Teaching

I offer one-to-one tuition and mentoring sessions at my Devon studio for artists who want a more in-depth reconfiguration and ignition of their creative practice. If you are drawn to my work and way and have a desire to attend to the deeper layers of art-making with an authentic and adventurous bravery, these offerings are for you.

These sessions can really be tailored to you and your hopes and dreams for your art practice. It would be helpful for me if you could write to me about this beforehand a bit and send some images of your work so I can prepare. As well as this it would be good to have a video chat to meet you and begin to craft the kind of mentoring and teaching you would like.

I am charging in line with the Artists' Union rates - £250 per day, working intensively, which lasts from 9 - 2. We have time to settle in with coffee and chat at the start, and you can obviously take a tea/snack break whenever you need, but lunch happens after your session. This is in part to fit into the time I have available while my children are at school, and in part to allow you a more leisurely lunch and reflection time afterwards, and then time for you to explore the South Devon area in the afternoons. You can book as many days as you would like.

The extended time together allows us to explore the nuts & bolts of the craft of drawing & painting alongside the more esoteric & hard-to-articulate layers of what happens inside us as artists as we create. Slower working time means that I can get to know you a bit more deeply & find the best, most tailored approach for what you want & need, wherever you are in your artistic journey.

Usually we will begin with the craft side of things and then move deeper into the imaginal work as we go along. I will be responsive to your needs, skills, struggles and wishes, so feel at ease to talk with me!

We can work with a whole range of techniques, tools & styles to suit your abilities & interests. But beyond that, what I'm predominantly interested in & excited about offering is an exploration of the world of the imagination, & how we as artists traverse it, what our individual relationship with that well of inspiration and creativity is like, how we can recognise & follow waymarkers on our artistic journeys, & how we embark on the brave & not-always-easy adventure of working with the raw material of our own lives & dance hand-in-hand with the beings of the Otherworlds who await us if we are willing to look over our shoulder.

After many requests for online teaching from those of you beyond the shores of my actual studio in South Devon, I've decided to begin offering some remote mentoring sessions to support your artistic practice. These 90 minute sessions are designed to be a one-off deep enquiry into your creative practice or longing. Our aim will be to untie knots, explore visions, find keys for doors either locked or unknown and leave you feeling inspired, revitalized and with fresh direction on your own artistic journey.

Labouring with your ideas and visions as an artist can be lonely, and the way ahead isn’t always clear or easy. With a First Class Honours degree from the London University of the Arts and 25 years of professional practice and experience walking this path in my own way, I hope I will have something unique and refreshingly helpful to share with you. I want to support you to feel less alone on this strange and beautiful road.

A mentoring session with me could suit you if:

❖ You have a particular creative conundrum you are trying to work through, or find yourself stuck in a certain area of your practice - this could be skill, mindset or imagination related!

❖ You have a long-latent love of art that you want to unearth and breathe fresh life into.

❖ You are ready to leap into a full-time art practice and are looking for some fire and momentum to propel you forward. You may be about to step off the ledge into the unknown world of the self-employed artist and wondering how to keep hold of the artist’s non-linear vision in a world of lines and boxes.

❖ You are in the midst of a long-term creative project with dwindling motivation, and need a life-line chat to reinvigorate inspiration, passion and determination.

❖ You have some specific creative or technical questions that you would like to talk through.

I love to talk with people and find great joy in seeing their beautiful particularities. I’ll be warm, passionate and uncompromising when it comes to digging at the deep roots of your own particular and beautiful gift.

Sessions take place on Zoom at a mutually agreed time. I will take time before the session to review your work, either through your website, social media platform, or a portfolio file. I will also send you a list of preparatory questions to think about ahead of our chat. Payment is on a sliding scale to make this more accessible. If you can offer more, you will be enabling another artist to do the work they are here to do. Likewise if finances make this impossible for you, write to me.

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Please get in touch if you are interested. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

Email me on rima.staines@gmail.com

I look forward to working alongside you as you unearth magic.

I offer one to one drawing lessons to both adults and children (8+). They take place in my Totnes studio, and have a strong focus on learning observational drawing skills as a basis for all other art making. These classes will suit artistically keen people who would like some more rigorous and detailed guidance with their drawing skills. The teaching is individually-tailored as we go along and you will be surprised by how quickly your skills and understanding flourish. I believe that this drawing ability and practice underlies all other creative image-making as a vital foundation.

Bring with you a willingness for hard work and your artistic passion!

I have an up-to-date DBS certificate.

A one day workshop for artists to foster connection with what has been called the imaginal otherworld: the canvas of the soul; with a view to meeting the inhabitants of one’s own archetypal landscape, and painting them.

The day will take a bilateral and reciprocal approach: part traditional teaching of drawing and painting skills, part exploration of how to access and draw from one’s own unique and bottomless well of mythic imagination, offering techniques and practices to hone the heart-rooted elf-sight that we all once had as children. Crucially, we will learn to weave these two threads together so that our work emits power.

The hope in offering this workshop and nurturing these combined skills in artist-seers is to stoke the fire of the collective soul and in so doing reforge and anneal our ladders to that Otherworld from which we can learn so much. The workshop will suit artists who already have a committed visual practice, and who appreciate a quiet, contemplative and private style of magic-weaving.

Taught by artist Rima Staines who has been making her soul-rich, story-infused work for over 25 years.

Please get in touch if you would like to book this workshop at your venue or event.

Day of drawing under the guidance of artist Rima Staines

This voucher [available to purchase in shop] will gift someone one day of expert 1-1 drawing tuition in Rima’s studio in Totnes, Devon.

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It will suit those who already have a love of art and a desire to deepen their practice, perhaps where there’s a wish to build skills that you’ve out on learning, or to underpin your existing art practice with more structure.

We will work on still life drawing and self portraiture, learning the fundamentals of traditional drawing practice - perspective, light and shade, dimensions and measuring, anatomy and observation, using pencil and charcoal. My approach is warm and encouraging, involved and exacting, I will support you throughout the process.

Beginners are most welcome, but you must come with a commitment to work hard!

All materials provided - please bring a portfolio to carry your work home in.

Suitable for those over 16.

(If you are interested in drawing tuition for your child over 8, please get in touch as I offer this also, in shorter sessions.)

Hours 9.30am-3pm with 1 hour lunch break.

Date to be mutually agreed.

Location Totnes, Devon, South West UK - reachable by train and bus, with great local accommodation and artisan food on offer, not to mention the beauty of Dartmoor and the sea not far away.

Please get in touch with any further questions.