Join artist Emily McLellan and the Stirling University Art Collection for a full day art workshop of drawing and conversation.

Standing stones outlast the people who raised them. They mark places, hold memory and measure time on a scale we can barely grasp. This full day workshop, one of a series led by artist Emily McLennan in response to the theme of Topography, begins in the exhibition space with Callanish looking out from the centre of the circle (2007). We’ll spend time looking at how drawing can describe land, surface and place before returning to the workshop space to make our own work.

Through a series of short drawing exercises, we’ll move between the vast and the minute: mapping stones within a landscape, then zooming in on the lichen patterns that cover their surfaces. Contour lines will help us describe the form and texture of rock, just as a map describes a hillside. You’ll work with pencil, charcoal, pens, inks and wax resist on a range of different sizes of paper.

Conversations will run alongside the practical making. In 1788 the geologist James Hutton wrote of the earth that “we find no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end.” Set against that scale of time, what are we leaving behind and what does it mean to be custodians for those who come after us? What are the stones in your own life, the parts of you that bear witness to where you have been? If you’d like, you can bring words into the work: a phrase, a memory or a line of text woven into the marks.

There will be an optional walk to a standing stone near the Pathfoot building this is weather dependent.

This is an unhurried, process-led day with no finished piece to aim for. Come to experiment with materials, slow down and spend time making alongside others. At the end of the day we will lay the drawings out together and see what has emerged. Standing stones outlast the people who raised them. They mark places, hold memory and measure time on a scale we can barely grasp. This full day workshop, one of a series led by artist Emily McLennan in response to the theme of Topography, begins in the exhibition space with Callanish looking out from the centre of the circle (2007). We’ll spend time looking at how drawing can describe land, surface and place before returning to the workshop space to make our own work.

Through a series of short drawing exercises, we’ll move between the vast and the minute: mapping stones within a landscape, then zooming in on the lichen patterns that cover their surfaces. Contour lines will help us describe the form and texture of rock, just as a map describes a hillside. You’ll work with pencil, charcoal, pens, inks and wax resist on a range of different sizes of paper.

Conversations will run alongside the practical making. In 1788 the geologist James Hutton wrote of the earth that “we find no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end.” Set against that scale of time, what are we leaving behind and what does it mean to be custodians for those who come after us? What are the stones in your own life, the parts of you that bear witness to where you have been? If you’d like, you can bring words into the work: a phrase, a memory or a line of text woven into the marks.

There will be an optional walk to a standing stone near the Pathfoot building this is weather dependent.

This is an unhurried, process-led day with no finished piece to aim for. Come to experiment with materials, slow down and spend time making alongside others. At the end of the day we will lay the drawings out together and see what has emerged.

Tickets

In order to keep our events accessible we operate a donation ticket model. Our suggested donation is £15, but free spaces are available to anyone for whom cost would be a barrier. If this is you, please email us to book a free space (no questions asked).

Visiting us

Our exhibitions are on display in the central spine of the Pathfoot Building. The building is open to the public between Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm. Please be aware that the Pathfoot Building is a working teaching building, with students going to classes, academic conferences or private events happening concurrently with your visit. If you require a quiet visiting time, please get in touch with us and we will advise you on the best times for access.At Pathfoot, there are food and beverage outlets in the Crush Hall and the Dining Room. See the University's catering website (https://www.stir.ac.uk/student-life/campus-facilities/eating-drinking/) for more information.

Getting here

The Pathfoot Building is the first building on the left, up the hill as you enter the University. The University of Stirling’s campus is just two miles from the centre of Stirling in central Scotland. We're served by excellent fast public transport links from Glasgow and Edinburgh, and are easily accessible by bus, foot and bike from Stirling city centre or Bridge of Allan. Please be aware that during term time, parking can be extremely busy. See the Univers

Description supplied by the event organiser.