MRS DELANY: Plants and Paper
12 - 14 August 1997

A three day course which focused on the 'paper mosaicks' of this eighteenth century lady, held at Beningbrough Hall, Yorkshire. Mrs.Delany's portrait within its splendid frame was the focus of the first morning of the course. Liz Rideal talked about Delany's life and work, and students made drawings from her portrait and others of her friends on display. This was followed by a slide talk discussing the art of collage as a connecting genre for artists as diverse as Delany, Matisse, Heartfield, Höch and Warhol.

Jonathan Stephenson led the class on day two, in the morning talking about the history and practice of paper making and in the afternoon demonstrating basic paper making. Course participants experimented, making their own tinted papers.

The aim of the final day was to fuse the knowledge and information gained, together with the newly made papers and make a collage. Results were varied, mainly non-figurative, an exciting blend of individual creative effort.

 
Mary Delany
by John Opie, 1782

'Precision and truth unparalleled'
Horace Walpole of Mrs.Delany's work

Jonathan Stephenson
demonstrating paper making

 Students making their collages

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