MAROOCHY JUNE 26 + 27 SeedArtLab Workshop

SeedArtLab Workshop : Seed Diversity to Abstraction

SATURDAY + SUNDAY, JUNE 26 + 27
10AM to 4PM [arrive 9.45am & depart by 4.30pm]
WORKSHOP FEE: $245 - includes art materials
BYO Lunch & Refreshments
SOPHIE MUNNS text: 0430599344 instagram: sophiemunns

The artist will be conducting a 3 week residency at the Arts and Ecology Centre on the grounds of this much loved Bushland setting from June 21 to July 11 & the 2 day workshop is being held on her first weekend insitu.

Bookings are NOW OPEN for this 2 day workshop @ Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden on the last weekend in JUNE.

During this event we will also take a look at the role of seeds & plants in local Ecosystem Restoration and we are proud to be associated with the World Environment Day Festival, a month long event hosted by the Sunshine Coast Environment Council featuring a lively program of events & activities connecting communities and ecosystems.

NB: The theme for WED Fest this June is ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION with a range of tree plantings, workshops, music, art and plenty of family friendly activities showcasing the diverse range of restoration projects throughout the region. #GenerationRestoration

Sunshine Coast Environment Council run WED each year. https://www.scec.org.au/
World Environment Day https://www.wed.org.au/

WORKSHOP PROGRAM:

Spend two days experimenting with an exciting range of mixed media, papers, surfaces & art approaches - engaging in the outdoors as well as indoor exploration - documenting in your journal & with your smartphone as you go.

Tasks will have you OBSERVING + CAPTURING + EXPERIMENTING + INTERPRETING through a series of themes and processes on DAY ONE ... preparing you for the DAY TWO focus of giving shape to artists books and a painted fabric artwork.

The first day will unleash so many fresh ideas as we work on a fast-paced program of exciting stimulus. The second day offers a more leisurely immersion in developing the best ideas from the previous day with Sunday morning working on painting a fabric banner & the afternoon taken up with developing an artist book project from material started the previous afternoon.

MATERIALS:

SUGGESTIONS OF WHAT TO BRING:

+ smartphone/ipad
+ a couple of artline type pens
+ A journal - new or already in use is good - A3 or A4
+ A small seed collection if you have one or find a few things in the week before
+ A small collection of Twigs (varied size & shape) for mark making with ink
+ water bottle. refreshments
+ a couple of plastic water containers for brushes.
+ several old paintbrushes of different sizes are handy.
+ a size 2 rigger brush if you have one ( some provided)
+ throw in a small PVA glue bottle, small scissors, sticky tape.
+ Needle and thread to add stitching to your banner. *Can be done later at home!
+ a SMALL kit bag with several of your absolute favourite mixed media items... suited to working on paper ....bearing in mind you have access to workshop supplies on the weekend.

MATERIALS YOU WILL BE PROVIDED WITH:

+ A large range of quality/interesting papers for various exploratory tasks & books
+ a fabric banner
+ Mixed media - acrylic paints, inks. oil pastels, etc etc
+ White pigmented ink ... very popular - rigger brushes used for this.
+ A table of Seed material + basket of twigs from the gardens
+ Access to view the artist's journals. artist books and artwork on display

FOR ANYONE WHO HAS PREVIOUSLY UNDERTAKEN A SEEDARTLAB WORKSHOP WITH THE ARTIST:

On this occasion, being in such a beautiful environment, she is offering an extension program if you wish to come on board and do the SATURDAY MORNING CLASS SESSION AS A REFRESHER then follow through on a series of new activities at your own pace ... joining the group when you wish & otherwise working independently with the artist on hand to interact. PLEASE ASK if this idea is of interest & you'd like to know what new areas are open to explore.

IF, HOWEVER,

YOU ARE NEW to the artist's Homage to the Seed project launched in 2010 or her SeedArtLab ventures ... you are welcome to ask for more info. A life-long teacher she has been offering an intensive program of SeedArtLab workshops since a 2015 residency at PlantBank at the Australian Botanic Gardens Mt Annan, NSW ... in diverse settings including Botanic Gardens, Institutions, community venues across Eastern Australia, and in schools in Qld & Hong Kong. With a case study of the Artist's project & artwork featured in the new textbook for Senior Visual Arts students in QLD her attention has been focused increasingly on working within the education sector.

WHERE ITS ALL HAPPENING:

The Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden is located on Palm Creek Road, Tanawha, beside the Tanawha Golf Course.

HOW TO GET THERE:

Take the Sippy Downs, Buderim exit off the Bruce Highway
Take the Tanawha Tourist Drive turnoff (25) and follow the signs
Sunshine Coast UBD reference: Map 77 P18
https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Experience-Sunshine-Coast/Beaches-and-Parks/Maroochy-Regional-Bushland-Botanic-Garden/Visitor-information

OPENING HOURS:
The garden is open from 7.00am to 5.00pm (April to October) and 7.00am to 6.00pm (November to March)

GENERAL INFO: You are welcome to visit during the Artist's Residency over 3 weeks from June 21 to July 11.

NB: Please text the artist on 0430599344 before planning a visit if you wish to connect onsite as there will be certain hours or days Sophie may be away or simply in another section of the Gardens.

ARTIST BIO:
Visual artist, educator & researcher Sophie Munns spent her formative years in the NSW Northern Rivers where questions around relationships between landscapes & culture first arose.  Significant relocations between city and country, Australia and abroad, served to further unpack & shape her way of seeing. Critically, 4 months in Greece during 2 years in London (1986-88) brought two key fascinations to the fore - lured to understand the past vs a pull to the future, what’s new, across & outside the arts.
 
Two decades later these divergent passions merged in an exploratory project on seeds in a SeedLab at Brisbane Botanic Gardens. With plant research embracing past, present and future - archeobotany & ethnobotany aligned with the artist's passion for ancient & ethnically diverse cultures and the contrasting stimulus of the new was found researching the expanding Seed Conservation field globally.  Bio-cultural Diversity & Seed Conservation Science, investigated on residencies & projects since 2010, continually triggers multi-dimensional thinking on the broad theme of Landscapes and Culture - through seed diversity - yet it is through teaching, in School & Adult contexts, and public dialogues that the SeedArtLab project finds its fullest engagement alongside the production of multi-faceted visual artworks