CHARITY HOURSNicky and I spent a lovely couple of hours using some of our charity hours earlier this week, walking dogs at the local rescue centre.  We met some lovely dogs who deserve to find loving permanent homes, it was a bit sad to see them going back into the pens but certainly a great way to spend some charity time.  Others from Kidderminster have also pledged their support for Forest Dog Rescue so hopefully the pooches will get out a bit more, all the dogs we walked were gentle (though some a little excitable and why not)  and really enjoyed getting out for a while.  We also donated £123 takings from sales on our charity table, located in DC7 warehouse. 

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Following the success of last year’s project which won the world illustration awards, UAL design students at Camberwell have triumphed again with bold new designs. This is the latest Galeria mural design project, where students were invited to submit their ideas and proposals using Winsor & Newton graphic and drawing materials, then the winning proposals realised in Galeria acrylic.

What this shows is the importance of having a wide range of media available to experiment with, to develop ideas and that acrylic paint has the versatility to facilitate any creative outcome and pathway.

Why murals? They are accessible across disciplines from fine art, design, public art to street art.

Why the UAL ? It offers an extensive range of courses in art, design, fashion, communication and performing arts. UAL is home to a diverse body of over 6,000 academic, professional artists designers and technical staff who support more than 21,000 students from 130 countries.

The University is made up of 6 renowned Colleges: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Arts, London College of Communication, London College of Fashion and Wimbledon College of Arts. UAL is ranked second in the world for Art and Design in the 2022 QS World University Rankings. 2nd only to the Royal College of art which is for MA programmes only. So first for BA programmes, which is a great context to be in, both in terms of reach and showcasing the breadth of possibilities.

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This week we launch our new ‘Items of Intrigue’ social media video series. We have been lucky in the introduction to us of conservator Kim Selvaggi, from the Slade School of Art, by Steph Nebbia ( thanks Steph). Kim agreed to write the scripts and present the series for us featuring Winsor & Newton’s most unusual and ground-breaking items from the past 200 years. The production was managed by Joe Davis on the global brand creative content team, edited by our great team of freelancers, with a helping hand from Serena Brahmbatt too.  Its our first trial of having a regular  ‘Face Of..’ for one of our content streams. Watch this space for the next videos – urine balls and pigs bladders coming up!

Winsor & Newton (@winsorandnewton) • Instagram photos and videos

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Last week on Friday and Saturday I had the opportunity to take part in a demo and watercolour workshop organised by one of our business partners in Slovenia. The presenter was a great watercolourist and a very nice man who has been working with us for many years – Eudes Correia. We presented prefessional watercolour, natural and synthetic brushes and watercolour paper. All from our excellent brand Winsor&Newton.

The demo attracted 54 spectators and the workshops were attended by well over 70 people in 3 groups. For a country as small as Slovenia – only 2m inhabitants – seems a good result.

This is the 3rd year that Eudes has visited Slovenia, and we already have another invitation for 2025. I hope that next year we will be able to prepare a similar event also in Poland.

Below are some photos.

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