
TalkingART: ABSTRACTION – GI 25 213
10 March 2026 @ 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm GMT
Tutor: Ronnie Ireland D.A. (Drawing and Painting; Glasgow School of Art) B.A. (Hons) Open University
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What does “Abstraction” mean to you? Art for artists who can’t “draw properly”? An art that is for everyone, not a privileged group? Cool and objective? Turbulent and subjective? The only true Modern Art? Clever pattern making? Deeply meaningful? Devoid of meaning? “TalkingART” will help you develop your own opinions!
This final session in a new series by Ronnie Ireland. “TalkingART” aims to share different viewpoints and experiences to develop a broader view of art. This first series focusses on five important art movements. It is structured by a series of questions applied to each movement. A group of “prompt” images and the questions will be sent out to all participants beforehand if you would like to prepare. What will we discover? Who knows? Let’s find out together!
You do not need to have attended previous sessions to take part.
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Composition II With Red Blue and Yellow, Piet Mondrian
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About the Speaker
Ronnie Ireland
Ronnie’s life has always revolved around art and music. He has drawn and painted all his life and made music (mainly singing; from opera through to rock and jazz) during much of it.
He was born and educated in Glasgow, then moved to Edinburgh where he taught art and ran a company, organising and playing music. Ronnie moved to the south of England in 2011, realising he needed a fresh start and new challenges in a new place.
The regular art classes which Ronnie now runs are very important to him. They aim to encourage artists to develop their own ideas and voice, and he finds it exciting and gratifying working with the artists as they progress. He feels it is the most difficult, but also the most rewarding part of art. Ronnie also gives regular talks, demonstrations and workshops on many aspects of art and creativity to art societies, educational institutions and the corporate world.
His own art centres around the idea of identity and how it manifests in many different ways from the theatrical to the everyday.
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