Online workshops

Online workshops for adults

MPRG is proud to present a range of online workshops with exhibiting artists. The workshops are free to watch on our YouTube channel. You have the option of purchasing a $55 Art Box with most of the materials required, or you are welcome to source your own materials. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for all our online workshops.

KATE GORRINGE-SMITH: ECO PRINTING WORKSHOP

This workshop is free to watch and can be viewed anytime via the MPRG website, from 11am Monday 26 April.

In this online workshop Kate Gorringe-Smith will guide you through three examples of Eco printing using gathered leaves and plant material from your garden and home. Follow the step-by-step process to make an eco-printed concertina book and two eco printed panels using cotton wrap paper, string, a garden stick, and a tin can. You may purchase an MPRG Art box that has many of the required items or feel free to gather your own from the materials listed in the box. Prior to printing, you will need to prepare yourself with an old pot to boil your paper, scissors, a plastic tub for rinsing and a small amount of vinegar.

“Eco-printing” is a technique where plants, leaves and flowers leave their shapes, colour and marks on paper.  Plant material is wrapped inside paper and then steamed or boiled to release the dye found naturally inside the plant, creating a contact print in the shape of the leaf or flower used. The colours are revealed as the plant material is unwrapped and lifted off the paper. These contact prints are referred to as “eco-prints.”

Kate Gorringe-Smith works in contemporary and traditional print media in 2D and 3D form and is the Project Creator of the MPRG’s current exhibition, The Overwintering Project: Westernport. While working as a scientific editor for BirdLife Australia in the 1990s, Kate studied printmaking at RMIT. Kate has taken part in eight solo and numerous group exhibitions in Australia and overseas. Her work is held in national collections and has featured in awards such as the 2015 Silk Cut Award for Linocut, the 2017 Manly Artists' Book Prize and the 2021 Burnie Print Prize. Kate is Vice President of the Print Council of Australia.

The MPRG Art Box can be purchased for $55 (includes postage) and includes:

- 100% cotton Fabriano Tiepolo cotton rag paper prepared for printing e.g. concertina book pre-folded
- a rusted tin can
- string for tying printing bundles
- 4 large bulldog clips
- plastic printing plates
- large stick to roll paper around
- sample bag of plant material

Art Boxes for previous online workshops available to purchase ($55 including postage):

ROSIE WEISS: MASTERING WATERCOLOUR AND INK WORKSHOP

In this free online workshop artist Rosie Weiss explores the watercolour and ink methods she uses to make her works on paper. 

- 6 sheets of 300gsm A4 paper (hot and cold pressed)
- 2 brushes (round and square ends)
- watercolour disc
- 2 x 50mls containers of ink (one black and one colour)
- 1 x coloured watercolour pencil

DAVID FRAZER: MASTERING LINOCUT PRINTMAKING

Watch this free online workshop with NWOP finalist David Frazer to explore the fundamentals of linocut printmaking and the processes behind making a simple, single colour linocut print. David will discuss the cutting tools, the relief printing surface, how to ink up and ultimately the best ‘pressing’ technique for an at-home studio printmaker.

- A set of basic lino cutting tools
- A 15cm square of silk-cut lino
- A roller
- Black relief Ink
- Smooth surface printmaking paper (4 pieces)

You do not need to purchase the Art Box to participate, you may use your own materials.

HUBERT PAREROULTJA: MASTERING WATERCOLOUR WORKSHOP ‘A TREE STUDY’

Hubert Pareroultja, recent winner of the Art Gallery of New South Wale’s Wynne Prize (awarded annually for ‘the best landscape painting of Australian scenery in oils or watercolours’) and 2020 NWOP finalist, will be steering the White Ghost Gum ‘tree study’ workshop from the Iltja Ntjarra Art Centre in Alice Springs.

- 4 sheets of 300gsm A4 paper (hot and cold pressed)
- 2 watercolour brushes of different sizes
- watercolour disc
- pencil and eraser
- printout of White Ghost Gum inspiration image

Reference image:

Hubert Pareroultja, Lukaria (West MacDonnell Ranges, NT), 2017, watercolour on paper