We enjoyed THIS POST on The Big Draw website, by Tate St. Ives’ Kenna Hernly, about the recent launch of the Cornwall Morphology and Drawing Centre (CMADC) at CAST in Helston.
CMADC is the project of Falmouth School of Art alumna Gemma Anderson, and a group of Falmouth BA(Hons) Drawing students attended the launch.
The below event includes the work of an alumna of the Falmouth School of Art, Mary Fletcher. It’s taking place in Redruth over the next three days.
Mary was moved by the imposition of the ‘Bedroom Tax’ to paint some pictures contrasting Van Gogh, who had a spare room, which he famously decorated with the sunflower paintings ready for the visit Gauguin, with David Cameron who, Fletcher asserts, has a spare house and leads the government which brought in the ‘Bedroom Tax’.
Van Gogh was supported most of his life by his brother Theo, having proved himself unable to keep a steady job.
Musing on the contributions made to life by Vincent and David leads Mary to take up the subject of spare rooms, whether they are needed, what the effect of the ‘Bedroom Tax’ is, and similarly spare houses, second homes….
She invited contributions from others on this subject and also other political art for this show at the Cornwall Media Resources artist group in Redruth.
David Axtell has joined the show with some installations, plus Alice Mahoney, Fred McVittie and others.
BA(Hons) Drawing students had the opportunity of a work placement at the Cornwall Morphology and Drawing Centre, CAST Studios, in Helston. This project creates a space to explore artistic and scientific practices, especially drawing and artistic fieldwork, as ways of knowing the natural world.
Gemma Anderson, in the centre of the picture, is an alumna of Falmouth School of Art.
Nick Mott, BA(Hons) Illustration Lecturer and Lucy Willow, BA(Hons) Fine Art Senior Lecturer, have been in China running workshops for students at CAFA and GAFA. CAFA is the Central Academy of Fine Arts, located in Beijing. The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA) is the only one of its kind in South China.
This is a return visit for Lucy, and she has recently said about going back this time: “The relationships are getting stronger and stronger and it’s wonderful to return and have students remember you and the workshops. The students are also getting a lot from Nick Mott’s drawing games workshops.”
Staff and students are enjoying Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2014 at Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange. The exhibition includes work by 55 of the most promising artists emerging from UK art schools, chosen from nearly 1400 submissions, and selected by Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Enrico David and Goshka Macuga. The exhibition has already shown at the ICA in London and the World Museum Liverpool.
Among the artists exhibiting are Falmouth alumni Ed Hill, Stacey Guthrie, Melissa Kime and Frances Williams.
The exhibition runs until 30 May at The Exchange, and 13 June at Newlyn Art Gallery.
Also exhibiting until 18 April at The Engine Room at The Exchange is another Falmouth alumna, Lucy Apple. Lucy completed her Foundation at The Falmouth School of Art in 2002, and her BA(Hons) Fine Art in 2005, before studying her MFA Painting at The Slade in London.
Students from the Kyoto University of the Arts visited Falmouth School of Art with their tutor, Cosei Kawa, an alumni of our BA and MA Illustration courses. 
Cosei studied for his BA(Hons) Illustration at the same time as Nick Mott, who is now a Senior Lecturer on the BA. Nick and Cosei have kept in contact since their studies. 
The group had a tour of the Falmouth campus, and Nick led a drawing workshop for the students along with several second year Illustration students. The Head of Drawing gave the students a tour of the Drawing studios, and Nigel Owen, Head of Illustration, gave a presentation about the BA Illustration. After the visit Corei wrote,
“Thank you so much for your welcome, the workshop, and calling your students to join us.”
We were delighted to hear of third year BA(Hons) Drawing student Theo Crutchley-Mack‘s success in the Monty Parkin Memorial Prize. This is the second year in which the prize has run, inviting applications from leading art schools across the UK, and the organisers were very pleased with the high standard of entries this year. Just three winners were selected, each winning £300. We invited Theo to tell us about his work and about winning the prize…
Theo Crutchley-Mack
“Since living and studying on the coast I have become fascinated by the detrimental effects of time on abandoned buildings and vessels. The textured surfaces commonly found in these subjects have a unique quality of beauty that contradicts the negative opinion commonly taken toward decaying buildings and shipwrecks. In my artwork I attempt to capture this quality of beauty and represent it in an appealing and well composed drawing. I am inviting the viewer to appreciate how decay is actually a fascinating and beautiful process that never stops changing.
This prize money from this award will go towards travel and supplies for a research trip through England and Ireland where I will seek more subjects in a state of decay.
More of my work can be found at facebook.com/theocrutchleymack where I will be posting updates on the trip and the progress of my new body of work”.
BA(Hons) Drawing students compare micro and macro zoological specimens with Associate Lecturer Gemma Anderson at Exeter University’s Bioscience Lab at Penryn Campus
Falmouth School of Art 
