If want to be kept in the loop about Forthcoming sessions and workshops please use contact form
6 week local art class
starts 17th October
The aim is to relax, ask questions, experiment, take a few risks and have some fun alongside other artists. I do believe this is the way we will make our best work!
We will also increase our ‘toolkit’ of techniques and awareness on the subjects and mediums below over the six weeks through some structured learning.
There will be plenty of time for one to one tuition on your specific paintings or drawings throughout the sessions as well.
Thursdays 1.45 to 3.45
17th, 24th, 31st October and 7th, 14th and 21st November.
We will all paint for 2 hours each session.
£72 for 6 week course ( the fee has been kept low as there maybe one or two sessions you already have commitments in the diary and therefore will miss).
If anyone wants to do a ‘drop in’ method the individual sessions will be £15.
The first 25 minutes each week we will look at and discuss –
1. Composition
2. Colour
3. Mark making/ use of tools
4. Ways towards semi-abstraction
Sessions 5 & 6 will be for in depth exploration of specific mediums according to what the group feels they want to learn – ie watercolour, oil, acrylic, mixed media…..
If people just want to work on the paintings they have started whilst just lending an ear to the tuition that is fine too.
There will always be reference materials and books on hand to inspire us and some back up art materials.
Materials to bring
Paints and drawing materials you wish to use and learn about
Palette, dilutants ( no solvents please), rags, brushes and tools eg palette knife etc
Appropriate clothing.
Easel if you require one.
Other info
Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided.
There is ample free parking alongside the hall.
St Nicholas Church Hall, Winsley Directions from BoA
Before you get to the Seven Stars pub in Winsley, on the bend there is a right turn that runs alongside the church. Right opposite the church lychgate is a tight turning and the Church Hall and car park is in there.
Any questions, just drop me a message
PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS 2024
Bradford on Avon West barn
SUMMER ART SCHOOL
Landscapes
2 day studio and plein air Landscape School.
Thursday 30th and Friday 31st May
10.00 - 4.00
West Barn, Bradford on Avon
The West Barn will be our studio base where there will be guided sessions and paintings can be worked on further. We will also spend time outside sketching and painting plein air on the banks of the River Avon and the beautiful West Barn and Tithe Barn area. Landscapes, Skies & Water.
Open to all. Beginners and more experienced.
Acrylics/Oils. Sketching materials can include Pen & Ink /Watercolour or charcoal if you prefer
Indoor tables, chairs, tea, coffee and biscuits supplied throughout the days.
Bring your easel if you have one. Suggested material list will be supplied beforehand.
Please bring a packed lunch or there are food places nearby.
Limited places. Please contact via contact page for more info or booking
EAST DEVON ART ACADEMY, SIDMOUTH
2 day workshops in Sidmouth at the East Devon Art Academy
Painting the Sea.
Water, Waves and Light.
Oil & Acrylic
9th & 10th May 2024.
The Landscape - Working towards Semi Abstraction
Oil & Acrylic
20th & 21st June 2024
Please press link below to find out more or enrol via Academy
PAST 2023
THURSDAY 16th NOVEMBER
ONE DAY WORKSHOP
'Moving Towards Semi- Abstraction'
Oil/Acrylic
All welcome
WEST BARN, BRADFORD ON AVON 10.00-4.00
BA15 1LF
We will engage with the landscape.
Through a step by step guided process and demo in the morning we will establish compositions through different exercises, explore a range of tools and determine the palette. Then we will get 'in the zone' and paint, allowing happy accidents, layering, adding and taking away.
We aim to have a couple of paintings on the go over the day and several drawing and painting exercises to build up skills useful in semi-abstraction and actually in our artistic practise generally.
A suggested material list will be supplied beforehand.
Past courses/workshops-
Saturday 11th February 2023
Oil & Acrylics
'Joy of Colour'
In a guided way we will experiment with colour seeking out surprising combinations and delights, the joys of limited palettes, harmony, use of coloured grounds, mid-tones, hot and cold colours, optical mixing and juxtapositions and become more aware of how it effects emotion, mood and the optic nerves!
The day will be interspersed with short projected presentations for discussion, looking at the subject of colour and how other artists have used this aspect of vision. Artists will be encouraged to move towards semi-abstraction if they wish.
To apply it where you might not immediately ‘see’ it.
You can work with acrylics or oils and is suitable for both beginners and experienced. Mixing a palette will be demonstrated and the use of palette knife, rags, large brushes and catalyst silicon wedge (if you have one) will be introduced.
'The Concerns of Artists'
weekly 1 hour sessions
4 week February zoom course looking as artists, at art works
week one - what makes art 'contemporary'
week two - mark making & materials
week three - line & composition
week four - colour and absence of colour
These sessions are designed to give a chance to simply look at work and connect with other artists on a weekly basis. It will give us time to investigate how artists through history have explored aspects of the above in their work. The series is intended to inspire and enrich us in what can feel like a bit of a fallow month. It will be held on zoom in the comfort of our homes and it will be in the format of slides and discussion.
WATER-BASED MEDIUMS ON PAPER
28th January 2023
'In the Bleak Mid Winter'
Frosty wind made moan
Earth stood hard as iron
Water like a stone......
Using the landscape around us as inspiration and the words from 'In the bleak mid winter', we will investigate a variety of water based medium (acrylic paint and inks, charcoal, gesso etc) mark-making using different tools (brushes, rags, silicon wedge, sticks, sand paper, putty rubber etc) and limited muted palette to explore and evoke the special qualities of the landscape of winter.
Awakening of the Garden
21st March 2021 4 week art course
This course is a chance to gently reconnect through nature, explore it as an artist alongside other creatively minded people in a supportive environment. The equinox is an exciting time of year to start our journey outside in our gardens and the natural world.
We will create an ongoing sketchbook/journal/scrapbook for the four weeks where the changes in our gardens can be explored, whether in words, images, colours, seed packets, photos, drawings, doodles, lists etc. Different techniques will be experimented with and we will get our sketchbook up and running for the summer months ahead. The freshness of a sketchbook can be a wonderful thing to have and look back through as a capsule in a moment of time.
Each session will start with looking and discussing images around our theme of gardens. For example we will look at spontaneous pen and wash (Durer to Dufy) or how artists as diverse as Manet, Anne Redpath and Kurt Jackson have felt drawn to the simple arrangement of flowers in a vase in another. We will keep it simple and relevant to our own direct observations, whilst also discussing different creative approaches and explore different techniques and media for stimulus and inspiration. Hopefully participants will feed in their discoveries from the week. The rest of the session we will be painting/creating alongside each other using the sketchbook, views from windows, things brought in and if the weather and technology permits, outside. Feedback and technical advice supplied.
Material list - click here
The Joy of Colour
4 week ‘get us thro’ February’ course 2021
Let’s escape our prisons to create and love colour together.
This course has now run.
These are some of the bursts of colour created through the month of February by the participants . Brilliant!
Zoom Demos for Art Societies/Clubs
’Many thanks for the Zoom demo last night (12/11/2020) for the Ongar Art Society. I thoroughly enjoyed it, loved your work and felt that you kept it very much a ‘live’ event.’ Chair of Ongar Art Society
'Firstly, thank you for booking Melissa Wishart to demo to Ongar Art Society. She is absolutely delightful. Her painting in oils is lovely, and our members also liked her talking about her techniques, equipment and palette. It was especially helpful that she started the Zoom session explaining to our members about using the Chat Box for questions, Reactions button etc. A really good demo.'. Letter to Art Profile from Secretary Ongar Art Society
Wildflower Gelli Printing
Source, identify & learn about plants and nature, then have fun making prints - play with colour with easy to use gelli printing. It's good fun!
£25 all materials provided
This can be made into an exclusive session for you and family or friends.
Maximum at present 3 people
Please contact with dates that suit you.
