With Zsófia Marx www.zsofiamarx.com

Make your own stunning headwear - have fun creating your own beautiful felt hat and take your felt making skills to the next level on this two-day workshop with Amsterdam-based milliner, feltmaker Zsófia Marx. In her work Zsófia combines millinery and felt making techniques. The workshop will be filled with the necessary practical and technical information to inspire your creativity and let your imagination run wild. You will return home with a finished and unique hat that you can be truly proud of!    

£195 (bring your own materials)

*COURSE FULL – Click here to join waiting list*

With Kate Semple of Kate Semple Sculpture

Join Kate Semple to carve your own Gargoyle inspired by the wonderful carvings we admire on churches and cathedrals. Kate will take you step by step through the ancient skills of stone carving, to create your own sculpture for your home or garden.

£145 (Plus approx. £25 materials)

With Sean Hellman website

This is a beginner’s class, no experience in using wood, knives and axes is necessary. If you have some experience then this will help you progress faster. People who want to improve their spoon making skills are also welcome. We use spoons every day and usually give them little thought. They are wonderful examples of 3d design and art meeting function, with their almost infinite variety of shapes and form. People have carved wooden spoons since we began working wood, a tradition that is still alive today with more and more people taking up this practical and rewarding pastime. Spoons come in all shapes and sizes: eating, serving, cooking, sculptural, and love-spoons. This workshop will concentrate on smaller delicate spoons for eating with. Depending on your ability, you will take home at least one spoon and the techniques used in making, so you can continue making spoons to your own designs. Spoon carving tools will be on sale at the workshop. Beginners and improvers welcome. Techniques covered during this course are: What wood to use and what part of the tree to use. How to shape the billet of wood using an axe. How to use an axe and knife safely. Step by step tuition is given in each axe and knife technique. How to refine and finish the roughed out blank using a range of knives. Cutting out the bowl of the spoon using curved spoon knifes. You be able to try out various spoon knives and other tools for hollowing the bowl. How to finish the spoon: a cut finish versus a sanded finish, and what to oil your spoon with. You will be able to try out various commercially available knives and axes. We will also talk about and practice how to keep your knife sharp. You will also be able to take home at least one billet of wood to continue making spoons.   Sean Hellman has been making spoons since a teenager and regularly teaches and demonstrates around the country including at Spoonfest, the largest international spoon carving festival.  

£75 (including materials)

*COURSE FULL – Click here to join waiting list*

With Andy English of www.andyenglish.com

Wood engraving is a type of relief printmaking where the image is engraved on the endgrain surface of a woodblock, inked and printed either by burnishing or in a press. You will learn how to engrave and then design and print a simple bookplate for yourself or a friend. Andy English is a professional engraver who is always in demand for his beautiful bookplates.

£165 (plus approximately £10 materials)

*COURSE FULL – Click here to join waiting list OR SEE ADDITIONAL COURSE ON MONDAY 10TH JUNE*

With Jim Edmondson of Bristol Lapidary Club

A hands-on course to create your own gemstone. You will cut, grind, polish and finish slices of natural semi-precious rock into beautiful cabochon stones. Why not attend a silversmithing course (see next two days, or November course) and try setting them in silver, or simply enjoy them as they are – it’s not magic its lapidary!  

£95 (plus nominal charge for materials approx. £5 per slice)

*COURSE FULL – Click here to join waiting list*

Introduction to lead work and copper foiling with Ann Pengelly of The Good Shepherd Glass Studio

Explore the diversity of stained glass panels – using copper foil & lead work. A voyage of discovery through these fascinating techniques culminating in a small panel or shaped piece. Larger pieces can be started but will not necessarily be completed in the two days. This class is suitable for complete beginners as well as improvers.  

£145 plus materials as required approximately £20 to include practice glass, lead, foil and glass for a finished panel up to 12” square (further materials available if required)

*COURSE FULL – Click here to join waiting list*

With Hilary Burns - website

Make a texturally pleasing, tall sided, oval basket with a sturdy central handle. This basket would be suitable for holding produce when shopping at the local market or for carrying a packed picnic and bottle of wine.  You will use willow that Hilary harvests from her collection, as well as willow from the Somerset Levels, to weave this lovely basket. The inclusion of ‘rib randing’ as a weave on the sides creates a thicker decorative band that spirals up the sides.  This course is suitable for students who have already made round baskets. Oval techniques are a step up and involve working with chasing sets of weavers. If you already have some basket making experience and want to move on in your learning, this course will help you develop your repertoire.  

£165 (plus materials approximately £20)

*COURSE FULL – Click here to join waiting list*

With Alma Swan

In this course, you will be introduced to various techniques for working with gold – flat and raised gilding using leaf and powder gold, burnishing, the use of gesso and other sizes to support the gold – combined with colour to produce beautiful gilded designs. Students can work on a design of their choice or one offered by the tutor. The finished designs will be suitable for framing, photographing for reproduction or for very special cards. For those who have attended previous gilding workshops there will be some elements of progression in your learning.

£145 including a glass of festive cheer with lunch (plus materials at cost approximately £15)