Light, Bright and Fresh are natural qualities of the translucent, flowing medium of watercolour painting. But sometimes our tones and colours can look muddy and overworked, washed out or too dark.

In this one-day workshop on watercolour landscape painting, we will investigate the processes, techniques, colours and mindset which help make our paintings look cleaner, clearer and livelier. We will work to better express the vitality and beauty of this versatile medium.

Suitable for all levels of experience.

All materials supplied – there will be a $15.00 materials cost payable direct to tutor in cash on the day.

Cost: $150.00 includes morning tea. Please bring your own lunch – our fridge and microwave will be available for you to use along with any cutlery and crockery you may need.

Workshop Hours: 10am – 4pm

SOLD OUT

TWO DAY WORKSHOP

Working with and understanding colour is a magical process but one that many people struggle with. If you struggle with mixing paint and often end up with ‘mud’, then this workshop is for you!

In this intensive workshop you will not only learn the theory of colour but also how to use colours that create confidence in your art making process. We will spend two days doing a deep dive into understanding how paints work, how to simplify your paint choices to create any colour you desire (and save money!), how to work with colour to create successful and confident palettes and how to love mud – yes mud is beautiful when you know how to use it correctly!  Join Kerrie for two days of colourful fun!

Cost: $280.00 includes all materials and morning tea. Please bring your own lunch – our fridge and microwave will be available for you to use along with any cutlery and crockery you may need.

Workshop Hours: 10am – 4pm each day

TWO DAY WORKSHOP

Join Rhonda and Kerrie for another two-day hands-on workshop – it was so much fun last time we ran this workshop! You’ll learn techniques of applying patterns to papers and be introduced to ways of integrating surface pattern into a range of artistic expressions.

Day 1 you’ll make beautiful papers for your own artworks. Techniques include Suminagashi (Japanese marbling), wood graining, colour-roll blends, geli-plate monoprints, drawing with pens and markers on found paper, Momagami (kneaded paper), laminating papers and many others.

Day 2 you’ll learn how these papers can enhance and add focal points to lino prints; how stencils are used to make creative designs for cards and tags; journal and book covers; and how these applications can create stand-alone small artworks, collages and so much more. Day 2 will also focus on creating a book form from the work completed on Day 1.

Participants to bring:

Carved lino-blocks of any size (carved blocks are available from the tutors).

You may like to bring along your own collected and found papers to use and share.

Pencil case with pencils, glue stick, scissors and ruler.

All other materials are supplied.

Morning tea is supplied on both days. Please bring your own lunch – our fridge and microwave will be available for you to use along with any cutlery and crockery you may need.

Cost: $300.00

Workshop Hours: 10am – 4pm each day

JUST ONE SPOT LEFT

Basketmaking is a craft that has been practiced around the world for centuries in virtually every country. Initially made as utilitarian objects to carry food and essential needs for survival, store goods, belongings and so on, baskets have also now become works of art and expression. In this workshop Kerrie will be teaching making coiled baskets with raffia. We will also look at how we can incorporate snippets of other recycled materials to create lovely vessels with colour and texture. We will look at how to start a basket, how to construct different shapes using the coiling method, how to build your basket form and finishing off and completing your basket. Join Kerrie for a relaxing and meditative day as you learn this gentle and addictive craft!

Cost: $140.00 includes all materials and morning tea. Please bring your own lunch – our fridge and microwave will be available for you to use along with any cutlery and crockery you may need.

Workshop Hours: 10am – 4pm

JUST ONE SPOT LEFT

In this workshop we will use the coiling technique in a different way focussing on the use of fabrics around a strong core. Using materials you will most likely have at hand, means not having to rush out and continually buy more stuff! Using up fabrics that might end up sitting in recycling centres for months on end, or worse still, going to land fill, is an economical and satisfying way to create objects of beauty.  You’ll learn how to source materials, what tools you’ll need (hint: you most likely have them already); how to put fabrics together to create a stunning palette (Kerrie will discuss a little about colour and give you some tips on easy ways to ensure you get colour working for you every time); how to prepare your fabric for basketmaking; how to start, shape and finish off your basket; and all the other juicy tips and hints needed to create a beautiful basket made in a very inexpensive way. Join Kerrie for a relaxing and meditative day as you learn this gentle and addictive craft!

Cost: $140.00 includes all materials and morning tea. Please bring your own lunch – our fridge and microwave will be available for you to use along with any cutlery and crockery you may need.

Workshop Hours: 10am – 4pm each day

JUST 3 SPOTS LEFT

Two single-day workshops with Christine Porter, the first being a guided sketchbook walk around the picturesque villages of Cowper and Brushgrove, with the second in the studio learning the basics of book binding. Each day can be taken independently: choose one or other of the single days, or choose both and enjoy a day in the field on day one and bind the results on day two. Seeing simple sketches and field paintings bound in a proper hard-backed book takes the experience to a whole new level, I promise.

Over the last few years, since the holiday she set herself the task of painting every day, Christine has developed a series of small lessons that lead an artist through the, often overwhelming, maze of information about plein air painting. The day starts in the gardens of the Cowper Art Gallery and Studio with the most important element of painting in the field (spoilers: you’ll have to come along to find what that is). Then we move to five other places around the village including the park, wharf, riverbank, and including a pub lunch in the middle – always in the shade, always comfortable. It’s a gentle walk, no more than 15 minutes each time, on flat ground – those less mobile can drive.

• We’ll be concentrating on the smallest kit for painting out of doors, how to be comfortable, where to start, what to paint.
• We’ll describe aims, and discuss what constitutes success or “failure”. (Another spoiler: everyone succeeds)
• Inevitably we’ll get to paint trees, buildings and water, each subject with its own challenges.
• Watercolour and pen on paper, are excellent choices for plein air work. Watercolour is also Christine’s main medium, so there’ll be more watercolour info as needed. If you’ve never painted in watercolour before this workshop will be an excellent introduction – traditionally watercolour was used as a sketching medium.
• The day’s activities are developmental – starting easy, and working up. Even experienced artists have enjoyed the natural progression, they’ve told Christine.
• The workshop suits everyone – artists, non-artists, experienced, beginners, painters, drawers, people who like being outside, people who don’t get to be outside much.

Everyone succeeds, with the overall aim from Christine’s point of view being for participants to learn how to get out into the field to make art, to remind folk of how enjoyable this activity is, with enough skills to do more of it later, and often.

A more detailed materials list will follow for those that are already set up for painting in the field. Christine will have class sets of palettes, brushes, drawing boards for use, and a paints/paper kit for purchase at cost price for those who may not continue in this media.

Cost: $150.00 includes morning tea. Please bring your own lunch to enjoy in the park at Brushgrove or enjoy lunch at the Brushgrove Hotel. 

Workshop Hours: 10am – 4pm

Just 2 Spots Left

There are a few key skills in traditional bookbinding – the most obvious being making the cover. We’ll be creating a form of concertina binding, but also a casebound style that you’ll recognise from the hard cover books on your shelf. Many artists make a second or third book, once they’ve learnt the basic bits, often heading back out of doors to add drawings or paintings into their new books.

Materials: A more detailed materials list will be sent closer to the time, for those who may have some book binding equipment, however Christine will have class sets of all tools needed, as well as expendables in a kit (buckram, board, end-papers, thread, etc) at cost price.

Cost: $150.00 includes morning tea. Please bring your own lunch – our fridge and microwave will be available for you to use along with any cutlery and crockery you may need.

Workshop Hours: 10am – 4pm

Join us as we explore the beautiful effects of crackle enamelling using a variety of dry enamel techniques. You will learn sifting, counter-enamelling, stencilling and other decorative methods to create a colourful enamel pendant and/or set of earrings. During the class you will be introduced to the range of effects possible from vitreous crackle enamelling. This course is suitable for beginners and those with some experience.

What to bring – notebook, pen, wear fully enclosed shoes, avoid flowing and loose garments, and long hair to be tied up.

Cost: $150.00 plus $30.00 materials cost payable direct to tutor in cash on the day. Workshop fee includes morning tea. Please bring your own lunch – our fridge and microwave will be available for you to use along with any cutlery and crockery you may need.

Workshop Hours: 10am – 4pm

Join Kerrie for one of our all-time favourite and most popular workshops in the Studio. Indigo has been used as a dye substance for centuries and traditional ways of using it are still practiced around the world. Shibori is the technique of folding, wrapping and tying to create beautiful designs in dyed fabrics and other materials. In this workshop you will learn a little about the history of indigo and shibori, and gain experience using this beautiful dye. You will learn various ways of creating pattern on cloth and then go on to make a beautiful silk or cotton scarf ready to take home and wear at the end of the workshop.

Cost: $110.00 includes all materials and morning tea.
Please note this workshop finishes at 1:00pm

Workshop Hours: 9:00am – 1:00pm