Raay - Royal Adelaide Art and Yoga

A couple of Yoga & Hypermobility related things at RAAY to mention this week. The Supine Way is a specialised yoga class every Wednesday for people with EDS, Hypermobility Spectrum disorder & chronic pain associated with these conditions. Contact Nic for details about the class, and to book (contact info on the card). Also, this Saturday is the August meeting of PHSS (Plymouth Hypermobility Support & Sharing), Nic's EDS & Hypermobility group. Get in touch and she'll deluge you with info about the session, and other resources that she's found useful as she's been navigating life with these conditions.

Whoop! Paper Shop t his week - I'm in right now (Friday, 21st), so come by anytime until 4pm. Also, if you want to do some drawing, join the drawing session this afternoon at 2pm - we're looking into abstraction using viewfinders today, it's going to be great (sure it's short notice, but what the heck, right?) Then, more Paper Shop tomorrow (Saturday 22nd) from 11-3. The last two weeks have been packed on the papermaking front, so there are piles of new A5 sheets to look at, made with cotton, lokta, mixed studio offcuts, a little bit of old cotton bedsheet, and even some flax fibre (that will have come from Flax Project CIC, no doubt) I found in a box in the workshop. One thing that's been very exciting is making lightweight sheets with lokta fibres - they're sturdy, but very ephemeral and floaty! So, that's it, I think, for the minute. See you soon!

Hey all, it's Monday. OK, now we've all got that out of our systems, here's what's happening upstairs at RAAY at the other end of the week. Friday we've got the Not-Life Drawing Session - this is going to be a weekly occurrence while we sort out funding for the next Drawing School term (hopefully coming soon!). Join us on a Friday afternoon for relaxed drawing of things that are not life models. We've had two weeks with a candelabra, an antique fish vase, and a mermaid's purse, so we may move on this week, or we may drill even further into these curious objects. Bring a sketchbook (if you want to), and your favourite pen (if you want to). We have some materials (cartridge paper, pencils, charcoal, liner pens), and there's a lot of paper for sale if you fancy something that's not cartridge. We do a gentle warm-up, there's opportunity to do timed drawings & exercises, but no pressure.

Paper Shop is open on Saturday, from 11-3. But (there's always a but), as I'm in on Friday for drawing anyway, if you want to come in to look at (& purchase!) paper on Friday, that's OK too.

Finally, I'm going to be making paper this week, so there may well be new sheets to experience.

OK, that's it for now, time for a coffee (it is Monday, after all).

Argh! I have a bunch of different things I want to post about, and they're swirling around in my head, making me indecisive. But, one thing I know for sure is that there are going to be Paper Shop open days in August. Here's a calendar for the whole month. Also, there's a not-life drawing session starting up on Fridays (post with details to come), so for all intents and purposes, Paper Shop will be open on Fridays too, from about 12ish till about 4ish. And, I'll be making new sheets over the next couple of weeks, so, yay!

Hey all, Paper Shop on today 12-4, and if you fancy a bit of drawing, come along from 2-4:30. Next week we're officially starting the Friday Not-Life Drawing sessions, so I thought we'd unofficially start today. Anyway, I'll be doing some posting about this scheme over the weekend - it follows along from the RAAY drawing school sessions, and it's going to be great.

Whoop! Hey all, while the heatwave continues, we enthusiastically condone repeated trips to the beach, and/or ice cold cocktails (mint julep anyone?). But if that's not possible, or not enough, come on down to RAAY on Saturday the 18th from 11-3 to see what's new in Paper Shop. I've been making this week, and there's a batch of soft, buttery A5 sheets made with a load of cotton rag paper offcuts from our friend, printmaker Jacqui Jones, (thanks Jacqui!), and just enough of an old cotton bedsheet to make things interesting. My production methods are primitive, and I get bored really easily, so I rendered the bedsheet down as far as I could, which means there are some bits and scraps in the sheets that resemble spiders, or tiny circuit boards, or some hybrid between the two. Whilst I'm often aiming for a smooth, plain, unlumpy surface (which is tricky to get without blending the pulp to mush, which leads to shorter fibres and weaker paper), Nic loves the texture, lumps & bumps, and so do plenty of other folk. I did a bit of drawing last night, to see how this batch handles, and the result (pics included) is pleasing. But don't take my word for it, come see for yourself. Then go to the beach.

Hey All, what with RAAY Drawing School taking up so much space in my head, Paper Shop has just been crowded out, pushed into a corner. But, there's loads of interesting paper to see, including MPH Handmade paper with seaweed inclusions, some massive sheets of Mohawk Ultrawhite Eggshell paper, and plenty of odds&ends that have made their way to RAAY. So, there's not one, but two, count them, two chances to come and browse this week - Friday the 10th and Saturday the 11th. The weather's going to be beautiful, you're going to be out anyway, why not stop by?

It's Saturday! Picnics! The Beach! Paper Shop! If you're out and about today and suddenly find yourself in need of a few sheets of paper for that project, you know the one, come see us, we'll be in from 11-3, with all the windows open, trying to generate a cross breeze, and doing a bit of drawing, probably. There's a stack of new handmade sheets, dried in the heatwave on Thursday, so I guess you could call them sun-ripened. There are a few sheets of Daler-Rowney pastel paper in warm, earthy colours - very delicious. There are massive, full sheets of Mohawk ultra-white eggshell - over a metre long. And more. See you soon.