Bookable talks

Book Kirsty to give a talk to your group

Kirsty is available for booking for talks. She is an Accredited Arts Society lecturer. Having written five successful books of folk tales, she has lots of tales to tell about her research into England's folklore. When researching the folk and ghost tale books, she visited all the locations of the stories, and delved deep into their history, both legendary and factual.

She also draws on her knowledge of the area and the Arts and Crafts Movement to create fascinating art historical talks.

ALL OF HER TALKS ARE ALSO BOOKABLE AS LIVE ZOOM LECTURES

Please use the form to contact Kirsty to discuss your requirements. She is happy to tailor her talks to your needs. Kirsty is currently engaged in new research, so watch this space for new talks!

If you are an Arts Society, and would like to book Kirsty to talk about art history or folklore, please click here.

Art history talks:

Stained Glass in Cotswold Churches

A series of three richly illustrated lectures exploring the history of stained glass in Cotswold churches from the earliest medieval glass, through the great resurgence of glass making in the 19th century, and Arts and Crafts innovations in the early 20th, to contemporary glass for the modern church.

1. The Medieval Legacy: Stained Glass throughout the Middle Ages in the Cotswolds

2. Victorian Abundance: Stained glass in the 19th Century Cotswolds

3. Facing the Future: Stained Glass of the Cotswolds in the 20th Century and Today

Commissioned by the Museum in the Park, Stroud

The Arts and Crafts Movement in Cotswold churches

Can be booked as either a single 45 min talk or a series of 3 talks

The Arts and Crafts Movement made a big impact on the county's churches - from church building to stained glass, from woodcarving to conservation, this talk explores the impact of makers from William Morris, through the Guild of Handicraft, Gimson and the Barnsleys, Christopher Whall, to 20th century artists such as Edward Payne who worked in the tradition.

1. Introducing Arts and Crafts in churches

2. Sapperton and Chipping Campden designers

3. A national style for our churches?

The Golden Age of Book Illustration

A three-part series exploring the art of book illustration in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Discover how book illustration took off as an artform under the Pre-Raphaelites and their followers, reaching new heights in the period that saw the beginning of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and into the decadent 1890s - with a brilliant flowering in the early 20th century.

1. Into the Golden Age of Book Illustration: the Victorians

2. The Golden Age of Book Illustration: the 1890s

3. The Golden Age of Book Illustration: the early 20th century

NEW! ‘How differently one must look at a flower’: Flowers, plants and nature in the Arts and Crafts Movement in the Cotswolds

The Arts and Crafts Movement is well-known for its use of the natural world for inspiration, from William Morris onwards. Here in the Cotswolds designers lived close to nature, getting to know intimately the places they chose for their homes, and drawing on the natural world around them for inspiration across all media. We’ll be delving into the use of nature in the work of William and May Morris, Ernest Gimson, the Barnsleys and their friends, as well as C R Ashbee’s Guild of Handicraft in Chipping Campden and the designers, makers and artists who lived in the Stroud area. From glittering stained glass to soft plaster, flowers appear, sometimes decorative, sometimes symbolic. We’ll look, too, at the gardens they designed, and where they went on their explorations into the countryside.

‘How differently one must look at a flower’: Flowers, plants and nature in the Arts and Crafts Movement in the Cotswolds

The Arts and Crafts Movement is well-known for its use of the natural world for inspiration, from William Morris onwards. Here in the Cotswolds Arts and Crafts designers lived close to nature, getting to know intimately the places they chose for their homes, and drawing on the natural world around them for inspiration across all media. We’ll be delving into the use of nature in the work of William and May Morris, Ernest Gimson, the Barnsleys and their friends, as well as C R Ashbee’s Guild of Handicraft in Chipping Campden and the designers, makers and artists who lived in the Stroud area. From glittering stained glass to soft plaster, flowers appear, sometimes decorative, sometimes symbolic. We’ll look, too, at the gardens they designed, and where they went on their explorations into the countryside. Celebrate this flowering of enthusiasm for local nature in this talk by Arts Society Accredited lecturer Kirsty Hartsiotis, former curator of the Designated Arts and Crafts Movement collection at The Wilson, Cheltenham.

Arts and Crafts Movement First World War Memorials in the Cotswolds

The Cotswolds have an unusual number of Arts and Crafts memorials, due, in part, to the architects and designers who had settled in the county from the 1890s onwards. This talk will feature designers such as Ernest Gimson, Henry Payne, Edwin Lutyens and F. L. Griggs with a rich array of memorials from church and town alike, crosses to stained glass to water troughs – and all the attendant local politics in erecting them!

Delighting in the Countryside: Gloucestershire's Arts and Crafts Movement artists

Inspired by the craftspeople of the Arts and Crafts Movement already in the area and by the beauty of the Cotswolds, many artists came to settle in the Gloucestershire countryside in the early 20th century; among them, Charles March Gere and Margaret Gere, Henry and Edith Payne, F L Griggs and William Rothenstein. Kirsty explores their interpretations of the natural landscape and the ideals that led the artists to settle here.

Folklore talks:

Great British Ghosts

Delve deep with Kirsty Hartsiotis into our collective British ghostlore in this talk to send shivers down your spine for the Christmas season. From the strange happenings at Borley Rectory in Essex, to Henry VIII's many ghostly wives, to lost Roman legions, to skulls that scream when you try to remove them, to villages busy with ghosts like Pluckley in Kent and Prestbury in Gloucestershire. There'll be grey ladies, hooded monks and phantom carriages galore!

Mistletoe, Wrens and Mumming

Ever wondered where our Christmas traditions come from? Or how people celebrated Christmas in the past? Joina hunt for Britain's quirkiest Christmas traditions, and discover the secrets of some of the things we take for granted at Christmastide. From hunting the wren to kissing under the mistletoe, and from eating a mince pie a day to ensuring the house was clean to keep out the fairies, find out about the Christmas season from Advent to Candlemas.

Monsters, Heroes and Saints: Tales of the Anglo Saxons in English folklore

Listen! Tales of war, of lost treasure, of heroes and of doomed love. Discover the tales the earliest of the English have inspired. Journey around the folk tales that people have told about the Anglo-Saxons - from the first invaders Hengist and Horsa right up to Harold I getting it in the eye. Kirsty explores the landscape of England, searching out those places in England with legendary associations with kings, queens, warriors and saints.