THE HELD SEA: Looking Slowly Observational Drawing Workshop with Juliana Capes

‘Looking Slowly’ is an outdoor observational drawing workshop in Mount Lodge Park, developed alongside Juliana’s moving-image project for The Held Sea.

Much of Juliana’s new work is recorded in and around Mount Lodge Park, a place where she has spent countless hours as a parent and carer. Over time, the park has become a site of sustained attention: changing light, weather, puddles and reflections, plants, shadows, movement and seasonal change recur throughout the footage. The project considers how care shapes attention and perception, and how creative practice can emerge through the fragments and repetitions of everyday life.

‘Looking Slowly’ translates some of these moving-image processes into drawing. Participants will be invited to move through the park and undertake a series of guided observational exercises exploring different ways of paying attention to place. Drawing will be approached not primarily as a means of making an accurate representation, but as a tool for looking: a way of spending time with something and noticing what might otherwise be overlooked.

Working with simple materials, participants are invited to spend time with textures, shadows, plants, puddles, movement, weather and overlooked details within the park. The workshop concludes with an informal sharing of drawings and conversations about perception, place and everyday experience.

Event Info:

Experience: No previous drawing or art experience is necessary. The workshop is suitable for beginners as well as practising artists.

Materials: Simple drawing materials and paper will be provided, with participants also welcome to bring their own sketchbooks and preferred materials. The emphasis will be on portable, uncomplicated materials suitable for working outdoors.

Access: The workshop will accommodate different ways of moving through and experiencing the park. The park is wheelchair accessible. Exercises can be undertaken seated or standing and adapted to participants’ individual access requirements. There are benches in the park and we will have some folding seats.

The workshop is centred on visual observation but we can also incorporate description, listening, touch, movement and other sensory approaches. Please let us know your access requirements when booking.

Weather: As the changing conditions of the park are part of the workshop, light rain or variable weather can become part of the observational process. Please wear suitable clothing and footwear for spending time outdoors and, where useful, to bring something portable to sit on.

Places are limited. Please book in advance.