Arts

To improve skills and knowledge through personalised learning and support progress towards further independence.

This course will enable you to design and make hand built pottery. You will learn how to apply different decorating techniques to enhance the surface of clay work. You will have opportunities to explore personal projects developing creative skills and bring ideas to life. Make use of sketch books as part of research and idea development. Experience and share the excitement of the pottery process from raw clay to the fired kiln.

Join like-minded crafters and our enthusiastic tutor and create a range of beautiful gift bags and boxes, along with gorgeous personalised tags and decorative bows. This course is all about the gift wrapping and we will be making lovely gift boxes in a range of sizes – and with the formula I will share with you you can make them any size you wish! We will also be making gift bags in a variety of sizes all with matching gift tags and finished off with a handmade bow. Utilising the skills you already have and hopefully adding some new ones we will make our own festive wrapping, all matching and looking fabulous under the tree. Crafting is a fun and rewarding way to enhance your mental well-being, helping to manage the stress we often feel at this time of year. Come and join our friendly fun group and get crafting! This course is for beginners to paper-crafting and for those who are creating gift bags and boxes for the first time. More experienced crafters are of course welcome too.

Have you learnt the basics of painting in watercolours and are looking for fresh ideas? Do you want to learn how to create expressive and creative textures and effects in watercolours? Are you unsure where to start, what to use and how to use it? Why not join this course to explore your own creativity, find inspiration and receive support and encouragement? This ten-week course aims to provide lots of ideas and techniques for working spontaneously and expressively as well as how to create a variety of different textures and effects. You will also have the opportunity to share ideas and take part in weekly discussions about your artworks with the tutor and other students on the course.

The theme this term is ‘Learn from the Best’, which will give us a focus for exploring a range of arts materials and techniques. It is a traditional method to examine and copy famous and excellent artists to learn their techniques. We will be looking at a selection of artists, learning from their style and recreating our own original works in that style. Studying a variety of artists will give us a focus for exploring a range of different arts materials and techniques including pastels, watercolour, oil, acrylic and other paints. This is a friendly and supportive group, offering a space for experimentation.

This course aims to introduce you to art and take you to a higher level in order to begin to develop your skills. This course is accessible to beginners and provides an ideal stepping stone towards intermediate levels. Set in a calm and friendly environment, this course is a great way to gain confidence in a group setting and socialise with other like-minded individuals.

Are you looking for a relaxing hobby to help you unwind? Creating moments of calm in the day is essential for our emotional well-being and mental health. Step into the world of mindful crafts with this course and enjoy art for relaxation. This creativity course allows you to explore your art and craft skills to find practices that soothe you. Whether you enjoy drawing, painting, origami, or craft-making, art courses can help you find a relaxing hobby.

The course aims to encourage learners to attend art exhibitions and/or musical events with a greater background knowledge in order to enhance appreciation. If actual attendance is not possible, to undertake independent research and hence, enjoy a more active and cultural lifestyle. The class also offers an opportunity for learners to interact socially with like- minded people in intellectual pursuits. It also encourages learners to acquire critical and analytical skills through debate and discussion. The course covers all styles and periods from the Renaissance to the present day. It is multi media to accommodate diverse learning styles and preferences. It is suitable for beginners and connoisseurs alike.

Experiment with a range of materials and complete a number of exciting projects in art including landscape painting and a personal project. This course offers expert but accessible instruction in drawing, colour mixing, landscape painting and a personal project such as a portrait or abstract design. The course takes place at Ashley Place, which is a residential home for adults with a physical disability, but the course is open to everyone from the community with or without a disability.

This course aims to introduce students to the art of portraiture in a relaxed and supportive environment. You will learn how to draw the face, neck and features correctly and then move on to painting. The class is ideal for beginners who would like to learn new skills or improve old ones. Using a simplified, structured, and step-by-step approach, students will learn the skills and techniques necessary to be able to paint portraits. Creating portraits that have a convincing sense of shape, form and colour is difficult to do, and this course looks at various techniques used to do this. By learning to interpret the human head into its abstract elements (shape, tone & colour), you will gain confidence in how to paint portraits in a structured and methodical manner.