Jo Harris
Jo works as a Fine & Multi-Media Artist, Illustrator and Collagist; she was educated at the City & Guilds of London Art School (Fine Art) and the University of Gloucestershire (Illustration) and is currently based in Oxfordshire, where she works in her studio, on her own Art and Illustration work.
With Artist parents, Jo’s childhood environment was filled with the ubiquitous smell of paints: with vibrant literature, interesting adult company and continuous cultural discussion, her resulting early artistic path was a surprise to no one. She has always had an interest in trying to capture character – most of Jo’s work centres on the human form, though occasionally the odd animal might make an appearance.
Never one for being satisfied with one medium Jo has made works in clay, mosaic, needlefelt and clothing stitched with a sewing machine. Though these have all been artistic experimentation, nothing is wasted and you may well see disciplines crossing over from project to project.
As well as practising art, Jo loves being able to pass her well-earned knowledge on and in 2016 she opened the Henley School of Art which was a runaway success before the onset of Covid made it impossible to keep the studio open. Undeterred, Jo continues to teach online, runs weekly unguided Life Drawing sessions (also online), as well as teaching Life Drawing at the Phoenix Studio in Towersey (Beginners & Advanced). She also holds Artist mentoring sessions, teaches students one-to-one and runs a Portfolio surgery for Art School applications.
Jo continues to embrace all artistic disciplines in her work and the need to keep evolving artistically is always there. She is currently working on a programme to encourage mindfulness and emotional connection whilst creating art, something she hopes to offer her students soon!
Offers: Demonstrations, Workshops, Talks, Appraisals/Critiques, Holidays, Mini workshops, Online sessions
Media: Charcoal, Pencil, pastels, ink, mixed media, collage with vintage materials, mood boards, Lino Cut print-making, etching, explorative watercolours, pen and ink exploration, drawing (general, beginners, improvers, advanced), general creativity, artistic fundamentals. Also Life Drawing workshops that are a bit more interactive and ‘fun’ that incorporate games to teach drawing in a way that’s a little more light-hearted (useful for corporate/festival environments).
Subjects: The human form, portraits, surrealist/narrative collage (pop art), abstract florals
Talks: Open to suggestions - get in touch if you would like a talk prepared for your art club.
Will travel to: Jo is available for demonstrations and workshops within an hour of Henley-on-Thames. She is also available to teach online. She will also visit Suffolk, Bath & Notting Hill in London.
Email: studio@thehenleyschoolofart.com
Phone: 07748 567 250
