tutors / visiting artists

MPhil, Chartered Teacher GTCS 

Hungarian teacher-artist, Manna Dobó was born in 1963 in Budapest and has lived in Scotland since 1987.  Manna is the lead tutor and founder of Art School Central.

She graduated in Mathematics and Art from Szeged in Hungary where she taught Mathematics before moving to Edinburgh. For the last two decades she taught painting, drawing, design and art history in a wide variety of settings from Primary Schools to Further Education for Teachers and has exhibited her work throughout Scotland.  

Her particular passion in her working life as a teacher, is for enabling her students to experience, explore and express more fully their own life through the endeavour of seeing and the act of making. Manna’s vigorous approach to teaching is based on her dedication to incisive observation of the visible world.  

Manna completed her Masters in Education of Art, Design and Architecture in 2002 in University of Glasgow and is a Chartered Leader Teacher. 

Her book, Visual Education, was published in 2011 in Germany. She is currently researching for her PhD topic of Cognitive Seeing and Literacy in Education while teaching Art and Design in Bo’ness Academy. 

 BArch.DipArch (MSA) Paul McCormack was born the last of five children in 1959 in Paisley, Scotland and is of Irish descent.  He was educated in St. Mirins Academy in Paisley and then attended the Mackintosh School of Architecture at the Glasgow School of Art (1977-1983), where he obtained a Degree and a Diploma in Architecture. He obtained his Professional qualifications later in 1995.

He has worked as an Architect in commercial practice over the past 30 years mainly in Retail and the Hotel Sector and as a self-employed Architect doing private residential work. As well as being a lecturer for 2 years at Strathclyde University in Architecture, he has also been self-employed as a Tutor for various community groups in the Art of Digital Photography and Desktop Publishing over several years.  

He has had 3 books of poetry published by Lapwing Press, Belfast: Thirty Pieces, Notes from the Life of a Wall Dweller and Ridge Zone under his pen name of Frank Gillougley.   

 Wendy spent the first several years of her life happily globe trotting with her army family, and gaining random qualifications in a dozen schools. What to do next? Don’t settle down to further vocational studies, but go to art school – and study music. Four years on, with a degree in Expressive Arts she, now I, do a variety of jobs before gaining a post grad qualification in teaching, and teach for a bit before moving into other jobs and other places… bits of travel thrown in, an exhibition after a year in Brittany painting in French, the response to which made me realise I had something to offer, so I continued to paint and sell in the Lake District for a bit, then in Edinburgh. Life in Scotland develops for over a decade as I move back into teaching, and gain a Masters Degree, M.Phil (Art, Design and Architecture in Education) 

I can’t escape my wandering, nor my interest in music and mark-making, … all the stuff of my dissertation. Now living back in the English Lake District, I teach art to adults, am Musical Director of a local choral society, paint a bit, make things out of other things (mosaics, glass work, sewing….. I don’t mind what materials I use really), fall in love with colours, love to continue to live and learn and teach and share in other countries as well as my own. Transformation I think is the word that I like the most: I think it describes my own making of me, of my art work, of my thought processes, of my view of life… and what I believe about the possibility within everyone, artistically, holistically. Oh, and I like Exploration just as much!

  My artwork is primarily a reflection of my own experiences, the people I know, places I have been and the relationship I have with colour and the materials I use. My work is a layering of images, sometimes related to each other and sometimes seemingly unconnected. The figure features predominately creating a feeling that the work is a portrait of sorts. The subjects around may be familiar or obvious but are arranged in conceptual layers therefore rendering them abstract in meaning. I like to play with the opacity of the images. 

Often the main subject is shown transparent thus making it secondary to the over all impact of the work. I include decorative pattern from different sources such as Turkish carpet design, Victorian wallpaper or over-layering the bare limbs of trees. My work is narrative however the ‘story’ behind these works is not as significant as it is the visual impact I wish to portray. I am drawn to the concept of colour ‘removed’ or ‘hidden’. Small pockets or glimpses of strong colour that draw the eye from a greater area of clam and subdued hue, interest me. I have been working with the theme “suspended animation” in which a figure is caught in mid air, floating under water or caught unawares.

Most of my work is predominately in oils but include other elements and materials such as wax, transfers, prints and photographs. 

Diploma in Art, Drawing and Painting. Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee. 1973

Certificate to Teach Art. Dundee College of Education. 1975

Fulbright Teacher Exchange Scheme to USA. 1983-84

Certificate to Teach Media Studies. 1991

Head of Art Department, Bo'ness Academy. 1999-2010

In my practice as an Art Teacher, I never thought of making children into Artists. Those with special gifts and motivation were a small group whom I would encourage, but I felt my job was about educating all students to become visually aware. There is much to enjoy in life if we can learn to see, to think about how things work and make things for ourselves. And to understand something of the world we inhabit through an appreciation of the work of Artists Designers and Architects. This is essential education for all. 

Since retirement I have found more time to pursue my own interests in the visual world. Which is at present all about stain glass. I have successfully produced large pieces for Architectural settings, but more usually work on a smaller scale. These 'light boxes' consist of layered glass sheets, sandblasted and enamel painted. They are meant to be displayed in a domestic setting such as on a window sill against natural light, but can be wall mounted, backlit by LED's.