Experimental Acrylics with Jackie Garner
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Course Description
The more artistic experience we have, the greater the options for our own creativity. This course is focused on the exploration of acrylics and techniques, giving a deeper understanding of the medium and a willingness to be inventive. We will create textures and marks through layering, monoprinting, stencilling, texture, spattering… laying down colour and working into or over it. The resulting art may include realism or be purely abstract according to the participants’ preferences. An ideal course for those who want to move their art beyond “It looks just like a photograph”.
All courses are £59 per day for members, £75 for non-members
Materials list
Essentials: • Acrylics: Your usual acrylics, heavy body and/ or soft body • Palette • Brushes: Nylon brushes are best for acrylics. A variety of sizes and shapes will be useful. Some spares will be available for students to use. • Painting/ palette knife: any shape, a range of sizes and shapes if you have them. • Supports: Your choice of canvas, canvas board or primed board, at least A3 size • Water Pot • Kitchen roll • Sponge: different types are useful • Table covering: some spares will be available • Apron if desired – remember acrylics are waterproof and permanent when dry • Easel if desired
Please bring any of these if you have them, but no need to buy specially as some spares will be available: • Acrylic inks • Sketchbook for practice. (Some mountboard off-cuts will also be available) • Small spray bottle for water • Gelli plate • Colour shapers/ wedges • Stencils If you have no supplies, materials may be provided for a small charge, but only by prior arrangement with the tutor.
Students wishing to discuss the course in advance are welcome to telephone Jackie on 07800 804847.
Intensive pottery with Carly Byrne
Course Description:
During this intense course you will learn everything you need to know
about hand building and pot throwing with clay.
Throughout the two days, you will delve into lots of different techniques to get you started on your pottery journey. From pinched forms to coiled pots to slab building sculptures and decorative surface designs. There is something for everyone.
We will also be showing you how to throw pots on the potter’s wheel and help you budding potters improve on what you already know.
Materials List:
All tools, equipment and aprons will be provided. Clay will be provided at a cost of £15 (cash) per person, to be paid directly to Carly on the day of the course. If you would like your work fired or glazed after the course then Carly is happy to do this at her studio in Swindon. If you would like to inquire about the extra cost for this please email niamarketing@natureinart.org.uk for a price list.
Painting Butterfly and Moth with Jackie Isard
Course Suitability: Improvers – Watercolour experience is needed
Maximum Participants: 12
Course Description:
Choose from my large selection of butterfly and moth specimens and learn how to paint these beautiful insects in detail. These beautiful insects are full of texture, fury-ness and amazing colours. You will have a chance to look at these insects under a microscope and see a whole new world is revealed! I will demonstrate techniques and give you lots of help throughout the two days.
Materials Required:
• Good quality HOT PRESSED WHITE (NOT CREAM) watercolour
paper 140lb/300gsm, A4 size will be plenty.
• Cartridge or tracing paper for drawing your butterfly or moth
before tracing onto your watercolour paper.
I will have a lightpad available to use if you wish to
transfer this way. If you do, bring along tracing paper
60gsm and a Unipin black fineliner 0.05 pen. I have trace
and pens to sell if needed.
• Full bodied pointed sable brush No. 2, suggestions to the right.
A Billy Showell synthetic Fine Liner pointed brush.
• Mixing palette or plate porcelain/ceramic
• 2 water jars
• H pencil, soft eraser, sharpener
• Kitchen Roll or Linen/Cotton cloth for brush cleaning
and drying off
• Winsor & Newton Professional watercolour
I recommend these colours to achieve good matches
to your butterfly or moth but you may use other watercolour brands.
Further details available closer to course date
About the artist:
Jackie Isard is an award-winning botanical artist having won a Gold medal at RHS in 2022. Based in Bristol, her delicate watercolours are much admired for their intricacy and detail. She is a self-taught artist and passionate about teaching. Jackie has paintings held in the RHS Lindley Library, The Shirley Sherwood Collection and The Hunt Institute. Jackie became an SBA DLDC tutor in 2024. She runs workshops in the Southwest, Wales, Gloucestershire and many other venues across the UK. She is a very attentive tutor who loves to inspire and encourage! “Nature is so beautiful and it gives me such pleasure capturing it in watercolour.”
All courses are £59 per day for members, £75 for non-members
Scraperboard with Jackie Cox
Scraperb
oard is a method of creating a tonal picture by scratching through a layer of india ink to reveal the white chalk beneath. It is an interesting and absorbing medium which allows for great detail or looser depictions of texture and form. We will explore the different types of scraperboard and scratchboard available and the different methods for making marks on these, and the ways the scratched areas can be coloured afterwards.
We will then look at the many other possibilities of using the white chalk ground and creating your own covering surfaces layers to then scratch through to reveal the initial white layer and further pushing boundaries in mixing media.
Materials will be provided at a cost of £10
Please note that the cost of this course of £59 per day for members, £75 per day for non-members. £25 is a deposit towards the balance of this course.
Lion in Graphite with Jamie Boots
NOW FULLY BOOKED
Course Suitability: Absolute beginners – Advanced
Maximum Participants: 12
Course Description:
Join artist Jamie Boots for a two-day exploration into the nuanced world of graphite pencil art. This workshop delves beyond basic sketching, offering insights into the subtle techniques that breathe life into your creations. Participants will discover the art of manipulating pencil sharpness, pressure, and tones to convey the fine details such as fur, skin textures, and expressive eyes.
Materials Required:
All materials will be supplied.
All courses are £59 per day for members, £75 for non-members
Course Suitability: Beginners – Improvers
Maximum Capacity: 12
Course Description:
On this one day course, Helen will teach you how to make a basket using red Dogwood, Snowberry Hazel and Lime, together with the glorious colours of this years willow harvest. No previous experience needed.
Materials List:
The tutor will provide the required materials for course participants. The cost per person will be £10, to be paid to the tutor on the day of the course.
Artist’s Profile:
Helen Lomberg has been making Baskets and using Willow and other Hedgerow materials for many years now. Twelve years ago she set up The Gloucestershire Arts and Crafts Centre in Westgate Street, Gloucester.
Course Cost:
A £25 non-refundable deposit is required on booking. Full course price is:
Members of Nature in Art: £59
Non-members of Nature in Art: £75
£3 per child, adults go free. No need to book.
Buzz on over this Easter Monday for a hive of fun with arts and crafts, an exciting activity trail, bee-tastic learning, and a sneak peek at our observation beehive where you can see the bees hard at work inside the hive!
We’ve got two drop-in sessions: 10am-12:30pm and 1:30pm-4pm. Join Laura, our artsy education officer, for a whirlwind of creative crafts! Plus, let your little explorers roam free on our activity trail around the garden. And don’t miss the chance to peek into our beehives and chat with our bee guru, Brian – recently returned from a trip to West Africa to teach people how to keep bees.
Need a bite to eat? Our Coffee Shop will be buzzing with tea and cake! Or, feel free to pack a lunch and chill in our outdoor picnic paradise.
*when paying for children, does not include entry to the museum galleries
Botanical Ceramics with Clare Mahoney
Course Suitability: Suitable for all
Maximum Participants: 12
Course Description:This workshop highlights our connection to the natural world, encouraging us to slow down, and look closely at nature.
The intricate structure, texture, and beauty of foraged botany, the hedgerows we drive past every day.
The clay impression is used to form a mould.
The mould is flooded with plaster and Cornish stone, Creating a positive mirror image of the clay piece.
The clay is removed, and the Botanical relief is revealed.
Just like a Botanical monoprint it’s simple and effective, bringing out all the unnoticed detail.
A really enjoying and immediate process.
Materials Required:
All materials will be supplied at a charge of £7.50, paid on the day.
About the artist:
Clare’s ceramics reflect her love of the natural world, capturing its textures, patterns, and rhythms through the malleable medium of clay.
Her pieces are made using porcelain, and traditional hand building techniques.
The surface imagery is created through printmaking, drawing, and low relief inlay.
She draws inspiration from the beauty of human connection, and the everyday world around her. Creating elements, multiples, and small sculptures that are then collaged together.
Places are on a first come first served basis.
To secure your place on this course a £25 non-refundable deposit is required.
All courses are £59 per day for members, £75 for non-members
Spring Landscapes with Jonathan Newey
Course Suitability: Absolute Beginners Beginners Improvers
Maximum Participants: 12
Course Description:
Sketching Spring Landscapes with Pen and Wash is an engaging two-day course designed for artists of all levels. Participants will explore the art of capturing the beauty of spring using pen and wash techniques, combining fine ink lines with delicate watercolour washes. During the course you will learn how to sketch trees, flowers and buildings in a spring landscape with waterproof pen marks and how to add vibrancy with watercolour washes, emphasizing light, shadow, and texture. The course encourages creativity while teaching practical skills in a relaxed, inspiring environment. Perfect for beginners and people with some knowledge of the mediums
Materials Required:
The tutor will provide the required materials for course participants. The cost per person will be £30 (cash) which will be paid to Jonathan by the participants on the day of the course.
Should the students wish to use their own tools and materials rather than buying a set from the tutor then they are welcome to bring them along.
A full list of what is needed can be obtained from the tutor.
About the artist:
Jonathan Newey is an award winning artist with over 25 years of experience in teaching in adult education. He has experience in a wide variety of mediums and subjects including landscapes, wildlife and architecture in acrylic, watercolour and coloured pencil.
Places are on a first come first basis.
To secure your place on this course a £25 non-refundable deposit is required.
Courses are £59 per day for members, £75 for non-members.
Course Suitability: Beginners – Improvers
Maximum Capacity: 12
Course Description:
On this one-day course, you will make plant climbers, plant supports, trellises and decorative Garden Hurdles, all out of willow and hazel grown in Somerset and Gloucestershire.
Helen will guide you through each stage of the process, whilst introducing you to the different varieties of willow/hazel which you can use to make your creations unique.
By the end of the day you should have been able to make 3-4 items to take home to put in the garden.
Materials List
The tutor will provide the required materials for course participants. The cost per person will be £12, to be paid to the tutor on the day of the course. (Please try and bring the exact change)
Artist’s Profile
Helen Lomberg has been making Baskets and using Willow and other Hedgerow materials for many years now. Twelve years ago she set up The Gloucestershire Arts and Crafts Centre in Westgate Street, Gloucester.
Course Cost:
A £25 non-refundable deposit is required on booking. Full course price is:
Members of Nature in Art: £59
Non-members of Nature in Art: £75