Over the course of a year, artist Anca Danila has been working with participants from RADE both at the Hugh Lane Gallery and offsite at RADE to look at art and explore rich seams of creativity, ideas and discussion.
Over the course of a year, artist Anca Danila has been working with participants from RADE both at the Hugh Lane Gallery and offsite at RADE to look at art and explore rich seams of creativity, ideas and discussion.
25.10.2024
Workshop & Exhibition Tour with Brian Maguire Leading a Portraiture workshop inspired by Brian Maguire’s exhibition La Grande Illusion
Artist Brian Maguire led an inspiring tour of his La Grande Illusion exhibition at Hugh Lane Gallery, followed by a reflective discussion in the gallery space. Having the artist present created an inspiring environment, and participants engaged enthusiastically in both the discussion and the creative process. After the tour, we continued creating together in the Gallery’s Education Space. Taking inspiration from Brian Maguire’s video The Clock Winds Down, the workshop introduced participants to the fundamentals of portrait drawing, focusing on facial proportions, features, and facial expression, as well as the use of light and shadow to build volume. Working in pairs, they sketched and painted each other with an emphasis on expressive qualities of the face, adopting an expressionist and gesturalist approach to painting rather than a realistic rendering. The session concluded with a group reflection and discussion with artist Brian Maguire, offering participants the chance to share their experiences, exchange insights, and connect. Through this process, the tour + workshop fostered connection and self-expression, providing a supportive space for reflection and achievement through art.
22.11.2024
The Seen and Unseen’: Exploring Identity & Duality through Portraiture and Shadow
Participants engaged in a guided tour of Brian Maguire’s La Grande Illusion exhibition, followed by an art workshop and reflective discussion in the gallery’s education space. Building on previous sessions, this workshop focused on the theme of shadow, both as a visual element in art, which not only gives form and depth to the subject but also anchors it in reality, creating a sense of presence and connection, and for its broader symbolism, reflecting hidden aspects of identity and wider systems of power, surveillance, and societal oppression. Using a projector, participants worked in pairs to trace each other’s shadows on the wall, emphasising the contours of the portrait and shoulders. The activity was followed by free painting, allowing participants to experiment with textures and expressive techniques to convey emotion. The workshop concluded with a reflective discussion, highlighting the expressiveness of the artworks and the playful, engaging nature of the shadow exercises. The session was lively and interactive, offering participants both creative exploration and thoughtful reflection on presence, identity, and artistic expression.
18.02.2025
Layers of Identity: Exploring Portraiture & Transparency
Participants explored portraiture through emotion, expression, and transparency using paper, oil pastels, markers, cellophane, acetate, and a projector. The session began with blind contour drawing to encourage close observation and fluid, intuitive line work. Drawings were then transferred onto acetate paper, and participants experimented with cellophane to explore colour, transparency, and layering. The final portraits were combined and projected as overlapping compositions, exploring abstraction, light, shadow, and interaction while forming a collective, visually engaging artwork. The workshop concluded with reflection and discussion, highlighting how layering and expressive techniques shape portraiture. The session fostered observational skills and fluid line drawing, encouraged experimentation and self-expression, and promoted creative collaboration. It offered a playful and engaging environment for participants in creating a collaborative layered projected work.
24.06.2025
Fragmented Realities: Exploring Loss, Transformation, and Memory through Acrylic Collage Painting
Structure: Creating cut-out figures, faceless portraits, animals, symbols, and ruins, layered with acrylic paint.
Participants began with a guided tour of Ailbhe Ní Bhriain’s exhibition The Dream Pool Intervals, exploring her tapestry and digital collage works that reflect loss, transformation, and memory. The tour highlighted her use of archival imagery, fractured landscapes, faceless figures, and layered textures, weaving narratives from history, mythology, and present-day concerns, while reflecting ecological and cultural loss and the passage of time. Following the tour, participants moved to the education space for a hands-on workshop inspired by Ní Bhriain’s artworks. Using acrylic paints, collage materials, images of old photographs, ruins, animals, tribal masks, natural elements, newspapers, and symbolic imagery, they created layered, fragmented compositions. Techniques included masking, scraping, overpainting, and layering cut-out figures, faceless portraits, animals, ruins, and archaeological motifs. Emphasis was placed on embracing loss and absence, allowing hidden/lost elements to speak as much as those visible. Comparisons were drawn to Adrian Ghenie and Gerhard Richter, paintings techniques, highlighting the expressive potential of texture, layering, and painterly disruption. The session concluded with reflection and discussion, encouraging participants to consider how fragmentation, layering, and surface textures can convey memory, ambiguity, and traces of history. Participants explored with various painting textures, experimented with acrylic and collage techniques, and engaged with the meditative, transformative qualities of creative making.
05.09.2025
Painting a Seascape in Acrylic inspired by Eugène Boudin
Inspired by Eugène Boudin’s focus on light and atmosphere, particularly in the painting The Beach at Tourgeville les-Sablons, participants explored landscape painting in acrylic. The session provided step-by-step guidance on achieving depth and perspective, starting with composition, colour mixing, and brushstroke techniques to capture clouds, sea, sand, and the overall atmosphere of a seascape. Participants engaged in an in-depth exploration of seascape painting, receiving one-to-one guidance throughout. The session was lively, relaxing and interactive, with participants gaining confidence in their skills and creating paintings they were proud of. Many expressed enthusiasms for further developing their painting techniques and colour mixing in future workshops.
24.09.2025
Colour, Contrast, and Harmony: Art Course
Location: RADE, Dublin 8
This art course explored colour theory, self-expression through geometrical abstract composition, and the practical application of mixing colours and achieving various types of contrasts. Inspired by Johannes Itten and Josef Albers, the session emphasised Itten’s The Art of Colour and his seven types of contrast. The session began with a presentation of the colour wheel, including primary and secondary colours, warm and cool colours, complementary colours, tints, tones, and shades, as well as the Munsell colour system (hue, chroma, and value). Each type of contrast was illustrated with examples from art history, prompting discussion and analysis of composition, light, and atmosphere. In the practical session, participants created tile artworks, geometric abstract compositions in which each tile explored a different type of contrast. The workshop was engaging and interactive, allowing participants to develop confidence in colour theory, experiment creatively, and take pride in their work.
08.10.2025
Sensory Workshop: Exploring Portraiture through Scents, Colour Association, and Acrylic Techniques
Location: RADE, Dublin 8
This sensory workshop invites participants to explore expressive portrait painting through the interplay of scent and colour. Building on previous workshops on portraiture, painting textures and contrast, participants experimented with 1 to 3 types of Itten’s seven contrasts, such as complementary, qualitative, and quantitative contrasts, to enhance the vibrancy and expressiveness of their work. Using acrylics, participants focused on colour mixing, loose brushstrokes, and volume, prioritising emotional expression over realism. Scents guided colour choices, enabling participants to translate sensory experiences into their painted portraits. The workshop encouraged dialogue, experimentation, creativity, and personal interpretation.
