The Effort Behind the Work

Staying with the work

Jan. 14

This week’s Sketchbook pieces explore what happens when attention is sustained over time.

In Sandy Springs, artist and instructor John Horne begins a new round of figure and portrait drawing classes, asking students of all levels to commit to fundamentals, learn through repetition, and build skill over time. His approach emphasizes patience, honesty, and the value of consistent practice. For Horne, progress is not about talent or speed but about showing up and engaging deeply with the process itself.

Ninety miles or so southwest, in Columbus, collectors Najee and Seteria Dorsey are opening their personal art collection to the public at the Bo Bartlett Center. The exhibition, “We Are the Drum and the Scribe,” reflects decades of living with work, following artists across phases, returning to ideas, and allowing understanding to deepen. Each story points to the same practice: showing up and letting the work do what it does over time.

What are you practicing?

—Sherri Daye Scott

P.S. If you can, join tonight’s Surrealist Collage Workshop Fundraiser at The Bakery Atlanta (7 p.m.) to support South River Art Studios artists who are still recovering after last year’s fire.

Learning to see

Award-winning artist and instructor John Horne brings his figure and portrait drawing classes to Sandy Springs’ Abernathy Arts Center, inviting students of all levels into a practice shaped by patience, repetition, and shared critique. For Horne, progress isn’t about talent or speed — it’s about showing up, staying honest, and learning through the work itself.

Read Horne’s advice for artists at every stage.

Fashion meets art at the High Museum!

SPONSORED BY THE HIGH MUSEUM

Experience

Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Statements – a bold, breathtaking exhibition celebrating avant-garde fashion visionaries who blurred the line between haute couture and art. Only at the High, the exhibition’s sole U.S. stop.

➞ On view through Feb. 8, 2026.

A collection in conversation

Drawn from decades of collecting by Atlanta-based Najee and Seteria Dorsey, “We Are the Drum and the Scribe” brings work by artists across generations into dialogue at the Bo Bartlett Center in Columbus. The exhibition reflects how living with art over time shapes understanding and meaning.

Preview “We Are the Drum and the Scribe.”

Art Happenings

• Print A Bird On It! & Earth/Mother Print Portfolios | 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Jan. 17 through Feb. 28 | Atlanta Printmakers Studio. (Pictured)
• Benjamin Britton Artist Talk | 11 a.m.-12 p.m., Jan. 17 | Marcia Wood Gallery.
• IMAGENERATIONS Artist Talk with Irvin Wheeler | 1-3 p.m., Jan. 17 | Emma Darnell Aviation Museum.
• Edgewood Art Walk | 4-7 p.m., Jan. 17 | Edgewood Arts District.
• “A Better View” Group Exhibition | 6-10 p.m., Jan. 17 | ABV Gallery.

Post of the Week

Italian contemporary artist @giorgiotentolini is coming to Luca Fine Art. Working with wire, Tentolini builds portraits through light, shadow, and absence, images that ask viewers to linger rather than consume. The exhibition marks Tentolini’s first show with the West Midtown art gallery.

See the post.

Today’s Sketchbook was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.

The post ‍♀️ The work it takes appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.