Hello everyone,

I hope you're all keeping well and looking forward to spring as much as I am!

I've got lots of exciting things to tell you about, so this is going to be a long one...

First up, I'm delighted to be involved with Lewisham London Borough of Culture, We Are Lewisham. 

I'm working with Inspiral London and fellow artist Sarah Sparkes to deliver Love Around The Mulbery Tree, an artist led walk taking place next Monday - Feb. 14th - Valentine's Day - in Deptford in the evening. 

There's going to be singing, moths, mulberry tree lanterns, shadow puppets, historical anecdotes and more! We're meeting outside Little Nan's Bar near Deptford station SE8 4BX, and setting off at 6pm for a walk that'll last approximately 2 hours. But don't worry, we'll be stopping off for refreshments along the way! 

This is the first of a set of three walks. You can also join Frog Morris and Nicole Mollett for a Nautical Twighlight Tour on Feb. 17th, and Mikey Georgeson will be leading The Sleepwalker Guide to Deptford on Feb. 18th. 

All the walks are free, here's more information and links to book:

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Sleepwalking the City: rewalking Inspirallondon 2022  Walking together, commonal action & shared on the ground mapping

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Sleepwalker's Guide to Deptford 14-18 February
Join us outside Little Nan’s Bar by Deptford Railway Station from 5.30pm, to depart at 6pm on one of our 3 free unique tours: Walks will last approximately 1.5/2 hours including stops along the way. You are welcome to join us for as little or as long as you wish. Please bring warm waterproof clothing suitable for the February weather. Meet Little Nans Bar, by Deptford Station exit, SE8 4BZ
Feb 14^th Love Around the Mulberry Tree - Shadow Puppets, lanterns and Love in the Air, led by Joanna McCormick and Sarah Sparkes: a dream-like magical mystery tour, illuminated by twinkling lights, shadow puppets and ethereal musical wonders. Sarah and Jo will whisk you away, down the hidden passage ways and back alleys of Deptford, in search of the mighty Thames. Uncover a magical dream land, peopled by a host of historical characters and events. Sign up Ticket
Feb 17^th The Nautical Twilight Tour - you can witness spectres, monsters and all manner of otherworldly scenes appear from the darkness. For this unique perambulation Nicole Mollett and Frog Morris will take their Magic Lanterns out into the streets after dark to project an extraordinary collection of hand-painted imagery onto the walls and building of Deptford. Sign up Ticket
Feb 18^th For Sleepwalker's Guide to Deptford you are invited to take part in a trance-forming ritual, animating the temporal substance of Deptford High Street and out beyond. Our sleepwalk begins with an introduction from Professor Tony Sampson author of A Sleep Walkers Guide to Social-media and concludes with exclusive trial encounters with Mount Analogue’s Lucia No. 03 hypnogogic light machine. Sign up Ticket
Supported by Lewisham and InspiralLondon Associate Artists and CIC

I'm also very happy to be involved with Illuminate Rotherhithe, free lantern making workshops in February, and a giant parade in March. More information can be found here:

http://illuminaterotherhithe.co.uk/index.php/festival/free-lantern-making-workshops-2022/

I've got lots of lovely new courses planned for you, some independent and some for Adult Learning Lewisham, starting after half term.

My independent classes will be up and running again from Feb. 22nd. On Tuesdays you can choose from Exploring Creativity in the morning - 10 weeks from 10am - 1pm, or 5 weeks Life Drawing in the afternoon 4-6pm.

Exploring Creativity is run as a drop in, pay what you can. Attend all 10 weeks or 1 or 2 - as many as you like it's up to you! Just let me know.

It's pay what you can, minimum £5 per session, maximum £25 per session, or anything in between. Payable via sumup, paypal, bank transfer, or cash by arrangement. Or you can support me on Patreon - more about that later!

We'll be exploring lots of interesting and exciting artists, with a little bit of art history in the first hour, followed by a practical session after the tea break. If you don't want to attend the zoom sessions you can opt for the virtual version, where I email you all the information every Sunday, and a link to access a video of the demo each week on a Tuesday afternoon, for £35 all in. 

Here's the timetable:

EXPLORING CREATIVITY Early Spring 2022

Tuesdays 10am – 1pm

February 22^nd – April 26^th

Week 1 – Feb. 22nd - Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse Lautrec Monfa – Paris’s colourful and theatrical life

Week 2 - March 1^st - Constable and the weather. Oils, graphite and watercolour

Week 3 – March 8th – Wilhelmina Barnes – Graham – Abstraction at Saint Ives

Week 4 – March 15th – Hope Gangloff – Contemporary figurative colourful pop

Week 5 – March 22^nd – Guerilla Girls – Radical feminist artists

Week 6 - March 29th – Helen Saunders and Vorticism

Week 7 – April 5th – George Suerat and Pointilism

Week 8 – April 12th – Marla Varner and quilting

Week 9 – April 19th – Bice Lazzari – exquisite, tranquil abstraction

Week 10 – April 26^th – Caspar David Friedrich – Sublime landscapes

Next, my life drawing online is a five week course, run via zoom on Tuesdays 4-6pm. I've got some amazing models and interesting themes lined up!

The cost is £75 full price, £40 concessions. Please get in touch if you'd like to attend: 

In more indie classes there will be three Art and Poetry sessions online on Wednesdays in March. We read and discuss a poem and then I guide you through making a piece of art inspired by the poem. Sessions last an hour and suggested donation is £5 per class:

For Adult Learning Lewisham at the Brockley Rise Centre I'll be running an in person 2 hour life drawing class on Wednesdays, 5-7pm. It's aimed at beginners, but those with experience are also very welcome to attend! Find out more and book here:

https://lewisham.gov.uk/cel/courses/app0130br---life-drawing-taster---introduction---5-weeks---76809

Also for ALL I'll be running an online Explore Colour course - Wednesday 12.30 - 2.30pm, and a five week in person drawing course - Thursdays 5-7pm:

https://lewisham.gov.uk/cel/courses/app0101ol---drawing---painting---explore-colour---online---76671

https://lewisham.gov.uk/cel/courses/app0131br---drawing-made-easy---76811

Places are also still available for my Super Art Saturday Impressionism course, Saturday Feb. 26th, 10am - 3.30pm:

https://lewisham.gov.uk/cel/courses/app0087br---super-art-saturday---1-day-workshop---feb---impressionism---75544

My work with Wave Cafe over in Muswell Hill continues on Thursdays - I'll be at the United Reform Church on Queen's Avenue N10 from 11am - 3pm. There's inclusive yoga with Claire at 11am, lots of tea and cake on sale and a lovely hearty value lunch at 12.30.

In the art room we're continuing with the community banner during February, and then in March we'll explore printing techniques. Here are some pictures of details from our lovely banner so far:

More information about Wave Cafe can be found here:

https://www.wavecafe.org/

And finally, I'm launching a Patreon page! There are lots of different ways you can support my creative endeavors, by signing up to give me £2 per month, or £250! You'll get the choice of access to lots of unique content, artwork to download, art surprises sent to you in the post, access to my independent classes, merchandise including a lovely mug and tote bag, and more! Take a look by going here:

https://www.patreon.com/artjo

So, that's all folks! Thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter, I hope to see you again soon.

With love and best wishes - Jo

 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:

https://lewisham.gov.uk/cel/subjects/life-drawing-and-portraiture

I hope to see you somewhere soon.

 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:

 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:

https://www.stchristophers.org.uk/masterpieces?utm_content=Btn1_2

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:

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:

https://lewisham.gov.uk/cel/courses/app0038br---life-drawing---all-day---1-day-workshop---sept---73942

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

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:

https://unionchapel.org.uk/projects

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:

https://www.wavecafe.org/

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

https://lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/education/adult/find-a-course/art-pottery-and-performing-arts-courses

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!:

https://youtu.be/z41IePoZgYU

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.

cazunderwood@gmail.com

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

With love and best wishes - Jo