The Dumfries Women’s Signwriting Squad return to the Stove for their monthly meet up, an open space for all women with a love of letters, from the experienced to complete beginners.
The monthly meet up is a space for gathering and sharing skills and ideas, and each month one of the team will set a creative challenge for the group to tackle, or you can bring along an idea you’d like to develop and they can help you work towards your first signboard! Tea and coffee and basic materials provided. Donations welcome.
Please note that our monthly meet-ups at the Stove are a space solely intended for women and those identifying as to share and develop their practice together. If this demographic does not include you, but you would like to get involved, please send us an email enquiry at [email protected].
About the Dumfries Signwriting Squad
DWSS are an informal and independent group of female artists with a love of traditional hand lettering. They support the growth of women in a traditionally male-dominated industry inspiring confidence and collective painting opportunities.
The DWSS take on commissioned based work for local businesses and organisations and can host signwriting introductory sessions or workshops at a fee. For more information visit their Instagram @dumfriessignwritingsquad.
Access Information: Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.
Doughlicious is a bread club with a twist. Share recipes and techniques in a relaxed atmosphere and get practical with some hands-on activity. Open to all! Discover more about Doughlicious here.
Image by Jamie StrykerImage by Jamie StrykerImage by Jamie Stryker
The levain will be provided, but you’ll need to bring some tools from home. These are: A mixing bowl, a cloth or cover for your bowl and a jam jar.
We also have a small ‘Bread Book’ reference library for you to look through to get inspired and learn new techniques.
Free In-person donations welcome to go towards materials for the event.
Access Information: Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.
We chatted to 2/3s of Bungo Sign Co. about all things Signwriting!
On Tuesday the 14th of March, Rachel and Hana travelled down to Dumfries from Glasgow to host a special guest-artist-led workshop for Dumfries Women’s Signwriting Squad.
Rachel and Hana are signwriters based in Glasgow, and are part of Bungo Sign Co., a collective of sign painters based in Glasgow South Side.
Before their workshop, we asked them both some questions about signwriting, their inspiration and advice for those who are just starting their journey with the practice.
The Open Hoose project that lets your imagination guide your hand.
Unsure what WRITE! is about? Author and organiser, Karl Drinkwater, responds to ten questions about his practice and the monthly creative writing workshop.
What is WRITE! all about?
Specific time set aside to be creative in a short and inspirational burst, surrounded by friends.
Which authors inspire you and your practice?
Rather than individual authors, it tends to be individual books which have some wonderful element that is worth studying to see how the writer achieved their effects. So I might be inspired by the style of The Road (McCarthy), or the scope of The Descent (Long), or the storytelling of The Shining (King), or the characterisation in Jane Eyre (Brontë).
What motivated you to start the group?
When I went on residential writing courses I learnt a lot, but it was often the sessions when we wrote silently to prompts that stuck with me or led to trying out new styles and ideas. I wanted to come up with a format focussing specifically on that feeling.
How effective do you think writing can be as a form of expression?
It allows you to explore ideas, to be different people, to create something beautiful that may inspire others. To hold our lives up to the great magnifying glass and see them for what they are.
Can you tell us of a time that you were recently inspired to write creatively?
To be honest, as a full-time author, I tend to have my projects scheduled up to a year in advance. For me, the inspiration comes from setting out a plot full of conflict/drama, which has enough detail to provide guidance, but not too much to take away the fun of discovery as I fall through the page and write.
What is your advice for overcoming writer’s block?
Planning. Without a structure, writer’s block will come and knock.
Where is your favourite place to visit locally to inspire creativity for writing?
I like writing and editing in a pub. The requirement is that it is warm, friendly, and does not have a distracting TV. So normally that would be The Dougie, Coach & Horses, Riverside Tap, or the snug in The Globe.
What do you see for the future of WRITE!
Well, a lot of that depends on The Stove! How can we reach more people? Can it spread across the whole county? (Some people travel a big distance to attend!) Could we run repeat sessions at a different day and time so more people have a chance to join in? I’d like to look at opportunities for publishing creative work from Dumfries & Galloway, open to all residents, not just those attending WRITE! (though obviously the latter would be a key audience for submissions!) Plus I have been working on ideas for a non-fiction book about the craft of writing, and some of the material I prepare for sessions could be my inspiration to get on with it!
Just for fun – what has been your favourite writing prompt shared during WRITE! And how did attendees respond to it?
Ah, there have been so many! I love seeing how the same prompt leads to totally different interpretations. Also, the Titles session (titles of books, stories, newspaper articles etc) was fun. We drew titles from a hat and used them as prompts. Some had been provided by attendees, and it was revealing to see where people’s imaginations went!
WRITE! is the creative workshop at The Stove that gives you the space to guide your imagination and transform it into writing.
Hosted by multi-genre author and editor Karl Drinkwater, WRITE! is designed to allow you to play with words and construct short or longer pieces of work, whichever you desire, and it is open to all abilities!
If you would like to attend the next WRITE! session, click here.
To learn more about Karl, and to visit his website, click here.
Open Hoose is a project at the heart of the Stove’s community venue. Ideas are given the space, time, resources and support of the Stove Network to launch ambitious projects to galvanise and gather our communities together. From climate cafes to bread clubs, jam nights and creative writing groups, Open Hoose offers an eclectic mix of different activities for everyone to take part in. Find out more about groups like this one on our Open Hoose page, here.
Open and accessible drawing workshops. No experience needed, for any age or ability. Only £8 with all materials provided – pay on the door
Drawing for Enjoyment returns to The Stove on the High Street in the centre of Dumfries with a focus to getting back to the essence of drawing and enjoying the meditative and restorative qualities it brings to well-being.
Covering lots of accessible subjects and methods, these sessions are perfect for beginners or for anyone who wants to develop their practice.
Starting with a ten minute demonstration at the beginning of each session with some guided handouts to aid progress through the class.
Join the For Enjoyment community and get creative in a relaxing friendly and supportive environment.
No need to book but there are limited spaces in the cafe space so don’t be late !
Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.
Open and accessible drawing workshops. No experience needed, for any age or ability. Only £8 with all materials provided – pay on the door
Drawing for Enjoyment returns to The Stove on the High Street in the centre of Dumfries with a focus to getting back to the essence of drawing and enjoying the meditative and restorative qualities it brings to well-being.
Covering lots of accessible subjects and methods, these sessions are perfect for beginners or for anyone who wants to develop their practice.
Starting with a ten minute demonstration at the beginning of each session with some guided handouts to aid progress through the class.
Join the For Enjoyment community and get creative in a relaxing friendly and supportive environment.
No need to book but there are limited spaces in the cafe space so don’t be late!
Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.
