Education
Teaching courses and workshops has always been at the heart of my creative business
From the very first printmaking evening class that I taught in Guildford back in 2005, I knew I had found my calling. I was a 25-year-old, introverted art graduate and absolutely terrified of standing up in front of people to talk. I had a glass of wine to steady my nerves, a meticulously detailed teaching plan and carefully prepared boxes of materials.
However, after a nervous hour of explaining the techniques and helping people out I was able to pause and reflect for a moment to watch this receptive group of beginners creating their first prints and smiling at the joy of making something. This excitement of helping people to create has stayed with me ever since – I still get that tingly feeling wherever I am teaching (mostly now online) when I see people discover new skills or make new works.
I truly enjoy sharing my knowledge and skills and usually as soon as I have learned something myself I want to share it with others.
Since those early days of printmaking evening classes I have taught a variety of in-person courses at a range of venues across the UK. These have included workshops at/for Farnham Maltings, Salisbury Arts Centre, The Electric Theatre in Guildford, Guildford House Gallery, Salisbury Arts Trail, Sayers Croft and Basing House. I have taught short taster sessions, one-day workshops as well as more immersive experiences over longer periods of time. Each time I teach, the classes are carefully planned in terms of content, pace, the number and level of students and the environment.
I have also learnt so much from those people that I have taught over the years. I always feel when running classes for adults, it’s less like 'teaching' and more like 'knowledge sharing'. I love hearing what other crafts and creative hobbies people do and it is a question I always ask students at the start of any session. The aim, for me, is to build a creative community every time I teach – a nurturing and friendly environment conducive to learning and creating. And nothing has changed even now things have moved on and most of my teaching has moved online.
Online Education
- The ability to reach people across the globe. I get to teach people from the other side of the world (how awesome is that!)
- The wonderful new technology that enables high-quality video demonstrations and ways to host videos easily online.
- The ability for students to watch content whenever and wherever they want (and as many times as they need!)
- The flexibility for me to record courses in times that work for my family – I have spent many evenings and weekends teaching in the past, which doesn’t work now that I am a mum.
- I can reach thousands of people with my online teaching, compared to a maximum number of people I can have sitting in a room with me.
- Online teaching gives me the ability to structure truly GREAT content that can be delivered all at once or drip-fed on a daily basis.
- Students can work at their own pace rather than a pace dictated by the majority of a group in a room (or a structure defined by the tutor).
- It has enabled me to create a monthly sketching membership, Inspire, where I can stay in contact with people, encouraging them to create every month.
- The ability to create a solid online community through Facebook Groups and online portals.
Seriously, online teaching is a wonderful experience for teacher and student alike, and although I still love real-life teaching and hands-on demos, there is something so accessible, convenient and immediate with online education.
What Do I Teach?
I have a range of short online art courses primarily focussed on printmaking, sketching and drawing. I am all about boosting creativity and the majority of my courses are suitable for beginners to sketching and art in general. Most of these courses are stand-alone and you can purchase the course for a one-off fee and work through the content in your own time. I also have a few FREE online courses to encourage everyone to get creative and have a go. Find out all about my current online courses:Inspire Membership
In June 2020 I decided to add a creative membership to my online offerings. The main reason for this was to build an ongoing creative community that focusses on regular progression and continuity each month. My Inspire members get new sketching tutorials, projects, book reviews, mindset discussions each and every month within a dedicated membership portal.
I have found it a wonderful experience to work with a small community of like-minded people where we all get to ‘play’ each month with creating new stuff and sharing our results. This membership makes sure that creativity is at the forefront of our minds and gives everyone (myself included) the chance to exercise those creative muscles on a regular basis. If you are interested in joining me for a regular play in your sketchbook then take a look at my Inspire membership that opens just three times per year for new members.
Bespoke Teaching / Bookings
Over the years I have delivered a number of bespoke classes and workshops both online and in person.Recently these have included:
- Summer workshop sessions for Bonnie Christine’s Flourish membership
- A special online class for the Sketchbook Revival in 2019
- An online drawing class for Art for Earth 2021
- A mandala drawing session for the Loving-healing-Creating Summit 2021
- In-person wood engraving workshops for Basing House, Basingstoke
- Special nature themed printmaking workshops for Sayers Croft
If you are interested in booking me for teaching at your venue or for your online event or membership group then do get in touch!