In this new workshop Janina will take you through all the steps to design and paint your own canvas sheet using acrylic paint and adding decoration and interest with mark making techniques.

She will then show you how to make a handmade book using your beautiful painted canvas pieces for the covers, using a decorative cross stitch binding.

Specific skills that will be covered:
- Preparing a canvas sheet with gesso
- Painting and mark making with acrylic paint
- Trimming inside pages and preparing the signatures ready for making the books
- Using a template for accurate hole placement in the covers and the signatures
- Binding a book using the cross stitch binding technique
- Things for students to bring

Materials:
- White gesso
- 4 or 5 acrylic paints in your choice of colours
- Paint brushes including a ½ inch flat brush or similar, and larger brush for applying the gesso
- Palette suitable for mixing acrylic paint
- Waterpot
- Hairdryer
- Apron
- Tablecloth

Tools – if you have them. There will be some extras that you can borrow on the day if you don’t have them:
- Cutting tools: sharp sturdy craft knife, large cutting mat, metal ruler
- Measuring tools: T square ruler (handy but optional), sharp pencil
- Large eye tapestry needle
- Scissors
- Awl to poke holes
- Bone folder (or you can use fingernail)
- Shoe knife / clip knife for slicing paper (handy but optional)

Additional charge: £5 to be paid to the tutor on the day. This charge includes:
- Piece of canvas
- Coloured card and white paper for the inside pages
- Linen thread
- Printed template and instructions
- Use of mark making tools, stencils and sponges.

In the historic 15th century village of Iznik in Turkey, ceramic ware and tiles are renowned for their vibrant cobalt blue, turquoise, and coral red colours on a white underglaze. The artisans of Iznik crafted stunning tiles featuring unique floral and arabesque motifs. These distinctive geometric and symmetrical designs adorned mosques, palaces, and other imperial buildings, showcasing the artistic pinnacle of the Ottoman Empire.

In the workshop, Sharmina will first guide you through the process of constructing a basic geometric grid using a compass. You’ll then design a single motif using the grid and replicate it to complete your tile design. Depending on time we may construct a second pattern.
Finally, you'll transfer and paint your tile pattern on watercolour paper, bringing your creation to life.

Tools and materials to bring:
● Selection of watercolour brushes (sizes no.000, no.0, no.1 are ideal)
● Selection of gouache or watercolours (cobalt blue or ultramarine, turquoise, black, white, red) although Sharmina will have selection.
● Painting palette with wells, jars for water & kitchen roll
● H and HB pencils, sharpener and eraser (0.5mm mechanical pencil is recommended)
● 6” or 12” ruler
● A few A4 sheets of white copy paper to draw grid and motifs.
● A couple of sheets of A4 Tracing paper
● Smooth Watercolour or cartridge paper
● Optional, magnifying glass if you prefer using for detailed work.

If you have the following please bring them otherwise Sharmina will supply for the workshop
● Compass
● Carbon Trace down paper
● Masking tape

Using materials and equipment commonly found in the kitchen, learn how to produce an etching using recycled packaging. Tetrapak is used to package many liquid foodstuffs such as oat milk and fruit juice. With a little preparation and creativity it is possible to use it as the plate for a drypoint etching. During this workshop we will prepare and print images, exploring ways of applying texture and tone to our printing plates.

You will need: latex gloves - although the etching ink is water soluble it may stain hands - an apron, scissors, craft knife and some old newspaper to protect the table you are working on. If you have any clean Tetrapak, do bring them along. Also some images or your sketchbook to act as inspiration.

Additional costs - There will be an additional cost of £2.00 to cover the use of specialist paper and ink.

In this workshop you will have time to make two wreaths, one traditional and one a contemporary Swedish ring. Irene has lots of Christmas bits and pieces to share with you for a small donation to HACG.

Irene will provide all the starred items on the following lists at an inclusive cost of £10.00 payable at the workshop.
When you book the workshop, please inform us if you require the foam ring and/or the heart frame at least 10 days in advance before the class, so they will be ordered.

1.Traditional wreath ring
Requirements
Irene will supply:
*12” foam ring. Preferably not with plastic base, but it will work
*Wide Christmas ribbon-preferably with a wired edge
*Florists stub wires

You need to bring:
Scissors
Secateurs
Glue gun if you want to glue accessories on to the wreath

A selection of evergreen foliage eg spruce, Cupressus, holly, tree ivy, box, hebes, three types of foliage will be enough. I tend not to use holly as it is rather hard on the hands. If you do want to use it bring some gloves or just use the berries. Any other suitable berries. Could be fresh or imitation.

One wrap of flowers of your choice, if you want to have fresh flowers in your wreath. They will last till Xmas if looked after carefully. Roses carnations or gerberas work well.

A selection of Christmas bits e.g., baubles, orange slices, cinnamon sticks, stars, Christmas picks, cones. Have a look in your Christmas box and see what you can find! Stores like Poundland sell Christmas baubles really cheaply and in a variety of colour.

2.Contemporary Swedish ring
Requirements
Irene will supply:
*Open heart wire wreath frame
*Sisal any colour (The sisal provides wadding for the wreath but if you would prefer to use moss please do, but remember you should not collect moss from the woods)
*Bullion wire -any colour
*Raffia

You need to bring:
Narrow Christmas ribbon preferably with a motif rather than plain
Small strips of brightly coloured material
Florist’s tape
Any small Christmassy decorations - the more natural the better eg tiny cones, cinnamon sticks berries, tiny baubles

Health & Safety note:
If you are using a glue gun and intend to share it with others it should be PAT tested. You can borrow Irene's - it is PAT tested

Janina and Simon are pleased to bring you this brand-new workshop.

In the first part of the workshop before lunch Janina will guide you through all the steps for making your own beautiful concertina book, using your choice of decorative paper or bookcloth for the covers.

Simon will then show you how to fill the book with your own gorgeous artwork in the second part of the workshop after lunch.

Concertina book materials:
Janina will supply all materials. This will include 220gsm cartridge paper, greyboard, decorative papers, bookcloth, glue. Cover charge £5

Concertina book tools:
Please being any of the following tools that you already own, as you may have favourite tools to work with. Janina will bring some tools for you to borrow if you don’t have these:
• Two large (ie A4) heavy books for pressing the book covers.
• Cutting tools: Cutting mat ideally A3 or A2 size, sharp cutting knife or craft knife (not a scalpel, as this is too delicate), metal ruler, scissors
• Sharp pencil, rubber eraser
• Large bulldog clips and scrap paper
• Bone folder (for creasing paper)
• T square ruler (for getting accurate 90-degree corners)
• Paper knife / clip knife / shoe knife for slitting paper

Lunch

Materials for drawing and painting the pages of the book
Please bring a variety of photos or images from your phone or iPad. We will first sketch these images in pencil across multiple pages, then outline them in black ink, and finally add watercolours. The goal is to create a continuous image featuring different subjects, such as a bird transitioning into a landscape and then into a flower, the choice of images and subjects to use are totally your choice.
• A selection of watercolour brushes, ranging from a size 1 to an 8
• Watercolour paints, either tubes or a palette collection
• Mixing palette
• 0.3 “unipin” black fine line pen, it must be waterproof (these are easy to buy in Hobby Craft, Amazon or WHSmith)
• Pencil
• Rubber
• Sharpener
• Water pot
• Kitchen roll or tissues
• Table cover

Having an understanding of how value and colour can be used to bring your pictures to life is key to success in oil and acrylic painting. The first part of the workshop will look at tonal value (lights and darks) and the importance of understanding how you can use value to better control the outcome of your paintings.

The second part of the workshop will be based on the colour wheel and will look at how colours relate to each other and the use of harmonic and complementary colours. We will also look at colour mixing and how the colour wheel can help with an understanding of this.

List of materials for Oil or Acrylic:
1. An easel – lightweight or table
2. Sketchbook, pencil (4B or similar) eraser and sharpener
3. Gessoed Canvas or Boards to paint on (not paper)
4. Oil or acrylic paints. I suggest the following or something similar:
1. Titanium White
2. Burnt Umber
3. Raw Sienna or Yellow Ochre
4. Cadmium Yellow
5. French Ultramarine
6. Cerulean Blue
7. Alizarin Crimson
8. Cadmium Red
5. If using traditional oils, a low odour solvent for thinning paint and cleaning brushes (please don’t bring turps or white spirit). If acrylics or water mixable oils a bottle of water.
6. A palette – tear off or traditional
7. Jars for solvent/thinner.
8. A mix of brushes. Please bring your own choice of brushes, but I’d suggest a mix of round and flat hog or synthetic brushes as well as a thin brush or two for details.
9. Rags or kitchen roll
10. A bag for rubbish
11. An apron or clothes you’re happy to paint in.

Join us for a day working with wonderfully vibrant and delightfully messy soft pastels.
Jenny is a firm favourite with members and we’re delighted to welcome her back to be guided through a winter landscape. Choose your own image, make some sketches and be prepared to go home with dirty hands & face!

Materials list:
Specialist Art Spectrum paper will be provided by Eileen with a charge of approximately £3 - please bring cash
An assortment of soft pastels (not oil pastels)
Acrylic or watercolour paints
Some OLD brushes - (large-ish ) + palette for mixing paint + water pot
Board to work on
Drafting /masking tape
Charcoal /pencil
Paper towel
Sketchbook
Wet wipes are useful

Reference material - ideally your own sketches

We invite you to a delightful day of painting under the guidance of our Chairman, Simon Pink.

Simon will provide an inspiring image of a peacock with its feathers proudly fanned out, as well as a real peacock feather for you to use as a reference during the workshop and to take home afterward.

Throughout the session, Simon will walk you through each step of painting this majestic bird, offering plenty of encouragement and time to explore various acrylic techniques and ask questions.

What to bring

Acrylic paint – bring any colours you have but also include, blues, greens, white, black, yellow, orange and brown. Galeria, liquitex or System 3 are perfect.

Acrylic brushes – bring a good selection of sizes but include one large brush, ideally 1”, this can be a decorators brush, also a bring a rigger brush if you have one (if not Simon will demonstrate how to use one).

Simon will be painting on a 60cm x 60cm canvas, so please bring either a canvas or board of a good size, ideally 50cm x 50cm or 50cm x 60cm approx.

Please paint the whole canvas in a light grass green before attending the workshop.

Easel - either table top or floor standing
Mixing palette, tear off palette or paper plates
Pencil
Eraser
Jam jars for water
Kitchen roll
Table cover / floor cover
Sense of humour & lunch