1947 Courses

The perfect Mother's Day gift! On the very cusp of British Summertime starting we’ll be spending an appropriately colourful afternoon steeped in drawing/painting Spring Flowers. The studio will be full of plants such as mini iris, grape hyacinths, tulips, primroses and daffodils. There will be cut flowers in still-life arrangements and a wealth of beautiful photo references to work from too. We’ll take inspiration from Scottish Colourist Samuel John Peploe’s tulip paintings amid an immersive, fun afternoon of Spring botanicals. All levels of artistic abilities are embraced in this workshop so it’s a great opportunity to try out a class with plant-lady tutor Suzanne Gibson. All materials and refreshments will be provided - including cake and a complimentary glass of fizz. Minimum class numbers apply.

BYOB Ultimate Pottery Experience

Try your hand at the pottery wheel and paint your finished piece, group sessions get to sculpt while they wait their turn on the wheel.

Join us for a festive evening, up cycling an old jumper to become your Christmas jumper

An evening of making Christmas ornaments with felt and hand stitching.

Make your own Christmas Stocking using woven fabrics and a sewing machine.

Learn about the unique qualities of silver clay and make your own solid silver jewellery. You'll be guided by a friendly and experienced teacher to help you make three jewellery pieces for you to treasure and take away! Firstly, you will make a leaf pendant or earrings. Then you'll mould a small object of your choosing to turn into a charm. Lastly, you will form a pendant or charm and learn how to add texture and a gemstone. Once all your projects are ready, you will be shown how to fire and polish your pieces to be solid silver with a beautiful shine.

From propaganda to advertising, posters are a ubiquitous, powerful vehicle to take a message to the masses. Over four weeks, learn how to approach poster design in a creative and practical way. Although some computer work will be introduced, it will only be used as another production tool, participants will be encouraged to experiment with analogue techniques such as collage and hand-generated type. You will learn about the history of poster design; learn to use aspects of Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop; develop approaches to letterform and layout. The emphasis of this course is on the development of a set of posters from research and design through to output. Week 1: History History of Poster Design: Looking at significant and famous posters from around the globe and their impact on society. Practical activity: After a quick introduction to InDesign we will recreate one of these posters, studying the component parts and their relationships to one another. Homework: Think of a concept for your design. What is it for? Who is your target audience? Where and how will it be displayed? Select a favourite poster to bring in or discuss with the group in week 2. Week 2: Image We will begin by discussing participant posters they have brought in to share and look at positives and potential negatives within the designs. Image selection can be a key factor to the success of your poster campaign. We will think about the choices between photography and illustration looking at examples of how this is done successfully. Think about the different ways we can generate and use images. Practical activity: Consider what medium the image might be and how it can be created. Learn about flatbed/film scanner for potential use in image creation. Week 3: Fonts We will look at how typography impacts designs and the messages that it can convey by itself. Consider various approaches to how we can generate type. How typographic selections work alongside selected images. Practical activity: Work through a few typographic workshops thinking about how typographic choices will alter the message you are trying to convey. We will consider various ways and techniques of creating type for our poster. Homework: Developing your typographic solution further, if required. Work through variations of layout. Week 4: Output Continue working on our posters making final tweaks and selecting the poster that is our most successful design for output. We will look at the various formats for output and how we prepare our posters for print. Look at usage of different poster sizes – why use one over the other?? Practical activity: Size your final poster and get it ready for output (if working analogue, scan final poster and upscale).   Courses are subject to minimum enrolment. Please register early, within five days of the start date, to reduce the likelihood of course cancellation. Please read our cancellation policy before booking. Students, anyone over the age of 65, and those in receipt of any form of benefits can claim the concessionary price, offering a 10% discount on the full course price. Valid proof of eligibility must be produced on the first day of the course. Please use the code CONCESSION when prompted at checkout.

Make this unusual Polish basket using English willow. You will be able to choose your own combination of willows making your basket truly individual. During the day you will learn several key weaving techniques and find out how the willow is grown, harvested and processed The course is suitable for beginners or improvers. Refreshments included. Please bring your own lunch.

Join Stephie from Hoop & Fred for this beginner's Embroidery workshop at the lovely Krafthaus Studio & Store in Sale, and stitch up your own hoop of Manchester's beautiful Central Library!