Many of these things sound serious, and yet I am convinced that this seriousness also contains something very light and playful, beautiful and joyful.
I hope you can always rediscover this joy and this lightness.
– Eva Kalien
Hi, I’m Lorna and if I wasn’t an artist I would be a teacher.
I just love sharing and I’m excited to share with you what I have learnt during my 40 years as a professional artist in my first online course.
It hasn’t always been easy, in fact there are times in my life where I really doubted myself. I now realise after all of these years of working and exhibiting that, if I didn’t have those doubts and fears it wouldn’t be healthy. I love sharing those moments with people because I know what that’s like.
This course is all about finding your artistic voice, your own visual language. I’ll be guiding you through every step of the way by making your brushes, exploring your mark making and a series of projects to create objects of desire to record this time and this place.
If you’re a textile artist, you’ll probably do lots of stitching and if you’re a mixed media artist, you’ll probably use a lot of different mediums. It’ll be quite different from being in a class, but there’s a special quality about having this time of isolation of just being you and doing it at your own own pace.
Perfectly imperfect, to me is just the best compliment anybody could give me. I can’t wait to see what you create and hear your stories within our online community.
It’s going to be a time of deep discovery.
Lorna.
Many of these things sound serious, and yet I am convinced that this seriousness also contains something very light and playful, beautiful and joyful.
I hope you can always rediscover this joy and this lightness.
– Eva Kalien
Perfectly Imperfect is an online course designed to uncover your visual language. Lorna Crane invites you into her studio and guides you every step of the way through the processes and techniques that have made her one of Australia’s best Contemporary Abstract Artists.
Lorna’s unique tuition will take you on a journey of discovery. Layered with a new way of thinking and feeling, in the end you’ll be able to speak confidently about your work, know who you are as an artist and where you want to go.
All course materials, including streaming videos, actionable tasks and downloadable resource guides are within an easy to use member portal.
You’ll be able to ask questions, get feedback and share your story with Lorna and fellow Perfectly Imperfect students through a private online community including live Q&A’s.
By experimenting with found objects, mark making, collage, asemic journal writing, hand painting cloth, machine and hand stitch through a series of guided exercises you’ll discover what makes your heart sing.
Creating your own set of beautiful handmade brushes is the first step in unlocking your potential. A time to celebrate and cherish by recording their first marks in your own paper artbook.
Surprised at the new level of sophistication in your work, turn your hand painted cloth into a series of perfectly imperfect scrolls, reference books, vessels and finished artworks that document this special time and place.
With 8 modules, 8 hours of footage and 8 weeks of ongoing tuition covering, brush making, mark making, collage, hand painting cloth, making sample books, fabric vessels and finished cloth art books, Lorna guides you step by step on a unique creative journey.
Each module contains several palatable video lessons that build on each other plus actionable assignments and downloadable resource guides.
Students are fully supported by the Fibre Arts Take Two team and are invited to join a private Facebook community where you can share your progress directly with Lorna.
Here Lorna offers invaluable support to students and *ongoing tuition.
Take a walk with Lorna and discover some of her favourite places where she draws inspiration from her landscape. Learn to select the best wood for brush making and forage for found objects to incorporate in your artwork. You’ll be inspired to get out in nature, finding inspiration and creating a deeper connection with your favourite place.
Lorna welcomes you into her studio and shares her very first collection of handmade brushes and how they have influenced her work over the years. Lorna will instruct you step by step in making your own set of 5 brushes that are the most robust and versatile when it comes to your mark making. Lorna even includes two extra bonus brushes for you to try!
Dipping your brushes into ink for the first time is something to be celebrated and recorded. Lorna takes you through not only the practical steps from the best workstation practices, paper selection and demonstrating how to create your own record book of marks, but also takes you deeper into the stillness and poetry of these precious first marks.
Moving beyond the brush you’ll start to free yourself of the rules during the overdrawing and underdrawing experience. Using a variety of mark making mediums and tools you’ll experiment on a variety of found and recycled papers, discovering each marks unique properties that allow your individual visual language to emerge.
This module is an enlightening experience. Through a series of exercises in letting go including collage, asemic journal writing and book making, Lorna shares with you her first mark making work and personal journal writing. Lorna often see’s a spark in her students’ eyes during this stage in the discovery process as you learn to further let go of set expectations.
With a limited pallet you’ll create a series of hand painted cloth using a mixture of fabric and techniques including backwashing and mono printing. In the end you’ll have a collection of amazing fabric to be used in later modules and projects. You’ll be surprised by the variety of layers that can be created, adding sophistication and depth to your future work.
Experiment with collage using paper and cloth, make a scroll and three beautiful cloth sampler books that are perfectly imperfect objects of desire. Here Lorna will challenge you to look deeper into your work and embellish your creations with subversive stitch, discovering how it has a unique way of allowing you to dig deeper into your inner self.
Through shared stories and a detailed look into Lorna’s past and new body of work, she opens up a world of possibilities for you to start your own story. Under Lorna’s expert guidance she will prepare you to make your own hand stitched journal or vessel that truly reflects your voice as an artist. A keeper of your memories to record this time and place in your life.
Lorna Crane’s workshops offer an unparalleled artistic experience.
She is one of the most dedicated, talented, and gifted artists I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. I count Lorna among the most important artists working today. Her students will gain a wealth of information about materials and techniques, but will also greatly appreciate Lorna’s abilities to bring the spirit of play and experimentation into making compelling artwork.
– Allison B Cooke
Perfect as they are, Lorna takes you beyond the brush, showing you how these utilitarian tools can open up a channel deep within you, creating a confidence and uncovering a connection with your work.
From the ceremony of the first marks to painting on cloth, your handmade brushes are just the beginning of finding your unique voice as an artist.
It’s time to be brave and push the boundaries as Lorna guides you every step of the way, let go of any expectations and simply allow the magic to happen.
From experienced artists to beginners the Perfectly Imperfect, Discovering Your Visual Language course will show you ways to free yourself from the rules and become the artist you’re meant to be!
Lorna is a true talent to the arts!
Not only did she make me feel comfortable, she pushed me in a new direction, opened my mind to creating my own signature/style which has stayed with me thanks to her professionalism as a fabulous tutor.
– Tracey Murphy
The recommended minimum requirements for this course are:
PVA
Glue Stick
Brush handles – sticks from local environment or recycled paint brushes
Brush head – plant fibres, feather
Crochet Cotton
Cloth Remnants – Pick your favourite cloth scraps and colours and even strip them down to 3cm wide strips ready for use.
Soft Brush (approx. 4cm wide) hake is good but not essential
I/2 metre assorted cloth lengths – cotton, linen or recycled offcuts no more than 1.5m in length
Sewing needle that fits the crochet cotton with a sharp end
Scissors
Black Ink
Apron
Ruler
A3 sketch book 150gsm
Cotton tips
Drawing materials – including pencils, markers, any type of wax crayons (limited palette)
Scraper – cardboard scraps or old credit card
Acrylic paint tubes – your choice of three colours (limited palette)
4 Butterfly clips or plastic clothes pegs
Assorted paper approx. A4 eg: old book pages, old drawing, ephemeral found papers, maps etc – again with a focus on recycle/reuse
Rags for clean up
The Perfectly Imperfect – Discovering Your Visual Language course is designed for you to follow at your own pace. We recommend chunking the course into 10 weeks. Allowing for two weeks to gather your materials and get familiar with the course then 1 module per week thereafter to complete the actions tasks allowing you time to fully immerse yourself in the experience.
When you enrol you have access to the entire course immediately. Some people choose to immerse themselves and complete it over two weeks, others choose to take their time working their way through over the entire 10 weeks.
Remember, it’s yours to revisit time and time again!
*Ongoing Tuition
Lorna will be available in the private Facebook Community for approx. 8 weeks after enrolments close. Please note as a practicing artist and mentor Lorna will engage as much a possible in between her other commitments.
Online courses are building in popularity. They are a great way to supplement live workshops affordably and from the comfort of your own home. Learn new skills and see behind the scenes into the studios and lives of your favorite artists.
Our platform is very simple to use and we offer a great support team should you ever run into problems.
Nope, you will have full access to the course via your online portal.
We offer a closed Facebook group for enrolled students only to connect and share their journey.
The group also offers you the opportunity to gain further insights and tuition from Lorna and other students. This group it is not compulsory but is highly recommended!
The Perfectly Imperfect – Discovering Your Visual Language online course is: $398 and sold in USD.
A payment plan is available:
2 x Monthly Instalments of $215 USD
5 x Monthly Instalments of $ 86 USD
Please check your local exchange rate before purchasing.
To ensure a solid learning experience and to build community, the Perfectly Imperfect – Discovering Your Visual Language online course is only offered as a full course.
The Perfectly Imperfect – Discovering Your Visual Language online course has a 100% money back guarantee should you watch less than 10% of the course within 7 days we will offer you a full refund.
If you feel that this course doesn’t meet your expectations please email us at support@fibreartstaketwo.com within 7 days of enrolling. If you have watched less than 10% of the content we will immediately purchase the course back at the current exchange rate, less any associated transaction fees.
Absolutely! All of the course content is fully responsive so it will work regardless of whether you’re on a computer or mobile device.
Good question! You’ll be able to post your questions about the course in our private Facebook group, either someone from the community, Fibre Arts Take Two or Lorna herself will be able to help you.
If you have more technical questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to support@fibreartstaketwo.com
“ Before we begin, my wish and hope for you are that you learn to trust your own intuition and get a feeling for how delicate and subtle a conversation with one’s own work of art can be and how beautiful.
I think it’s important to realise at the beginning that art doesn’t develop in the head and that art is a very fragile substance with a lot to do with the heart.
The steps my artistic approach shows are often not understood and cannot be grasped with the head. And it is important and further to trust that things will always go on and that there will always be transformations that bring something new and unexpected.
I look forward to sharing with you my great love for nature, silence and poetry. In all these components, I somehow always found and still find the same theme: the fine attention to what lies in between, that there is beauty and intimacy that lies hidden. I have also found that time, being able to wait, observing and listening are very important qualities.
In the north, the amber collectors, to whom I count myself, say: you can’t look for amber. But when you’re in the mood to find, he may show up and give himself a gift.
I look forward to giving you an insight into my inner principles and approaches as we embark on the journey together.”
These specially designed action tasks and resource guides follow the course curriculum. By layering your learning you’ll be surprised how a pattern emerges in your work uncovering your unique style.
Lorna is one of the most generous tutors you’ll ever find. She believes in sharing her knowledge widely which is evident throughout this course. Not only does she share a detailed look into her past, current and future bodies of work, but Lorna has also included the below special bonuses to further elevate and inspire her students.
Finding and funding the right arts residency can be expensive, time consuming and a little stressful. Where do you go? How do you apply and why is this so important?
Lorna knows what it takes and has prepared a comprehensive downloadable guide to help you discover the perfect residency for you, how to apply for grants and why residencies are such an important part of the artist journey.
Valued at $150
Lorna invites you on location as she begins a large abstract piece on cloth.
Get a glimpse into her outdoor process before heading back in the studio to see how she analyses her marks and begins the deconstruct and composition process.
A wonderful insight into free flowing abstract mark making and where it can lead.
Valued at $120
It’s been difficult to attend art galleries lately.
In never before seen footage take a guided tour around the BAS Exhibition Centre with Lorna as she shares with you the amazing artwork of a selected group of artists from the Eurobodalla Fibre and Textile Artist Group (EFTAG).
Valued at $80
“Lorna’s gentle way of guiding helped me tap into my authentic creative voice.
Having room for reflection and sharing the story allowed my creativity to attain the “flow “ state that it liberated my passion into a career.”
After completing five years of arts training at the University of Wollongong in the mid eighties Lorna Crane gained an Associate Diploma of Creative Art followed by the Bachelor of Creative Arts graduating with Distinction.
Lorna has been involved with many artist run initiatives and community arts projects over many years, including Art Arena Gallery Inc, Megalo Access Arts and the ANCA Dickson studio complex in Canberra. During this time she participated in many solo and group exhibitions.
She was awarded the Sir William Keys Churchill Fellowship researching community arts and mental health in 2002. Her work has been represented in many group and selected exhibitions – regionally, nationally and internationally.
Known as The Brushmaker Lorna sources materials from her natural environment including driftwood, bamboo, organic fibres along with found objects making unique rudimental and utilitarian brushes in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Career highlights include residencies with the Bundanon Trust, Alice Springs, Broken Hill Art Exchange, Berlin, New Zealand, Venice, Italy. During September 2016 she traveled to Barcelona for a two week residency at Art Print Residence to make a series of unique prints. During February/March 2017 she was an artist in residence at Bull Bay, North Bruny Island Tasmania. Upcoming residency is at Cloudbough in Kandos, NSW March 2021.
‘Lorna Crane belongs to a group of artists who feel a reverential connection to the earth (the elements, wind, rain, heat, dust, growth and decay) and immerse themselves in it: their body, their gestures, their choice of materials.
Their work is a kind of choreography of the bush, a down-and-dirty embracing of it, utilising methods that often mimic how nature itself behaves, how it evolves, forms and dissolves. As such, the works rely less on what is before the eye and much more on what the senses tell us; the resulting imagery being an experience rather than a depiction of something.’
Robert Hollingworth
