Led by Carole Gray, member of the British Society of Master Glass Painters, you will make a piece of traditional stained glass in the form of a red tulip panel. You will learn the basic construction processes of cutting glass, putting a panel together with lead, soldering, cementing and finishing. All the materials are supplied. […]
Led by Karoki Lewis, you will look at genres of travel photography and learn about composition, light and exposure, plus the essential building blocks of what makes a great photo. You’ll be given assignments to shoot in the beautiful grounds of West Dean as well as an excursion to Brighton to practise street photography. There’ll […]
Led by Gilbert Whyman, you will learn modelling techniques to create a small figure and a portrait head. Working from a life model, you will develop skills in looking and observing, exploring form and structure, using a plumb line and negative space. There will be discussions and demonstrations of different tools and the marks they […]
Led by Rod Nelson, you will learn the techniques and processes of woodcut printing, gaining familiarity with the tools and materials in order to create successful black and white woodcuts by hand and with a press. You will leave West Dean with the skills to cut a block with a degree of artistic control in […]
This course will introduce you to ways of working from nature en plein air in the West Dean grounds. Day one will see you exploring experimental mark making, moving on to collage, paint transfer, glazing and layering processes on day two. On day three you will develop this work into one or more large collage […]
This course takes the plants and flowers of the magnificent West Dean gardens as inspiration. After getting familiar with stencilling techniques you will go outside to draw and get ideas before transforming your sketches into a layered design. Then you will print your design onto fabric to take home. Suitable for both beginners and artists […]
On this course at West Dean you will learn how different hollow forms are made – sphere, cube, barrel, lens, tube, abstract – and how to construct a model, along with various soldering techniques. The tutor will give you one-to-one tuition to help you develop your idea through to the successful completion of a final […]
Led by Tracey Sheppard, Fellow of the Guild of Glass Engravers, this course provides a perfect introduction to the delights and mysteries of glass engraving. You will experiment with a small range of tools, before progressing to engraving a simple decorated letter on a tumbler. She will show you some basic approaches to design and […]
This weekend course at West Dean will show you how to create an object using ancient blacksmithing skills from over 1000 years ago. You’ll get an introduction to the fundamental heritage blacksmithing processes – cutting, forging, tapering, forming, bending, fire-welding and joinery skills – and put them into practice to create historically accurate replica pieces, […]
Led by Heidi Harrington at Eastbourne Studio Pottery, you will explore screen-printing onto fresh clay slabs. She will take you from clay preparation for print, clay inks and layering, through to how to make the printed slabs into 3 dimensional forms. You will also explore the possibilities of screen printing directly onto bisque-fired slip-cast forms. […]
This studio-based course at West Dean will teach you how to use your materials to evoke the qualities of space, light, structure, mass, movement and direction. It will include daily slide lectures on historical and contemporary approaches. There will be technical demonstrations and lots of one-to-one and group tuition. By the end you will have […]
Curious House runs short courses at The Bell in Ticehurst. They create a welcoming environment for those who want to explore their creativity in small supportive groups. Here you are free to build confidence in your skills, with people often arriving as strangers and leaving as friends. Join the popular Bloomsbury Revisited decorative painter Jane McCall […]
