée Billard, the workshop manager for hand binding, Luise Fiedler, and the artist Fides Linien. The course participants were able to present and discuss their individual artistic projects.

In the first part of the workshop, Fides Linien gave a theoretical and practical introduction to manual papermaking. For this purpose, plant material was prepared as well as various pulps for the production of three different pulps, i.e. different masses / fibers, which could also be combined with each other. Fides supported the students at all times in their artistic projects and experiments. A decisive factor here was the involvement of the workshop manager of the hand binding, Luise Fiedler, with regard to the "end product" that was to be created in the second part of the workshop. Here, too, there were no limits to the joy of experimentation - the concept of the artist's book, which was still narrowly defined at the beginning, was expanded more and more in the course of the workshop and its limits were explored. Boxes and slipcases for storage and presentation were created, as well as notebooks, books, and fanfolds.

In addition to the practical work, the focus was on regular exchange about technique and material. The awareness of the value of paper in relation to our treatment of the environment and resources is an important and essential effect that came about through the implementation of paper creation. In general, it can be said that the workshop provided incentives for the course participants in this respect. Many creative processes took place towards the end of the workshop, after the students became more familiar with the material and technique. Experiences of success also motivated further experimentation - an intellectual exchange of ideas and thoughts took place.

The title of this workshop instructs and provokes just too. Actually, it should almost be "Oh, you don't play with food?!" Under the direction of the artist Manuel Frolik, the participants in this special sculpture workshop were able to explore exactly this question: To experiment with food, and to do so until a work of art is created in the process.

But first, to introduce the topic, the students were given the opportunity to understand the close connection between food and art through various works of art history. Artists have always been inspired by food. Starting with Stone Age cave paintings, through the mostly ostentatious Dutch Baroque still lifes, to the Eat Art of the 1960s. Then, during the 20th century, artists:inside began to use food in their works to make political, economic, or social statements. They opened restaurants as art projects, staged performances in which food was prepared and served, and made artful sculptures from edible materials such as milk and honey. Nowadays, food can be considered a common material in contemporary art practice.

In this respect, a visit to the Staatliche Kunstsammlung Dresden (SKD) was also on the agenda for the course participants to marvel at famous works on the theme of "culinary delicacies". In addition to the viewing, the students also had the opportunity to get to know and try real specialties of Saxon cuisine, such as the Dresdner Eierschecke and, of course, the famous Dresdner Christstollen.

The two-week workshop ended with a small show of the work created.