Blogging for lovers of Art, Mixed Media, Collage and Surface Patterns.
Any spare time you have is as good as any to up-skill and gain creative knowledge. My little educational hobby is learning about art, design and textiles via free or paid online courses from various Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) websites.
My online searches for art courses has enabled me to discover good selections of free and paid Online Visual Art courses on these MOOC sites.
I have made a list of free and paid online art courses that interested me and I am glad to offer the list here. Use it as a gateway to a wide range of art and general courses that you will find useful when you have spare time to learn.
When you search through to each provider you will find a mix of free and paid courses. Some courses offer certifications for which a fee is required.
LIST OF FREE ONLINE ARTS COURSES
THE ARTS
FUTURELEARN
Has a small selection of art courses lasting a few weeks or longer. One of the courses I completed was the - Arts and Dementia course- a 4 week course which came in a handy at a time when I personally experienced the effects of dementia on an elderly relative. This course opened me up to understand the future world for a number of us. The course information came in handy for me as I was able to volunteer and run a small arts workshop for a local elderly association.
I love using paper as a material in my art practice. Of course this one caught my eye, The Art of Washi Paper in Japanese rare books . It's a nice short 2 weeks course looking into the history and production of papers used by the Japanese in their rare books.
For those of you involved on the administration side of the Arts, sounds like this course will give a good overview into the need for Effective Fundraising and Leadership in the Arts, again just 2 weeks long.
OPEN LEARN ( OPEN UNIVERSITY)
Two interesting subjects that popped up from this educational portal by the Open University were - Art and Visual Culture-Medieval to Modern and Introduction to studying Art and Humanities.
There were lots of other free courses on offer worth taking a look, lots of institutions are offering free online sessions so we should take advantage while we have the time.
TATE UK
Tate UK has a an essay, on the Talking Point webpage, about the mental process artist go through when creating art in isolation. An apt topic for today's artist isolated in their own creative world. The piece explores how artists of now and the past create in solitude. Is there creative benefits to this imposed isolation, how and why do artist seek isolation ?.
This essay explores the issue of isolation through a number of artists and their style of art practice. Look for Making Art in Isolation in the Talking point section of the Tate Modern website.
ARTYFACTORY
If you just need a read and reminder about the basic visual elements of art then the ArtyFactory's The Visual Elements of Art page will serve you well.
It's a good deep dive introduction into all the basic visual elements involved in the composition of Art - line, colour, shape, form, pattern, tone and texture.
This site a labour of art love, as all lessons were written and designed by an art teacher John MacTaggart
TEXTILES AND COLOUR
Textiles and colour have always been an interest of mine and I find that interest has expanded over the years with the ability to learn new ideas and techniques online.
ALISON
Artists and designers need to have a basic understanding of colour and this course covers the psychological effects of colour in spaces and on people. Expand your understanding by studying the Psychology of Art and Colour Course offered by Alison.com for artist and designers.
OPEN LEARN ( OPEN UNIVERSITY)
For artists who are into pattern and textiles we travel to Ghana via the Open Learn portal to gain an understanding of the meaning and value of textiles. This free course Textiles in Ghana expands into the history, making and importance of textiles to this West African country.
A couple of extra providers offering online art and craft courses are Coursera and Udemy. There are lots of courses available online that you can get free access to by doing online searches.
BENEFITS
I have used the time to layout plans for art blog posts I hope to write in the future and have completed upskilling and general art courses I found online.
Some of the more useful courses I came across after searching online, were free marketing courses that helped me improve aspects of my artist website.
I completed copywriting, content marketing, SEO courses and got a better understanding of Google Analytics which enabled me to set up some GA goals.
Hope you are able to take advantage of any spare time to learn and upskill, for your benefit.
BE INSPIRED BY ART AND ARTIST
Art and Patterns is my "Hub of Creativity', it's my online portfolio of handmade art, earring and blogging projects. I am sure Art has a positive effect on our mental health. I believe everyone can be creative, and find inspiration by engaging in all types of art.
I create colourful abstract collages for your visual stimulation and blog to give you useful information.
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