Art Workshops

Discover the art of needle felting as you sculpt fluffy merino wool into adorable 3D creations. You will learn to build a stable core shape, layer wool roving for volume, and add fine surface details using different needle gauges. Techniques covered include shaping and molding basic forms, colour blending by layering different wool tones, and adding expressive details like eyes, textures, and patterns. Our instructor guides you step by step from a flat piece of fibre to a finished sculptural piece — no prior experience needed. By the end of the session, you will have a completed wool sculpture (typically 8–12 cm) to take home, along with the foundational skills to continue felting independently.

Master the fundamentals of observation and drawing through still life composition. You will set up your own arrangement of objects, experiment with directional lighting to create dramatic shadows, and learn to see like an artist — breaking complex forms into simple shapes before adding detail. Techniques covered include contour drawing for clean outlines, light and shadow mapping to create depth, hatching and cross-hatching for tonal range, and blending with stumps for smooth gradients. You will work with graphite pencils ranging from hard 2H for fine detail to soft 6B for rich darks, plus vine charcoal for expressive gestural marks. By the end of the session, you will have a completed still life drawing on quality A3 cartridge paper and the confidence to continue practising observational drawing at home.

Create a beautiful and functional clay trinket tray through hand-building techniques. You will roll a smooth, even slab of air-dry clay, cut it to your chosen shape, and build up the edges to form a tray. Decorative techniques include texture stamping with found objects and custom tools, edge shaping with smooth curves or geometric angles, and surface patterns using carved lines or impressed motifs. Once your tray is shaped, you will finish it with acrylic paint in your choice of colours and a protective sealant layer. The result is a one-of-a-kind functional art piece that reflects your personal style. Air-dry clay requires no kiln — your tray will be ready to use after 24–48 hours of drying at home. This workshop is suitable for all ages including young children, as air-dry clay is non-toxic and the tools are safe to handle.

Explore the traditional art of linoleum block printing from start to finish. You will sketch a design on paper, transfer it to a linoleum block, and learn to carve positive and negative space using Speedball safety carving tools. Once your block is carved, you will roll water-based block printing ink evenly with a brayer, carefully position your paper, and use a baren to burnish the print by hand — pulling crisp, bold impressions of your design. The beauty of printmaking is that each block produces multiple prints, so you will take home both your carved block and 3–5 prints on quality paper. Techniques covered include design transfer methods, safe carving for clean lines, even ink distribution, and consistent hand-pressure printing. Lino cut is a rewarding medium that produces striking graphic results even for first-timers.

Make a lamp that carries your own drawing. You will design onto a clear acrylic panel using acrylic paint markers, then seat the finished panel into a wooden LED base so that light travels through the edge of the acrylic and picks out every line you drew. Drawing on a transparent surface changes how a picture is planned: outlines do the work, opaque blocks of colour read as solid shapes against the dark, and empty acrylic simply disappears. Techniques covered include clean outlining and line weight, laying down flat opaque colour without streaks, layering two marker passes for glow-through brightness, and adding accent details — stars, clouds, lettering, sparkles — that catch the light at the panel edge. Marker ink wipes away cleanly before it sets, so there is room to change your mind. Younger participants trace a template outline and then colour and decorate it in their own palette, while older children and adults design from scratch. You leave with an assembled, working lamp — panel plus wooden LED base and cable — and the technique to design another one.

Build a portrait that comes off the page. You will draw and colour a character on one sheet and its background scene on another, then cut the character out along its own outline and mount it on foam pads so it stands a few millimetres proud of the background. The gap casts a real shadow, so the figure genuinely lifts rather than merely looking three-dimensional. Techniques covered include reading a reference rather than copying it blindly, facial proportion and feature placement, grouping hair into shapes instead of drawing strands, coloured-pencil layering and burnishing for smooth skin and fabric tones, and building a night-scene background — city lights, moon, sky gradient — that holds together on a limited palette. You will also learn where to cut and where to leave a margin so the mounted edge reads cleanly. The finished piece is mounted and ready to display. Confident drawers get the most from this session, which is why it starts at age 8; the cutting stage is supervised throughout.