Upcoming workshops

A one-day workshop suitable for beginners and those with a little experience, we will be working from photos or sketches of our beautiful lake district fells to create artworks to take home. Even people who say they cannot draw, create beautiful linocut prints.

We will provide a relaxed and nurturing atmosphere and you will get the opportunity to work at your own pace.

In the weeks before the workshop, we’ll be in contact by email with notes on choosing a suitable image to work from. Bringing pre-selected images and ideas will enable us to spend more time printing on the day. And if you are struggling for ideas, we can help with that too.

By the end of the workshop, you’ll have designed, cut and printed your own multiple-colour artworks to take home, which can be framed or made into cards.

This is an opportunity to experiment with printing directly from plants and other natural objects using monoprint, simple collagraph and embossing.

The class will be taught using examples of work to handle, by demonstration and then hands-on experience. A basic introduction to the Health and Safety requirements for working in a print room. This includes the safe handling of tools and equipment will be covered before starting to use the presses.

This workshop does not require any specific skills to produce lovely prints.

All the materials you need will be provided, but you may like to bring in some plant samples of your own. The best prints come from plants with a robust structure! Thick, juicy stems generally don’t work well, nor does anything too brittle, but sometimes taking a bit of a risk can give you something beautiful!

The workshop will cover the basics of making a plate, which is then inked and printed up in our fully equipped specialist print room. It will be taught using demonstration, lots of real-life examples and then hands on experience.

The course is suitable for anyone. Print experience is not necessary, but it will also suit those who have some experience and want to experiment further with these techniques. To make the best of print room time, you will be encouraged to develop work outside of the classes – but that is optional.

We will use linseed oil-based ink, which can stain, so bring apron or old clothes you do not mind getting messy and several pairs of thin plastic gloves to protect your hands. Potential images to use as source material for your prints, these could be stetch book drawings or your own photographs.

This is an opportunity to experiment with printing single images, drawing and painting directly onto a plate with ink and using masks and stencils to build up an image.

The class will be taught using examples, by demonstration and then hands-on experience of inking, making plates and transferring a design from plate to paper.
There will be a chance to consider the elements of design leading to a successful print and images can be built up in colour, sometimes incorporating several layers.

All welcome

Join us for a one day workshop to carve, print and make a sustainable folding Christmas star and other decorations.

Suitable for beginners and those with a experience, you will be carving and printing with lino to create beautiful, folded decorations under the guidance and tuition of artist and printmaker Emily Brooks.

We will provide the geometric templates, and you’ll have the chance to create your own decorative designs. If you’re stuck for ideas - we can help with that - there will be examples available to copy. Even people who say they cannot draw, create beautiful linocut prints.

We will provide a relaxed and nurturing atmosphere, and you will get the opportunity to work at your own pace.

Join artist & printmaker Emily Brooks for a creative festive extravaganza!

In this workshop participants will carve and and print festive designs to create unique Christmas cards, wrapping paper and gift tags.

This workshop is suitable for beginners or those with experience. All tools and materials are provided and you’ll get to take home everything you’ve made.

The Artist’s Development course will help you to delve into the relationship you have with your creative practice, in a way that will allow you to expand your thinking and the possibilities you see for yourself and your work. The course will help you challenge your own expectations of your practice so that you can become more experimental, engaged and expressive with your work. Using Julia Cameron’s The Artists Way as a starting point, we will explore topics such as your identity as an artist, possibilities for practice, your connection with your work and the wider art world, and how to allow ourselves space for empathy and compassion. Each week small tasks will be set, which will act as prompts and discussion points for the group. And all being well we will create some art along the way!

The course is suitable for people with any level of creative practice and is an opportunity to share time and personal experience with like-minded people in a safe, generous and supportive environment. This is your time for dedicated reflection on your creative practice and development. Maximum 6 participants.

9 sessions over 12 weeks: 6 Jan, 13 Jan, 20 Jan, 3 Feb, 10 Feb, 24 Feb, 3 Mar, 10 Mar, 24 Mar

Spend a day discovering the historical printing process of Cyanotype; making beautiful “blueprints” from natural forms, found objects and hand drawn transparencies.

You will learn about the history of the process, how to mix the solution to coat a variety of surfaces, prepare and print a large selection of paper to use as greetings cards or other creative projects and explore ways of mark making on transparent surfaces to make negatives.

Participants may wish to bring a small selection of personal items to print with, such as pressed flowers, flat objects including feathers, keys, paper templates, images to trace etc. but there will also be plenty provided by the tutor.