The French impressionists changed art, just about everyone agrees on that. What interests me is how they worked in colour to create those memorable paintings. In your resource pack will be a number of reproductions of impressionist paintings. We will discuss them, and find ways to use the effects and colour designs in our own work.

10.00am – 4.00pm
£78 Lunch included
Material Charges: £5

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10.00am-12.40pm  OR  1.30pm to 4.10pm
£55 inc fresh coffee/tea/home made biscuits
Material Charges : included , and to take home

Create beautiful lettering for Christmas using 'Gorgeously Swirly Calligraphy' - with Claire from By Moon and Tide

Join Claire for this friendly, festive and relaxed Calligraphy workshop and learn how to write using this wonderful style of modern Calligraphy to create your own gorgeous cards, gift tags and more!  This By Moon & Tide workshops is perfect for absolute beginners as well as those with a little Calligraphy experience - all are welcome!

9.30am - 4.00pm
£78 Lunch included
Material Charges: approx. £5

Let Margaret share with you the flexibility of the wonderful coloured pencil - lending itself to a much more diverse offering than times past, to create an exciting blend of colours and effects.

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Try your hand at “line and wash” – the creation of a pen and ink sketch tinted with a wash of coloured ink or watercolour – with landscape artist John Harrison.

10.00am to 4.00pm
£90 Lunch included
Material Charges: please bring your own.

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'Barn Swallows and Highland Cows' - an immersive weekend of expressive Watercolour Techniques with Sarah Stokes - all abilities.
We are delighted to welcome much acclaimed, professional watercolour artist Sarah
Stokes, who'll be with us for a fascinating May weekend of painting.

9.30am - 5.00pm
£295 Lunch/ fresh coffee etc included
Material Charges £included

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'Short Cut to Nature Journalling' with Steve Pardue 

Have you wanted to create a nature journal but don’t know where to start or how to do it?

This workshop will - hopefully - fix that. I will take you through the process I follow for creating my journals which are really an expression of the joy I feel when out and about in the woods or the river. I will be using my own journals of nature captured over the last 5 years and show how you can create a body of work by simply recording in your own way the things you see every day

9.45am – 12.45pm or 1.45pm to 4.45pm   depending on day
£40 inc. inc a fresh coffee , home made biscuits.
Material Charges: £12

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'Short Cut to Urban Sketching workshop' with Steve Pardue 

Following on from my Nature Journal Workshops I am now turning my attention to the built environment. 

What is an urban sketch? ​ An urban sketch is a drawing created on location, indoors or out, capturing what the sketcher sees from direct observation. Urban sketchers use any kind of media to tell the story of their surroundings, the places they live, and where they travel

9.45am – 12.45pm or 1.45pm to 4.45pm  depending on day
£40 inc. inc a fresh coffee , home made biscuits.
Material Charges: £12

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10.00am to 4.30pm

£120 Lunch included
Material Charges:  Please see materials list 

Hester's work and her stunning interpretation of landscapes is widely admired  - we're thrilled that she will be travelling up from her Devon studio in October 2023, to take this creative and inspiring workshop. Students will be looking at tonal values, colours and marks to create mood and atmosphere in your work. 

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Lyn likes to paint her watercolours largely from life, choosing blooms which will stay open for a couple of days. She likes interesting shapes so Iris, Lilies and Tulips feature largely in her work.

10am – 4pm
£85 Lunch included
Material Charges : n/a

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An exciting new course from Lyn Evans combinng these two favourite mediums.  Bring along your own favourite reference photos of your favourite fells and dramatic landscapes and Lyn will show you how to create  very loose and flowing landscapes using two Acrylic inks and a few watercolours - or apply this same process to create loose botanical pieces.

10am – 4pm
£85 Lunch included
Material Charges : n/a

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 'Waiting at the Station'  in Acrylics - with Ceri Allen

 We are thrilled to welcome much admired Cumbria artist, Ceri Allen, to our 2025 programme. Ceri brings an opportunity to discover the subtleties of acrylics, using the setting of the atmospheric railway station platform or waiting room.

10.00am – 4.00pm
£88 Lunch included
Material Charges: tbc

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This medium can also be known as 'Watercolour & Ink'.  This day will touch on colour mixing and using watercolours and it combines the subtle variable nature of the watercolour wash with finer detail picked out in black ink pen, allowing the artist different effects in shading and textures. 

9.30am – 4pm
£78 Lunch included
Material Charges up to £5 for specialist paper and pens.

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10.00am – 4.00pm
£78 Lunch included
Material Charges: £8

On this course, we will be working in a fast, fun and intuitive way and will move through this exciting step by step technique to producing a really effective piece of art.

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This one day course is for anyone who wants to discover their own natural way of painting. We will be using acrylics.
I tend to paint in a very intuitive way, and believe that with guidance you can learn to 'let go' of the limiting beliefs that prevent your own way of painting coming through. If you are completely new to painting – Great! You have the advantage of the 'beginners mind' without trying! If you do paint already, be prepared to adopt that beginners mind to liberate your own style

10.00am – 4.00pm
£78 Lunch included
Material Charges: £8

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10.00am to 4.00pm
£85 Lunch included
Material Charges: approx.

My work is based upon the abstracts around me ~ rivers, fells and coast.  I use a free and partly abstracted approach, sometime more abstract, sometimes more representational. Colour mood and atmosphere inspire me to play with texture and paint surfaces. I have recently exhibited 'Waterways' a theme exploring coasts and rivers'.

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Summer Meadows in Mixed Media ~  Frances Winder 

An exciting workshop with this popular tutor, well known for her landscapes and depicting reflections on water, here we are anticipating the warmth of summer meadows to come!

This course would develop tonal contrast, composition, and add elements of drama to your paintings of Summer Meadows. We explore colour banding to give you a feeling of distance and space, as well as placing strong foreground elements in both plant types and colour emphasis.

10.00am to 4.00pm
£85 Lunch included
Material Charges: approx.

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Frances will be dealing with colour theories, adjacent and opposite colour designs, and the drama of tonal changes. Light and shade emphasis and how to add that wow factor to your work. Demonstrating in watercolour techniques, the flow and excitement of wet in wet methods, and in acrylic paint the value of texture and richness of overlaying colour. The techniques can be reversed and used to add intensity and drama to each medium.

10.00am to 4.00pm
£85 Lunch included
Material Charges: approx.

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How to paint beautiful flowers using watercolours, even if you're not sure where to start! 

Join Lis on this informal, fun and relaxed day where you will gradually build up your botanical skills and techniques as the day progresses.

10.00am – 4.00pm
£85 Lunch included
Material Charges £10 optional

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Learn to use looser Watercolour  and Ink ~ a four week Series with local artist, Lyn Evans 

Join Lyn in the Swallow Barn for these four Thursday mornings in Autumn to help you become looser in your practice, through structured exercises, gentle feedback, guidance and encouragement.

9.30 am to 12.30am Thursdays
Total £120 with a £15 deposit
Material Charges : please bring your own

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First Steps in Watercolour paints looks in depth at colours, colours mixing techniques washes shading and brush techniques. It is the most useful place to start for those wishing to learn the basics in an enjoyable, thorough day of discovering the world of watercolours.

9.30am – 4pm
£78 Lunch included
Material Charges: possible small fee for extra paper

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On this one day course you will learn the technique of pen and wash or extend your existing skills. This is a way of painting using waterproof pen that is then enhanced with watercolour. Using my methods you will find this is a very enjoyable way of capturing a harbour scene.

10.00am – 4.00pm
£80 Lunch included
Material Charges: £5

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