THE MYSTERIES OF OBAN AND ARGYLL, SCOTLAND WITH GILLIAN LEE SMITH AND THE PALE ROOK
October 8-17, 2023
Scottish artists Gillian Lee Smith and The Pale Rook (Johanna Flanagan) are joining forces to share their history and love of Scotland in what will be a most unique collaboration.
We will explore castles, cairns, standing stones, carved rocks, stone circles, forts and castles in “the footsteps of Kings.” We will start in Glasgow, travel to Oban where the Highlands meet the islands, and return to Glasgow. Along the way, we’re sure that we will hear about kelpies, seamaids and other folktales.
Nether Largie Standing Stones. Pic by Mark Pickering
Storytelling, history and visits to local archaeological sites, will inform our creations as we create our own stories with Gillian and Johanna. We will gather bits and bobs along our journey to affix to our dolls and we will create a vessel in response to our dolls. There is something extraordinary about the act of taking simple materials and using them to create something very personal that has meaning and emotion contained within it.
The idea of a ‘vessel’ will be very open to interpretation. It could be a boat, a house, a reliquary, a womb, a heart, a book, or a cist (a stone-age coffin). It can be anything you feel led to create.
The dolls we'll be making will be inspired by Scottish folklore and mythology, incorporating natural materials and found objects such as lichen, sea shells, sea glass, driftwood etc. that we'll find on the beaches, woodland and ancient sites of Argyll. All the doll work will be hand sewn and all fabrics will be provided.
We may come across natural forms, architecture particular to this area of Scotland, historic ruins, and precious artifacts on our outings. The simple materials and techniques will allow your ideas to take shape. You will already have a connection with your doll form, and the vessel will be a further response to this.
ITINERARY
Day 1. October 8. Everyone will arrive in Glasgow at the Leonardo Hotel. We will meet this evening for our first dinner together. After dinner, Johanna will start her lesson on cutting out our dolls.
Day 2. October 9.Breakfast at the hotel, then off to Kelvengrove Museum where we will learn more about the history of the areas we will be traveling to. Additionally, we will have a tour of the Glasgow Botanical Gardens where we will have an eco dyeing class with Johanna’s friend, Elisabeth Viguie-Culshaw. Lunch will be at the museum or at the gardens and dinner will be provided this evening.
Day 3. October 10. Breakfast and free time until we check out at 10:30. We will take the train to Oban that leaves Queen Street Station at 12:22 for our 3-hour ride. Lunch is on your own on the train. You will have some time to start stitching your dolls. We will check into the Oban Bay Hotel and meet Connie Macaskill for some story telling and history about Oban. Dinner will be provided.
Glenfinnan Viaduct
Day 4. October 11. Breakfast. Meet in the classroom at 9:00 with Johanna. Today we travel to Dunstaffnage Castle and Chapel.
The castle is considered to be the mighty stronghold of the ‘Kings of the Isles’ where Jacobite heroine Flora MacDonald was believed to have been held in prisoner. We will have lunch here before heading back to the classroom with Johanna. Dinner will be at the Waterfront Fish House Restaurant.
Day 5. October 12. Breakfast at the hotel then it’s a full travel day. We are off to Kilmarten Museum where Kilmartin Glen is considered to have one of the most important concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in Scotland. Lunch will be at the museum and after a long day of visiting monuments that include standing stones, a henge monument, numerous cists, and a ‘linear cemetery’ comprising five burial cairns, we will stop in Bistro at Loch Melfort for an early dinner.
Temple Wood
Day 6. October 13. Breakfast at hotel. Meet in the classroom with Gillian to begin designing and constructing vessels. You will be surprised at what can be created with cardstock, paper and glue. Gillian will demonstrate various paint techniques to bring character, history and a beautiful tactile quality to your forms. Lunch and dinner will be provided.
This workshop is full and a waitlist has been started.
COVID
You must be vaccinated in order to attend this workshop and you will need to take a rapid test at least two days prior to the workshop. Your card and negative test will need to be shown to Bellissima Art Escapes in order to join the workshop. Thank you for your cooperation and for considering your fellow artists and the people we visit.
This Escape Includes
9 nights accommodation, double occupancy
Lessons with The Pale Rook and Gillian Lee Smith
Scenic train ride to/from Oban
Visits to castles and historic monuments
All meals except for two lunches and one dinner
Some supplies
private Facebook page
new art tribe
Price: $4,080, limited to 12 people based on double occupancy. A limited number of single rooms are available for an additional $1,000. A $1000 non refundable deposit is due upon registering. The final payment is due April 15.
Price does not include airfare to/from Glasgow, Scotland
Airport: You should check prices from Edinburgh or Glasgow. There is bus service between the two airports.
Hotels
Hotel in Glasgow Oct. 8-9 - Leonardo Hotel
Hotel in Oban Oct. 10-15 - Oban Bay Hotel
Hotel in Glasgow Oct. 16 - Novotel Glasgow Centre
Supplies Provided
Fabric for dolls
Craft Wire
Gesso
Cardstock/grayboard
Glue
Texture Paste
Glazes and varnish
Burnt Umber ink for glazing
Sandpaper
Some paint - Black, Umber, White
Student Supply List
Camera or phone camera
Small cutting mat
Metal ruler
Knife (like an Exacto or Stanley knife)
A scalpel with a spare blade
A roll of masking tape
A few sheets of regular printer copy paper - 10 should be enough
Acrylic paint - we will have black, umber and white - so choose any other colours you wish to add - just 2 or 3 tubes. A limited colour palette will work best.
Glue brush - Gillian likes the Decopatch nylon brushes, but any old brush will do
A couple of paint brushes - suggestion is 1 x square size 4 or 5, 1 x round size 4
Acrylic ink for glazing - we will have burnt umber, which is excellent for an ageing effect - if you would like another colour, feel free to bring your own - Gillian likes Liquitex transparent inks
A couple of small containers for ink and glue - yoghurt pot or something similar
Hardback sketchbook - around 8 x 6 inches or so
Pencil/eraser
Scissors - fabric, and paper
Tweezers - can be from a pharmacy (get long thin ones)
Pin cushion
Glass headed sewing pins
Embroidery sewing needles
A selection of embroidery floss in colours of your choosing
A small bottle of fray stop
Oban
Day 7. October 14. Breakfast at hotel. Meet in the classroom with Gillian and Johanna. Lunch will be at The Green Shack, weather permitting. We will continue working on our projects this afternoon. Dinner will be provided.
Day 8. October 15. Breakfast, then into the classroom at 9:00 am with Gillian and Johanna. We will work on our projects, stopping for lunch, and then finishing with a Show ‘n Tell at the end of the day. Free time and dinner is on your own.
Day 9. October 16. Have an early breakfast before we leave on the 8:57 a.m. train to Glasgow. Lunch is on your own on the train. We will check into the Novotel hotel then you will have free time today in Glasgow before we meet this evening for our last meal together.
Day 10. October 17. The workshop is over and you are free to travel home or to other parts of Scotland.
To see more beautiful pics of Scotland, visit Marc Pickering’s Instagram page.
Gillian Lee Smith is a Scottish artist living in the beautiful, historic North-East coast of England that daily influences her work. As a teacher, Gillian is inspired to bring her love of people and place to each workshop using a wealth of techniques to make new discoveries along with her students. She has several very successful online courses and a mentoring program.
We are so thrilled that Johanna Flanagan of the Pale Rook is teaching another Bellissima Art Escape. She is a Scottish textile artist, doll maker and costume designer, trained in fashion, constructed textiles and historical costumes. Doll making was her first love, and she has been making dolls for as long as she can remember. In the last fourteen years, Johanna has taught in art schools, museums and colleges throughout the UK and Europe, as well as writing and tutoring correspondence courses for the last two years.
