Life Lines – Monday Morning Life Drawing with Alison Price

This exciting and vibrant group exhibition explores the diverse ways that the artists have looked to capture the moment in the life room.

“A great way to start the week,” is a sentiment that is echoed by the artists/enthusiasts who eagerly attend the Monday morning Life Drawing sessions held here in Perth’s Creative Exchange. Through a shared passion of drawing from the life model, this collective peer support group has formed organically over the last two years. Largely self directed, different ideas, techniques and media are regularly explored through the practice, bringing a fresh energy and discussion into each session.

Throughout the history of Art, from the earliest cave paintings to the cutting edge of our modern times, artists have sought to convey through divergent means the difficult and often tricky practice of the human figure, ranging from realistic representation to illustration, modernism and abstraction. It would be safe to say that it’s all subjective and that there is no definitive argument in which the genre can be bracketed. Thus the practice of life drawing, normally from the nude model, can vary from a detailed study over a period of time, as preparation for a longer painting, or a quick and explosive burst of creative energy on the drawing plane, as the artist responds to the pose and timing of the model.

Presented here in this exciting and vibrant exhibition is an eclectic mixture of the many ways that the artists have looked to capture the moment. In the life room patience and sharp observation is a fundamental requirement, which takes time and practice for the result of a successful outcome. The images on show here reflect the artist’s acute studies using various media that both injects a spontaneous reaction and a more detailed response to the poses.

It also goes without saying that none of this would be possible without the professionalism and expertise of the models. Experienced models will get to know and often have their own input into the requirements that the class seeks. Ranging from swift dynamic short poses to more lengthy sittings where the ability to remain almost static for a time requires a great effort of mind and body. Many thanks to them and enjoy the exhibition.

Sheena Hewitt has an unconventional background. Falling severely ill with M.E. as a child, she quickly dropped out of school. She was home taught French and algebra one day a week but was unable to pursue any formal qualifications. Her only creative outlet was art, including making items for a dolls house and art competitions. As an adult, she taught herself how to make jewellery, starting with beads and now soldering and stone setting. She also crochets. This year, she made a scarf for her boyfriend. Last year, she found out about life drawing classes through Instagram. Always having had a passion for portraiture, she was thrilled to be able to take part. She is hoping this will feed into her jewellery design skills as well as making great art. Sheena has found the classes welcoming and inspiring with a great bunch of people.

Dougie Paterson is a Dundee based artist who graduated from Dundee University in 1999 with a BA in fine art and then worked extensively in community arts and taught at Dundee and Angus College while maintaining a professional gardening practice. He recently began life modelling for academic institutions and local classes. He began drawing dancers at The Scottish Dance Theatre and this became the main focus of his art practice but he also began attending life drawing classes and this sparked an interest in the human figure which led to taking courses in anatomy. This interest in the body extended to taking daily yoga and ballet barre classes and to becoming a model. These passions feed of each other with life drawing being at the core. He has been attending the Perth class for two years.

Bruce Shaw graduated as a mature student in 2009 from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art Dundee with BA/Hons Fine Art. He now works as a self employed artist from Wasps’ Meadow Mill in Dundee, where the main focus of his practice is in printmaking and drawing. He also facilitates / tutors art workshops etc within the community for the health and wellbeing sector.

Malcolm MacConnachie has lived in Perth for 46 years and is a retired hydrologist. He continues to apply his knowledge and professional experience to support Perth Community Flood Aid. Malcolm was born into an artistic family and started drawing and painting before school age but midway through secondary school chose to follow a science career. Following his successful 42 year career as a hydrologist, he is now pursuing his lifelong passion for art. In 2016 he started attending life drawing classes with local artist Bruce Shaw and joined the Monday Morning Life Drawing Sessions in 2023. Malcolm’s art focusses on figurative art and portraiture and he says the Monday Morning Life Drawing Sessions currently helps satisfy the creative need in his life. His work has changed in the two years of attending the life drawing sessions going from black on white to exploring the use of colour.

Theresa Lynn is a sculpture graduate of Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee. She spent around 30 years in Community Engaged Art at Dundee City Council. Working alongside other artists, she engaged together with communities to explore their own creative judgement: this practice produced a great deal of publicly visible artwork, both temporary and permanent. Alongside this, she always continued to produce a strand, however small, of her own artwork, with an interest in how people relate to their environment. Since retiring from DCC and returning to independent working, she has taken on anything interesting that came along, including some tutoring at Dundee University and holding a studio at Dundee WASPS. Returning to life drawing among the happy band at Perth studios has been a joy, exploring techniques that are having a hugely positive impact on her art-making. Which all makes her really happy and energised…

Paul Sanders retired from a career in social work and child protection in 2012. In 2015 he moved to Devon and joined a group of artists for regular studio sessions having not been near a sketch pad for a very long time. He also attended a life class at a local college and tried to develop a blended pastels approach to the model having attended a class with Rebecca de Mendonca who has gone on to become a prize winning pastel artist. He moved to Perth in 2021 and continues to persevere with pastels in the hugely supportive life group at WASPS.

Kim Somerville originally trained as a hairdresser where she applied her artistic flair. Hairdressing was a vehicle into the world of lines, shapes and colour – a form of sculpture. Life drawing is the foundation that she underpins her work through an abstract lens using the visuals of the life form. The door was opened at WASPS, through an artist friend, into a space filled with amazing and creative artists.

Angela Buchan is a local lass! Following a sales career with global drinks company Diageo, Angela completed a BDES(Hons) in Interior and Environmental Design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee as a mature student, going on to complete a post graduate certificate in teaching.
As part of Dundee Universities’ Adult’s Continuous Learning Initiative Angela taught Interior Design evening classes in the University and also within wider local communities. Angela also taught adults with learning difficulties in Forfar and Arbroath while working for Arbroath College. Angela discovered her love of life drawing while attending University, where it was part of her course curriculum. Angela stumbled upon ‘Lifelines’ while visiting an exhibition in WASPS Studio’s, housed coincidently, in her old Primary School, she has been attending drawing sessions there for two years.

Alison Price is a Fine Art graduate from DJCAD where her love of working from the figure began. After bringing up family she returned to her art practice 10 years ago. The launch of WASPS Perth Creative Exchange provided a permanent studio space for her where she met Reuben Sian De Gourlay. Their mutual desire to have a regular life drawing practice led to them setting up informal sessions in Reubens studio. Numbers gradually grew and they moved to the Forteviot Teaching space in PCX. Reuben then moved to London but Alison continues to host the regular sessions on a Monday Morning and has found herself part of a wonderful community of artists. Alongside this she facilitates art sessions with adults including patients in a Stroke Rehabilitation Unit which is the focus of her current Masters of Fine Art at DJCAD.

Linda Cullis is a retired Art Teacher now based in Alyth. She attended Art Colleges in Lancaster, Bristol and Hornsey, London gaining a BA fine art degree and a post graduate Art teaching certificate. Her secondary teaching career was mostly spent in West Cornwall where she lived for thirty five years. Linda was introduced to life drawing at the age of sixteen at Lancaster College of Art and she has continued to draw from life on occasions over the years. Drawing from the model gives her time to experiment with a variety of materials and styles. She has particularly explored colour, line, texture and collage. The concentration on the model during the drawing sessions is quite intense and this helps to sharpen her eye hand coordination. She finds this is a positive way to start the week with a supportive group of people in a creative setting.

Andrea Elles studied photography Edinburgh in the 1970’s then focussed on family life until the 90’s returning to her life long passion of painting while living in London and Berkshire. She Studied painting with Robin Child, Lydgate Art Research Centre and joined The Rosvik Group of Artists. Since moving back to Scotland she has continued to grow her painting practice Mentored, influenced and encouraged by Paul Keir, Arthur Neal and Eleanor White. Andrea finds life drawing a wonderful self teaching eye opener (there is nowhere to hide, you have to look hard!) and so much fun, especially with such an interesting, relaxed group and the great selection of professional models.

Christine Mitchell’s art journey began around ten years ago, attending some drawing/painting courses, which cemented her love for creating.  Her eyes were opened to the beautiful Perthshire countryside and surroundings, she is so lucky to live in.  Along the way she has met many other artists and enjoyed creating a range of work, often wildlife, flowers and landscapes. Life drawing has featured more recently and has proved to be a high point. Drawing alongside this group of incredibly talented artists has helped hone and develop her drawing skills thus benefiting her art practice. Drawing from life is a privilege and calls for intense concentration and observation.  Experimenting with different mediums and seeing how others use them, is invaluable. The possibilities are endless, as she continues on her wonderful journey.

Morven Stewart has taken great enjoyment in being a jack of all trades. Her career path has taken her from Art School to hospitality to car fabrication, laminator and welder to vet receptionist, until finally settling as a wandering landscape artist. She attends the life drawing class sporadically between adventuring up mountains and working in her studio in the Creative Exchange. She approaches life drawing much as she does landscapes, pushing and pulling lines to find fluid shapes, constantly re-seeing and re-drawing her marks, and enjoying happy accidents! A Monday morning spent in deep focus and observation adds a jolt of productive creativity to her week. She takes skills developed during these mornings to trad music sessions across Scotland, filling her pocket sketchbooks with music and movement, all originating from the Monday Life Drawing classes.

Gareth Magee has always loved drawing, even just watching drawing – whether pouring over Tony Hart’s techniques on the limited TV of the time, or getting his Dad, an Engineer, to ‘draw a digger’. Later at school, then University, when he made the choice to go into Science he still retained a healthy interest in creativity. First year was spent painting designs on jackets and boots for himself and friends, and as years passed, most of his social circle at Uni were from the Art College opposite the Sciences building. Life drawing first came about around 30 years ago, while working at the Medical Sciences Institute at Dundee – fast forward, including a career change into Osteopathy and, a few years back, the WASPs group welcomed him in to come and play. Superficially, the collective is hard to describe due to the wide ranging backgrounds of the participants (actually, they’re more like a family now), but the common thread is that they all find the class an essential and supportive ‘creative safe-space’. It’s proven itself to be a necessary part of not only Gareth’s working week, but to his overall health and development – who knew?