Schoolhouse for Art

With the inspiration of the setting in Russborough and the tuition from Alan Clarke this workshop is going to stimulate both mind and soul.

You’ll spend the first morning immersed in the art collection at Russborough. A private guided tour will give participants insight about the sculptures over the ages and an opportunity to sketch and study the sculptures in the main house before spending the remainder of the course learning to sculpt a life size portrait from a live model. All the appropriate techniques will be discussed and demonstrated, including basic head and neck anatomy, measuring, design, materials handling, surface finishing, etc. Alan will sculpt a demonstration piece alongside the participants, and discuss his own approach and philosophy. Sculpting a portrait in clay is a very enjoyable process and this workshop is suitable for all levels, including total beginners.

Artists have always been fascinated with the depiction of interior spaces from their uses as a setting for devotional religious paintings in Renaissance times through the domestic scenes of dutch painters such as Vermeer to Impressionist masters like Bonnard and Vuillard.

Depicting an interior allows the artists to use layers of space and lighting to create both a convincing sense of depth in a painting and to create interesting stories and narratives around both our own lives and the histories of others.

Russborough House is unique amongst historic houses in Ireland in retaining most of its original art and artefacts from it’s two main owners, the Earls of Milltown and the Beit family. It offers countless fascinating options for paintings from the grand opulent views in the entrance hall and reception rooms to intimate vignettes of domestic lives lived in this beautiful home.