We would like to invite you to join us in a series of relaxed, reflective Zoom workshops, to ponder upon our experiences of lockdown, through the lens of diverse artists historical and living.

There will be four workshops running on Monday mornings throughout July; come to as many, or as few, as you wish! The sessions will be led by Jennifer Leach and Andrea Carr, both professional artists excited by creativity; they will present the work of two or three artists each week, followed by a group sharing of reflections and personal lockdown experiences.

The sessions will end with an invitation to select one of the images looked at, and create a personal response to it, in writing, in drawing, puppetry, video, photography, cookery – whatever each participant is drawn to. These creations will be shared online on the Reading Culture Live website (www.readingculturelive.co.uk).

#rdgcultureliv @RDGWhatsOn

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This week's session: Nature

Many of us have found a great consolation in Nature during lockdown; there are many stories of people walking more, cycling more, discovering new places of beauty they didn’t know about, finding fresh enjoyment in planting, growing vegetables, even if only a tomato plant on a windowsill. Aloneness often feels a gift in a natural space.

In this workshop, we will be looking at three artists that help us see and connect with nature in different ways. Cézanne was a French painter who sought the solitary in order to paint his vision of the underlying interconnectedness of nature; Chris Ofili is a UK artist whose large canvases sing with the fizzing glory of nature and life, Georgia O’Keefe left the metropolis of New York to work in the desert, honing in on the minute detail of plants, making them vast.

The session will also be livestreamed free of charge. If you wish to participate this way, please log on to www.readingculturelive.co.uk for details.