Creative Mentoring for artists
Do you ever think back to university tutorials and wish for the opportunity to talk over ideas?
Are you becoming isolated in your current environment and long for a safe space to discuss the direction of your work?
Do you have a creative block?
Then creative mentoring is for you.
Creative mentoring is ideal for artists who would value an unbiased and confidential in-depth discussion.
Creative mentoring is equally suitable if you are a bit stuck or crying out for help; for those who are wondering 'where do I go next?' or 'am I on a worthwhile path?'
“I can totally recommend art mentoring with Wendy Rhodes. Wendy is a skilled artist teacher and listener who helped uncover threads in my work that brought new inspiration and helped define targets. ”
Creative mentoring sessions provide the opportunity to work together, to review your work, and your ideas and then tease out themes or intentions. The aim will be to clarify your direction and improve motivation.
Scroll down for cost effective Packages and Artist Statement sessions
“Thank you so much for your extremely helpful summary of our discussion and the consolidation of thoughts. It was so useful and I have some excellent and really helpful ideas that have emerged from the session. I already feel clearer and a bit more confident about how I move forwards! I also absolutely LOVE the artists you suggested – bang on the nose – right up my street!!! I thoroughly enjoyed our session and the opportunity to get all my work out on the table. I have not done that before and having the space and time to reflect and contemplate on my body of work in a facilitated way is exceedingly helpful.”
Sally Curzon, fine artist
Mentoring for Artists
Fine Artists, Printmakers, Textile Artists, Graphic Artists, Photographers, Book Artists, Sculptors, Student Artists
What I Offer:
Guidance and appraisal
Problem finding
Thematic direction
Material choices
Sources of inspiration
Creative paths
A confidence boost!
What I don’t offer:
Sales or pricing advice
Business or marketing advice
Social media guidance
MY EXPERIENCE?
I am Dr WENDY RHODES, I'm a Fine Artist, Printmaker and a course tutor at GPC and Pegasus Art. I have taught Fine Art, Printmaking and Graphic Design for 26 years and I write profiles and professional practice articles for the journal Printmaking Today. I hold a PhD that explored the reciprocal experiential and material qualities in drawing and etching practices. My doctoral research led me to interview 5 professional artists extensively, including Norman Ackroyd RA, Ros Ford RE and Jason Hicklin RE. I visited each artist a number of times and our discussions followed bodies of work from initial development, through the full creative process to final exhibitions. This experience, combined with my years of teaching, have given me the insight and understanding necessary for creative mentoring.
“Thank you so much. I came home feeling really energised and positive… and will give it more considered thought as I go on, but I think it's a very accurate description of where I stand. I particularly like the word cloud - I will print that out and put it on my desk.”
— Frances Day, book arts
Creative Mentoring - Book sessions individually or build your own programme
How many mentoring sessions do I need?
Some artists find that a one-off Portfolio Surgery is enough to give their work a much-needed boost.
For those who would like to see more progression, sessions can be booked individually, and in any order, after a Portfolio Surgery. Sessions can be repeated. The timing between sessions will depend on the practice and pace of each practitioner - a suggestion of roughly 2 months between each session provides a starting point.
Portfolio Surgery - £65
60 minute meeting plus detailed feedback notes
A portfolio surgery is an opportunity to get to know you and your work, to explore your interests, techniques and ideas. The session will not be an interview, but will feel like a really good chat, with your work as the focus. As the session progresses I will gently delve into the themes within your work and evaluate your current position.
Feedback will summarise our discussion, identify themes and concepts and suggest areas for development. My feedback is presented on a specially designed ‘at a glance’ A4 sheet that can be pinned to your studio wall or above your desk.
Progress Review - £60
60mins, plus feedback notes
A Progress Review will normally follow on from the Portfolio Surgery. The aim will be to discover what progress you have made, whether the previous feedback remains relevant and answer new queries that may have arisen. The session will enable you to clarify themes and concepts that have been emerging, or to discuss changes in direction or process.
Feedback will summarise our discussion and provide motivation and direction for your ongoing work.
Forward planning - £50
30-45 mins plus action plan notes
A Forward Planning session is designed to follow on from either the Portfolio Surgery or the Progress Review. This session will be directed towards establishing a clear path for the next stage of your creative endeavours, enabling you to develop work with confidence and conviction.
An action plan will be filled out as we talk and finalised as feedback. This will be presented on a specially designed ‘at a glance’ A4 sheet that can be pinned to your studio wall or above your desk.
HOW DO I BOOK?
Please use the button below to book a mentoring session, or make enquiries
Creative Mentoring Packages
Package 1
Mentoring Package - rediscovering your direction - 3 sessions, £160
Three sessions that build into a comprehensive package enabling you to develop your practice with confidence and conviction
Session 1: Portfolio review, 60 mins meeting plus detailed feedback notes
Session 2: Progress assessment, 60 mins, plus feedback notes
Session 3: Forward planning, 30-45 mins plus action plan notes
*The package offers a saving of £15
Package 2
Writing an artist statement package - 2 sessions, £65
2x30 minute sessions, with statement corrections
The artist statement is probably one of the most challenging pieces of writing that a creative individual is asked to prepare. Session 1 will bring together all your relevant details and information. You will then be asked to write a draft statement (with guidance notes) that I will annotate between our two sessions. Session 2 will form a review of the first draft and provide guidance for improvements. I will ask you to write a second draft which I will then return with final corrections.
Choose from 2 options (pricing is the same):
Option 1 - Standard Statement. Produce a concise and well worded statement that you will be able to adapt for specific applications in the future. The structure of this statement will mean that you will be able to adjust it for multiple uses.
Option 2 - Tailored Statement. Construct a concise and well worded statement for a specific application, project or gallery. This statement will include references to specific pieces of work and will be written to contain information that answers the requirements of a specific brief.
Where do the mentoring sessions take place?
Studio visit or Zoom
Studio visits:
If you live within a 10 mile radius of Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, I will visit you in your studio at no extra cost.
Between 10 miles and 30 miles from Nailsworth there will be an extra £10 charge to cover petrol.
Further than 30 miles from Nailsworth add another £10 for every 20 miles extra, or the session can be conducted via Zoom.
Zoom sessions:
Zoom is an excellent platform for mentoring sessions, but please do consider whether your work translates well enough, through a screen, for me to really see what your intentions have been.
Bookable space:
The meeting room, Three Storeys, Old Bristol Rd, Nailsworth GL6 0JE. The meeting room is a very comfortable space where we can talk without interruptions, only available weekdays 5-7pm at a £20 additional cost.
HOW DO I BOOK?
To book a mentoring session, or make enquiries,
Please use the button below to take you to my contact page