These are days made up of two or three sessions and thus permit a closer examination of a chosen theme or topic. They also tend to be more informal with more audience participation than is usually possible in a lecture.
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Topic 1. The Shakers of North America Their beliefs, architecture and artefacts
Lecture 1. The history and beliefs of the Shakers
The Shakers were a group of religious dissidents that grew out of Quakerism and had their origins in mid-eighteenth-century England but they are much better known as a successful nineteenth century North American fundamentalist sect.
Lecture 2. Shaker architecture, furniture and artefacts
In this lecture we examine the Shaker legacy – their amazing buildings, their architectural style and their distinctive furniture.
Lecture 3. Is devoted to viewing some historical video clips of Shakers showing their ritualistic dance and their music as well as interviews with Shakers past and present. We will attempt to answer questions and discuss their relevance today.
Topic 2. Children’s Book Illustrations … a nostalgic trip into our collective memory.
“I find it interesting that we tend to retain images from the books we read as children despite ‘forgetting’ much other information from the same period.” John Ericson
Lecture 1. A Toad, a Tigger and a Tiger
A lecture full of childhood nostalgia. It is devoted to the illustrations from books we may have read as children from Winnie the Pooh, to Just William, to the exploits of the Famous Five.
Lecture 2. The Wind in the Willows REVISITED through its illustrators
It was first published publication in 1908 without illustrations but since then it has been illustrated by more than ninety artists, making it the most illustrated book in the English language.
Lecture 3. The Tale of Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter was an unusual and extraordinary Victorian lady. In this lecture, we examine the life and times of this formidable woman who helped found the National Trust, as well as her unquestionable artistic ability and her unique anthropological style of storytelling.
Topic 3. Reading Pictures
We live in an increasingly visual environment. Images are all round us, not just in art galleries and museums but from the media and the world in general. But how well and how accurately do we interpret our visual world?
Lecture 1. Are You Visually Literate?
When we view an image, we make two assumptions: first, that what we see is what others see and second that what we see is the way it is! i.e. the truth. Both of these assumptions can easily be shown to be wrong! In this lecture John will demonstrate how we can learn to ‘read a picture’ in the same way we might read a paragraph in a book.
Lecture 2. The Art of Illusion
In this thought provoking and entertaining presentation John has selected a range of visual illusions illustrating ‘illusions in art’ as well as ‘illusions as art’. Some of the images will amuse, some will confound and others will challenge your self-belief.
Lecture 3. The Fascinating World of Colour and How we see it?
This lecture is devoted to an exploration of colour. Few would question that our appreciation of colour and how we see it, is at the very core of our common interest in art and the arts. But what is colour? Do we all experience colour similarly? What is a colour scheme and why do some colours go well together and others not? Why are some people ‘colour blind’? What’s it like to be colour blind?