Would you like to attend a free class this term to get a taste of what we offer? We’ve created a special page (www.insight-art.co.uk/freeclass) listing all classes with spaces, so that anyone who doesn’t currently attend a class can book a session for free.

There are classes for adults and children, so just click the ‘check availability’ link next to the class you are interested in, complete the forms and we’ll get back to you to confirm.

Booking is limited to one place per person. There are only a few places available so please only book if you know you will definitely be coming, and should you need to unexpectedly cancel please let us know in plenty of time.

We’ll be making sure that all the lessons we deliver during the taster weeks are suitable for all levels, including beginners, and we’ll provided all the materials that you need too. You just need to turn up and enjoy yourself with our lovely students in our lovely studio.

‘the struggle of figures emerging from the stone’

At ISoA we are so delighted that Gillian Ballance, a brilliant 84 year old student of ours, has agreed to show her work in our gallery this September. Gillian came to painting after a successful career in social work and has produced many fascinating paintings and drawings that we can’t wait to share.

After retirement in the 1990s, Gillian travelled to Mostar, Bosnia to help people traumatised by war. This was followed by returning to London to support asylum seekers affected by torture and most recently, up to the present day, working to support trafficked women.

Gillian describes painting as her ‘art therapy’ and her work, although until recently quite unintentional, clearly reflects the traumas she has witnessed.

I’ve had the pleasure of watching Gillian paint in our classes over the last decade, including on her current life drawing class and our Level 4 course. Whether she’s working in oils, watercolour or drawing, her artwork always shows a struggle with the medium. She applies layers of thick paint until she finds her subject, often passing through numerous incarnations and consistently changing compositions. She often revisits work months after announcing that a work is finished.

Gillian’s exhibition will included landscape and figure work, but the highlight for me will be her three large monochrome oils on canvas depicting Michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures of prisoners; images of which Gillian has lived with since childhood, but only recently choosing to paint, in her own words; ‘the struggle of figures emerging from the stone’.

If you haven’t done so already, please ‘like’ us on Facebook and ‘follow’ us on Twitter. It’s the best way to get school news hot off the press, which you can then easily share with others. There are also links to our Facebook and Twitter pages on our website.

More information about our Summer Art School for Adults can be found here.

More information about our Summer Art School for Children can be found here.

Congratulations to Julie Cooper who has had three paintings accepted into the St Ives Art Society Open Exhibition and to Clive Patterson who has had the same number of paintings accepted into the Hertford Open. If you get a moment, click on their names to see their websites.

Do you know that you can hire studio space by the day at Insight School of Art?

Our lower studio is a lovely bright room with four work stations which is open from 9.30am–9.30pm, allowing artists to get a lot of painting done each day.

The space is not only for professional artists but anyone who would like to give themselves more time to paint, working alongside other painters with the same interest. So whether you are preparing for an exhibition or you would like to finish some paintings started at one of our leisure painting classes, it’s a perfect space to paint in.

We have a special offer on at the moment too. There are a limited number of spaces which you can book, one day a week for the rest of the term, for just £100. That’s just £10 a day from next week.

If you like the idea of using the lower studio to paint more, or better still if you and a painting partner are interested, pop in and see me (Paul) or send me an email (paul@insight-art.co.uk) to check availability.

Sian Davies has just started working at the school on a one year apprenticeship. It’s already looking to be a good decision for the school. We’re going to try our hardest to give her a really good experience, learning about different aspects of running the school and already in return we get to benefit from her skills. If you see her around please say hello.

One of her responsibilities is to maintain the artwork in our online gallery (which had become a bit neglected recently – sorry). If you currently attend a class and you don’t have an artwork of yours in the online gallery, or you would like to change the one that is currently showing, please email sian@insight-art.co.uk with a photograph of your artwork attached.

To take a good photograph of your work you might like to consider the following:

- Hold the camera still and make sure there is enough light to get a sharp photograph.
- Don’t hold the camera too close to your artwork or the image will distort at the edges.
- Avoid using the flash or shining a light at it or you will get white glare in your photograph. Try to use day light coming from the sides of the artwork. Photographing out doors on a bright but cloudy day is good.
- Try to use the camera to crop the image at the edges.
- Take a few and compare to decide on the best to send to Sian.
- If you have a photo editing package on your computer, use it to get the brightness and contrast correct.

When you have the photo you want to send to Sian, please make it between 1 and 2 mb in size if possible.

You might also like to bring in a framed work for our display on the stairs at the school in Barnet too.

A photograph of Helen Robinson, Judy Gilley, Pia Rogers and Cary Whitworth in the ISoA gallery, putting up a preview of work to be included in 13@SummerArtFair; an art fair at Insight School of Art on the 22nd and 23rd June.

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