Wednesday 1 December 2021

 Hi everyone!


I hope you are all keeping well.

Tomorrow you'll find me and my art at Wave Cafe, they've got a very special evening event as well as the lovely daytime cafe. There'll be music, canapes, speeches, art displays and an art workshop. It's all free and Covid safe, so if you're around North London please do come and join in!








Then on Saturday you can find me over in The Blue, where we'll be making snowflakes and hearts to decorate your Christmas tree:




And I'm offering some online art and poetry sessions on Wednesday mornings 10-11am, in December, via Zoom. I send a poem out on a Sunday and then on Wednesday we read and discuss it and I do an art demo inspired by the poem that you can follow along to. Suggested donation £5 per session. For more information please email me.




Then on December 11th I'm teaching life drawing all day, in person and online - it's a hybrid class! - at ALL's Brockley Rise Centre. We'll have the wonderful Sarah Lowndes modelling for us. For more information and to book, please go here:


I hope to see you somewhere soon.

Monday 15 November 2021

 Hello everyone,

I'm very pleased to tell you that I'll be teaching some 10 week in person evening classes at Adult Learning Lewisham's Brockley Rise Centre, on Wednesdays and Thursdays 7.30 - 9.30pm, starting in January. 


The college are taking enrolments now, and you can find more information about the Wednesday life drawing and painting course here: https://lewisham.gov.uk/cel/courses/app0016br---life-drawing-and-painting---spring---73827


and the Thursday evening studio class here: https://lewisham.gov.uk/cel/courses/app110sbr---drawing-and-painting---skills---studio---spring---75286


And don't forget my life drawing all day Saturdays that run every month! The next one is on December 11th - it's a hybrid class so look for OL on the end of the course code for zoom, and BR for the in person version at Brockley Rise: https://lewisham.gov.uk/cel/subjects/life-drawing-and-portraiture

Enrolments are now open for the spring runs of my Friday classes at ALL too - Friday morning studio:

https://lewisham.gov.uk/cel/courses/app008sbr---drawing-and-painting---studio---spring---73822

And Watercolour Made Easy: https://lewisham.gov.uk/cel/courses/app0057br---watercolour-made-easy---all-levels---74107


New runs of my independent classes Exploring Creativity 10 week course, and my Life Drawing Afternoons 5 week course start next week! Here are the details:

Exploring Creativity runs straight through for 10 weeks on Zoom, on Tuesdays 10am - 1pm. Each week we look at the work of a different artist - I send information on the Sunday before class and then on the day I give a lecture style presentation for the first hour, followed by a discussion. Then we have a tea break, followed by a demo where I show you techniques for making work inspired by the artist. You're free to follow along, or do your own thing. There's a sharing thread via email after class where you can post pictures of your work to share with the other students. The demo is videoed and if you don't want to attend live on zoom you can join the virtual version of the course, where I send the video to you via We Transfer.

The course is pay what you can - £5 per class minimum and £25 per class maximum, payable by bank transfer, sum up or pay pal - contact me by email for details. The virtual version of the course, where you receive the art demo video and access to the email information and sharing thread, but don't attend on zoom, costs £35 for the whole 10 weeks.

Here's the timetable for the winter run:

EXPLORING CREATIVITY

Winter Run 2021

Tuesdays 10am – 1pm

November 23rd 2021 - January 25th 2022

Week 1 – Nov. 23rd - Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri - Native Australian art

Week 2 - Nov. 30th - Sarah Moon – Painterly photography

Week 3 – Dec. 7th – Kandinsky – From landscape to abstraction

Week 4 – Dec. 14th – S. Elayaraja – Indian social realism

Week 5 – Dec. 21st – William Scott – Simplification and still life

Week 6 - Dec. 28th – Franz Marc – German Expressionism

Week 7 – Jan. 4th – Stephen Newton – Poignant interiors. The artist will be joining us for a Qand A session this week!

Week 8 – Jan. 11th – Hillary Watters Fayle – Embroidered leaves

Week 9 – Jan, 18th – Mary Beth Edelson – Radical feminist art

Week 10 – Jan 25th – Amedeo Modigliani – We’ll have a life model this week, please pay an extra £5 towards the model’s fee if you attend this class

Also on Tuesdays, 3-5pm, I'm running 5 weeks of life drawing afternoons on zoom. We spend the first half an hour looking at students' work from the previous week, where I give feedback and we chat about techniques, usually followed by a demo on that week's theme Then there's one and a half hours of life drawing. Here are the subjects for this coming run:


The cost is again pay what you can, minimum £40, maximum £75 - payable by bank transfer, sum up or paypal.

And in case you missed it, here are some photos - taken by Phil Polglaze - of Nunhead Local One - the exhibition that I co curated with Caroline Wright in September, part of Peckham Festival:











Tuesday 24 August 2021

 Hello everyone,

I hope you're enjoying the last scraps of summer and have had a lovely time so far.

I'm really excited to be starting up teaching again, as well as exhibiting some of my work!

I've co curated a show with fellow artist Caroline Wright, Nunhead Local One. It'll be part of the Peckham Festival - Made in Peckham - https://www.peckhamfestival.org/blog/9483/peckham-festival-2021-17-19th-september/  and as such the door to my studio will be open during the show:

The opening party will take place on Thursday August 16th 6-9pm, outside on Nunhead Green, please rsvp to vox@joart.info for more information. I hope to see you there!

I'm also very pleased to have been invited to take part in the Mystery Masterpieces Art Auction for Saint Christopher's Hospice. More info can be found here:


My ten week independent class Exploring Creativity starts up again next week - August 31st. Please find the timetable attached for Exploring Creativity - Early Autumn Run. We start back on Tuesday August 31st, on Zoom, same time - 10am - 1pm. Each week we explore a different artist, with a lecture style presentation for an hour, followed by a discussion, and then an art practical with demo after a tea break. We make work inspired by the artist, and have lots of fun doing it!

I run it as pay what you can, minimum £5 per class, maximum £25 per class, or anything in between - whatever you can afford, payable by bank transfer or paypal. You can sign up for all 10 weeks, or dip in and out, to explore as many artists as you like. It's a lively friendly online class, and I hope you can join! Please email me at vox@joart.info to book, with Exploring Creativity in the subject line.

I'm also offering a couple of life drawing classes, one in person 1 day Saturday hybrid class at Brockley Rise Centre,  for Adult Learning Lewisham, and one independently on Tuesday afternoons, online via Zoom:

IMG_20210804_135657_067.webp

To enrol for the 5 weeks on Zoom please email me at vox@joart.info.

For details and to enrol on the Saturday ALL Day Life Drawing on September 18th please follow this link:


And I'm starting back at Wave on Thursday September 2nd, and really looking forward to it, come and visit us!




Monday 12 July 2021

Hi everyone,


I hope you are all okay, and having a nice summer so far, despite the football!

Just to let you know that a lot of my art sessions are now back in person. ☺

There are places available on my independent abstract art course that will take place over two Fridays in August (13th and 20th), at my art studio in Nunhead, SE15. Please email me for more information, or to book a place:




This will be mostly practical and on this course we'll focus on Wassily Kandinsky's essay "Concerning The Spiritual in Art" and explore the lives and work of less well known abstract artists such as Betty Parsons, Paulina Peavey and Sam Francis, as well as contemporary artists like Jade Fadojutimi. 

We'll do practical exercises inspired by the above, as well as cubism and mixed media collage, among other things, and basically have a lot of fun messing about with a variety of art materials, expressive techniques, letting go and making a fabulous mess!

Cost is £160 full price or £40 concessions for this 2 day course. This includes all art materials which will be provided. It takes place upstairs at the Sally Army Hall in Nunhead, which is a very large well ventilated space.

Get in touch if you are only able to do one of the two days, as that will be fine too.

I'm also available over the summer for one to one art sessions, or to teach small groups, either at my art studio in Nunhead, or online via Zoom. If you're interested in booking a private session with me please don't hesitate to get in touch.






On Wednesdays you'll find me at Union Chapel in Islington from 11am - 1pm for Culture Cafe. 

We're currently exploring poetry, with a discussion, and then an art demo, you can join in with the art or just have a cuppa and a chat. 

The session will also be available on zoom, if you want to attend from home. There are 2 sessions left and after that we have a break for summer, returning in September. 

It's free! Email me for the zoom link or come to: 

Union Chapel
19b Compton Terrace
London
N1 2UN
contact@unionchapel.org.uk

More information can be found here:


On Thursdays I'll be at Wave Cafe in Muswell Hill N10, at the URC, Queen's Avenue, Muswell Hill N10. The cafe is open from 9am - 5pm, offering  delicious drinks and cakes and an absolutely sumptuous and very affordable lunch. 

There's free yoga with Claire at 11am and the art table is available from 11am until 3pm. Come and explore with me - different themes each week, starting on July 22nd with monoprinting.




More information here:


Enrolments are now open for my classes at Adult Learning Lewisham, find out more by following this link:


My you tube channel has some new content, and I'll be adding more over the summer to keep you busy! Find out more by following the link. Please don't forget to like and subscribe!:


My colleague Caz Underwood is also offering some summer courses, and watercolour online from September. Please email her for more details: 

cazunderwood@gmail.com

Info on her classes:

LIVESTREAM SUMMER SHORT COURSES

Summer drawing project - in the woods - online
2 Wednesday mornings 21 July & 28 July 10-12 
You will need a sketchbook to work in, pencil and eraser + other drawing materials (charcoal, chalk pastels, water-soluble pencils) are optional.  You may like a larger piece of paper to work on for the second week.  To prepare, you may like to find/take some photos in the woods/forest, of tree and plant forms, the light through the leaves, anything else that inspires you for a woodland view or scene.

Summer painting project - big skies and horizon lines - online
2 Wednesday mornings 21 Jul & 28 July 10am-12
You will need some pieces of scrap paper, a bigger piece of oil/acrylic painting paper or canvas, acrylic paint & brushes.  To prepare, you may like to take/find some photographs of sky and landscapes.

That's all for now! I hope you are all keeping well and to see you somewhere soon!

With love and best wishes - Jo

Monday 17 May 2021

 Hello everyone,


I hope you're all doing okay.

My offering of art classes and activities continues, with a variety of in person, online and hybrid courses and creative sessions, offered both independently, through Adult Learning Lewisham, Wave Cafe and Union Chapel Church.

The new term for my private online class Exploring Creativity starts next week - Tuesday May 25th. It runs on zoom 9am - 12 midday. We look at a different artist each week, with a lecture lasting around an hour. Then we have a discussion and a break and then do a practical session inspired by the artist. The timetable is attached, the sessions are pay what you can, minimum £5 per class, maximum £24 per class or anything in between - what you pay is up to you! You can attend all 10 weeks or dip in and out. I send detailed information about each artist on the Sunday before each class, with ideas for the practical. 

I record the practical demo on video and also offer a remote version of this class for £35 all in. You get the information via email and the video demo sent via we transfer to follow along to at your leisure. You also have access to the sharing thread to share and view students' work.

Payment is via bank transfer - email me if you're interested. It's a very friendly class and lots of fun!


TIMETABLE EXPLORING CREATIVITY  Summer Run May 25th – July 27th 2021
Tuesdays 9am – 12 midday on Zoom

WEEK 1 – May 25th - B. Sanon and African Art from the Dominican Republic

WEEK 2 – June 1st - Marie Bracquemond – Passionate Impressionist

WEEK 3 – June 8th - Cezanne – Still Life

WEEK 4 – June 15th - Jade Fadojutimi – Expressive abstraction and mark making

WEEK 5 – June 22nd - Lord Leighton and his garden

WEEK 6 – June 29th - Eileen Agar – Surrealist collage and sculpture

WEEK 7 – July - 6th - Sam Francis – Second generation Abstract Expressionism

WEEK 8 – July 13th - William Hawkins – Vibrant Outsider Art

WEEK 9 – July 20th - Joan Eardley – Semi abstract portraits and landscapes

WEEK 10 – July 27th - Alice Neel – We’ll have a clothed model for a portrait session this week, please pay an extra £5 towards the cost of the model.

Starting on June 1st is my independent zoom online life drawing Tuesday class, 4-6pm. It runs for 5 weeks and costs £40 minimum, £75 maximum for the five weeks, payable by bank transfer, let me know if you're interested by emailing me at: vox@joart.info:






I'm also running 2 life drawing hybrid classes for Adult Learning Lewisham, all day on Saturdays June 12th (with model Esther) and July 10th (with model Kit). There are 6 in person places available and 12 on zoom. The class is livestreamed from room 202 at Brockley Rise 10am - 3.30pm. Please go here for more information:






More in person events will start soon, and I'm very happy to say that I'll be back with Wave Cafe this Sunday 23rd of May. Come into the woods to make some land art and have socially distant creative explorations in nature, it's free to attend, no need to register - just turn up!:


Art in the Woods events
Sunday 23rd May, Sunday 20th June       1pm-4pm

We can't wait to be back at the cafe in person. But, before we can do that, we thought it would be great to meet for a few covid-secure informal events to reconnect and look forward together. See below for details on our 'Art in the Woods' events. We'll be making natural sculptures in the woods, inspired by Andy Goldsworthy, and others. Hope you can join us there!

These are being led by our friend, and facilitator, artist Jo McCormick.

 



My FREE art and poetry sessions for Union Chapel's Culture Cafe will continue on zoom from June 2nd to June 16th, 11am - midday, and then we'll be back in person! We're hoping to provide some hybrid sessions. More news on that soon.




Here's the zoom link for the online sessions on June 2nd, 9th and 16th: 

Jo McCormick is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Art and poetry
Time: June 2nd  2021 11:00 AM London
       
      
        Jun 2, 2021 11:00 AM
        Jun 9, 2021 11:00 AM
        Jun 16, 2021 11:00 AM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89977443534?pwd=SnJzNlVmQVF3U2JTWFI5VHpYUS9Pdz09

Meeting ID: 899 7744 3534
Passcode: art

I hope to see you somewhere soon, until then stay safe. 

Thursday 1 April 2021


Hi everyone, I hope you are keeping well. 

I'm offering a variety of spring and summer courses online on Zoom. starting soon! 


See the selection below and email me at vox@joart.info 

for more details and timetables.

In Still Life we'll learn about composition, backgrounds, mark making techniques and visit the work of some amazing still life artists



In Watercolour we'll learn all about different colours, how to mix colours, colour bias and simultaneous contrast of colour. We'll paint sea and skyscapes and natural forms.


In Life Drawing we'll learn about mark making and tonal value, gestural drawing, drawing to music and different methods for using charcoal.


In Portraiture we'll learn about burnishing, reworking a drawing - your eraser is your friend! how to capture a likeness and how to draw hands.


I hope to see you very soon! Best wishes - Jo

Monday 8 March 2021

 Hi everyone, I hope you're all doing okay.





My last fully online Saturday course will happen on March 20th. It's a full day trying out a variety of art techniques in the comfort of your own home, via zoom. We'll do a still life painting using wax resist and watercolour, some drawing exercises - fun ones and observational drawing techniques - and we'll finish with painting in acrylic or gouache, a portrait based on artist Robert Henri.

The one day course is from 10am - 3.30pm and costs £22 full price, £11 concessions. To book a place please follow this link:


My work with Union Chapel continues, with 3 more free art sessions online on Wednesdays 1-2pm. We've been exploring poetry, and bringing poems to life with watercolour and drawing. It's free to join, just drop in! Here's an example from last week:


3.) 
Translation of Chinta atite maner atite sundara by  Sri Chinmoy

Beyond thought and beyond the mind,
O beautiful One, You abide.
Do fulfil this body, vital, mind and heart of mine.
May I have this sense of fulfilment
In all my achievements,
Taking shelter at Your Feet divine.

Here's the link to join:

Jo McCormick is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Culture Cafe bringing poems to life with art

Time: Mar 10, 2021 01:00 PM London
        Every week on Wed, 3 occurrence(s)
        Mar 10, 2021 01:00 PM
        Mar 17, 2021 01:00 PM
        Mar 24, 2021 01:00 PM

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83992536152?pwd=VDNxcGtBRkQ4V2lNRjBZc2NiK0t5QT09


Meeting ID: 839 9253 6152
Passcode: art&poetry


I'm really missing my live art and exhibition work, but can't really plan anything like that at the moment. Hopefully by the autumn those will be back on track!

Stay safe, take care and best wishes - Jo

Saturday 16 January 2021

 Hi everyone,


I hope you're all doing okay and not finding lockdown 3 too difficult. Big hugs to you all!

Several weeks ago, between lockdowns, I was lucky enough to be involved in running one of my art sessions for Wave, during filming about their work for Songs of Praise.

It's going to be aired tomorrow January 17th 2021, at 1.15pm on BBC1, so do have a watch - I'll be lurking about in the background and you can find out more about the amazing and groundbreaking work that Wave do.

If you miss it tomorrow afternoon you can find it on iplayer by following this link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000rhfy

Huge thanks to Ben and everyone at Wave for their continued support, and the brilliant work that they do. Here's a link to the Wave Cafe website: 


My work with Union Chapel continues, and we're back online in the afternoons. 

From Tuesday Jan. 12th, 4-5pm I'll be working with UC's Culture Cafe to offer a series of free weekly drop in sessions, with a focus on colour. They'll comprise of a mixture of discussions focused on colour theory and the meaning of colour, as well as a short practical demonstration on how colour is used in art. 

Please email me on vox@joart.info for the zoom link to join.






If you fancy spending a whole day learning about different art techniques and having fun making stuff, please join me online for my Super Art Saturday course run through Adult Learning Lewisham. 

Due to take place in the classroom at Brockley Rise, this has now moved onto Zoom, and will happen on Saturday January 23rd, from 10am - 3.30pm.

We'll explore watercolour and wax resist, make a portrait using acrylic paint, and do a variety of observational drawing exercises. To find out more and book your place please go here:


Finally, if you missed the exhibition "Hell and Highwater" that took place in November on LV21, you can still visit it online by going here:


Many thanks to Michelle Russell, who wrote this lovely review of the exhibition:

Some Thoughts on Hell or High Water, an exhibition of films set on board the ship LV21 -

The lightship LV21 is now transformed for this fascinating exhibition and provides many echoes from its seafaring history to inspire artists of today.  These are just a few thoughts on a small selection of my personal favourites of the many works shown.

I enjoyed Caroline Gregory's 'Welcome aboard', and the camera taking us through the ship - all the different parts of the vessel, the brightly painted hull, the decks, the inside passageways, the portholes, the cabins no longer occupied by the sailors but now given over to artists.  Mystery of a ship no longer at sea - its nautical architecture is inspirational - its previous life was in the water, but no longer, only the outward vestiges remain of what was once needed to survive in its former life.

Sarah Sparkes is the puppeteer seen in the background of her film, pulling the strings of a light blue tiny dinosaur-like being, (from a heraldic image of the Azure Porcupine) - it has a quiff of upright little blue spines.

It is delightful to watch the little azure marionette figure dancing and playing round its small space inside the ship, and we enjoy the playfulness, and somehow long forgotten memories of our childhood are evoked - eventually in its wanderings it lights upon a large blue sculptured head, a kind of figurehead - with staring eyes, also with a quiff, though a larger and darker one with taller spines - the little one is playing and dancing again, this time trying to get attention and a response as it touches and moves closer and snuggles up to the head, wanting to play - the blue head is unresponsive - is it just an inanimate object, or is it its mother, strange rejecting mother, or is it just a stranger - and why does it not move in response - could it be - dead? Its continual non-response becomes very poignant.  Eventually the litte azure figure flops down disconsolately and movement gradually stops.  The whole event is mesmerising though it only lasts a few minutes.  It touches the heart.

In the next film by Sarah she is seen wearing the large blue head!, transformed into a headdress and in its authentic role as figurehead of the ship - the artist walks along the deck and looks out from the prow - the large blue head is redeemed somehow and stands for adventure as it looks out to sea and the wide blue yonder and its infinite possibilities and we look out with it.

Tracey Francis'  films have a  little girl collecting pebbles and stones - 'it's fun' she says, and we join in too, - but can it be fun for ever? - the stones build up and accumulate, so many stones have been gathered through the years and as she becomes a woman the stones become more heavy and weighty -  'The weight she has to carry' - responsibilities, sorrow, stresses - all carried somehow but not complaining - just carrying the stones - and then as the girl becomes an adult in society she takes part in political action to change the world - and share the load

- Joanna McCormick's eerie singing ghost makes strange sounds of lamentation aboard the ship, surrounded by the remembered images, now lovingly handmade into monoprints, of the sailors who were once there in person but where are they now - the shipmates have gone -quiet atmosphere inside of an abandoned ship - but there is still sound to be heard, beautiful tinkling piano music interspersed with the crashing of the waves, the ship has had its being faraway at sea, so far from land - the film drifts from the present to the past, and back again - is she waving or drowning?, did the mariners come safely home or were they lost at sea?

These are just my personal highlights,

Thank you so much to the curator and all the artists for a wonderful and deeply moving experience


That's all for now. I hope to see you again in person, once this awful pandemic is over!