Check out the Carve and Print Workshop in Northland!
Students created their own unique design at a one-day Carve & Print workshop with Te Kowhai Print Trust at the Quarry Arts Centre in Whangārei.
Tutor and artist, Hamish Oakley-Browne helped to develop the student’s designs. He helped the students to create 4 x A5 paper prints featuring their own unique designs to take away with them.
You don’t have to be arty to do this workshop! It’s a chance to relax and unwind as well as to discover your creative side.
Ruth’s Experience
“This experience felt like finding a secret treasure by accident or luck. I didn’t know what to expect going into it, and initially, I was slightly intimidated. But, this was a truly wonderful experience! The carving is so satisfying and you could spend hours doing it. Even more satisfying is the reveal of your design once you’ve inked it. Seeing the joy on everybody’s faces when they see their design for the first time was remarkable. You can make changes by carving out more on your design after you’ve inked it, which truly makes this experience even more rewarding. This experience brings out your creativity in ways that could surprise you. I’d definitely recommend it if you want to get your mind off things and immerse yourself in an activity. It helps being in an authentic art studio and feeling like an artist 🤩 Thoroughly enjoyed it!!”
Sajith’s Experience
“It was a wonderful experience for me to participate in the workshop. I learned to carve and get my print on a T-Shirt and on paper. This helped me to explore new skills and abilities such as drawing, tracing, carving, inking and printing. I was really interested in the old-fashioned presses which were used before digital technology. The atmosphere, the instructor Hamish and the experience was fantastic in every way!”
Print Making Workshops
More print-making workshops will be running soon and can be booked online. Get a group of 6 people together and contact Hamish to organise a workshop on a date which suits you, or get in touch to find out the next workshops scheduled!
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Brain Research Shows the Arts Promote Mental Health
With recent advances in neurological science, there are new forms of evidence on the arts and the brain. For example, cognitive neuroscientists found that creating art reduces cortisol levels (markers for stress). Therefore, through art people can induce positive mental states. These studies are part of a new field of research, called neuroesthetics: the scientific study of the neurobiological basis of the arts.
Neuroesthetics uses brain imaging, brain wave technology and biofeedback to gather scientific evidence of how we respond to the arts. Through this, there is physical, scientific evidence that the arts engage the mind, tap into our emotions in healthy ways and make us feel good.
About Hamish Oakley-Browne
Hamish is a dedicated printmaker, freelance arts facilitator and manager of Te Kowhai Print Trust Studio. In 2014 he graduated from North Tec with a Bachelor of Applied Arts, as the top student. In 2015 he graduated from Massey University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. He went on to secure a one-year Artist in Residency placement at Te Kowhai Print Trust, Whangarei. He was responsible for the creation of Northland’s first Printmakers Symposium Printapalooza.
Hamish works contractually on funded community arts projects such as Te Kakano Ahau and Quarry Arts Youth Scholarship Program. He received a Media Grants Award which funded a six-month creative project in association with Like Minds Like Us to raise awareness and reduce stigma around recovery from Mental distress.
His enduring passion for printmaking is evident as he promotes printmaking to wider audiences by organising and fundraising community printmaking events.
