The Creative Mix is an ideal way to explore a variety of artistic methods. Over the five days, students will work through various exercises in drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking. This is a great ‘taster’ course and an excellent opportunity to both develop skills and get creative with your own ideas.

This course focuses on teaching students to use the human form to express emotion, energy and character through working on a series of sculptures. Students will focus on understanding how to use different forms and compositions to express the character of the pose and to understand subtlety in the choice in forms, textures and materials. This course offers students an opportunity to work with different materials, to try something a bit different and loosen up your sculptural techniques. It is suitable for beginners to advanced students. Our experienced tutor will show beginners a step-by-step approach to figure modelling, and will work with more advanced students to push their work forward in their own way. Working with small dynamic standing poses in Super Sculpey as well as two seated poses in clay.

A comprehensive introduction to the various techniques of kiln formed glass as well as a brief study of the history of glass-making. This is an all round opportunity to experiment with ideas and technical glass making skills from a sculptural perspective that progresses to completing an independent project. The course covers model and mould making using a variety of mould making materials, approaches kiln formed glass techniques and starting points such as open casting, fusing and slumping. You will be taught how to cut, clean and arrange glass in preparation for fusing and slumping into a basic bowl shape. A short project will be set to encourage you to adopt an experimental approach using mould making refractory open cast processes. You will be shown how to use coloured glass to create a 3D sculptural glass form of your own design. You will be taught through demonstration, group and individual instruction and learn from hands on experience. Through looking at both contemporary and historical works you will discover the potential of the medium of glass.

This course is a rare opportunity to work on a full life size figure within a small class size. Working with your tutors Laura Postle and Valentina Zlatarova, students will develop and hone the skills required to produce large scale figure work. Sculpting in both a guided environment from direct observation of a life model, as well as learning how to work self directed without a model, you will spend a five weeks fully immersed in the sculpting process. Starting with building an armature using a provided steel back iron, an approach to figure work that will be strong yet flexible, with room for interpretation, will be taught. As well as developing technical skills of measurements, plumbing, anatomy and clay application, students will hone their creative skills, develop an understanding of sculptural texture and forms, and learn how to capture the model’s unique expression to create a piece of art. To apply for this course, please send an email with a few images of your figurative sculpture work to laura@artacademy.org.uk or contact the Art Academy team at shortcourses@artacademy.org.uk

This is a fun, day-long taster course in sculpting with clay and plaster for those who may be considering a longer evening or daytime course and want to try it out first. Spend the morning with the joy of clay to create a small figure sculpture from a life model. In the afternoon mix plaster and other media to make your own creative sculpture. No need to worry if you have nothing in mind. This is a great opportunity to combine these two basic sculpture skills and techniques. There will be the option to leave your clay sculpture for hollowing and firing for an additional fee and you are welcome to take home your plaster piece. Throughout the day the tutor will lead the class in practical demonstrations to help you get a feel for the medium and the way it can be manipulated into shape and form. We aim to foster self-certainty and an enjoyment of sculpting in a relaxed yet stimulating environment.

This practical course is suitable for beginners and experienced artists who want to experiment with metal cast sculpture. Pewter is a metal that can be cast and finished in your own studio, with relatively basic equipment, and without the need of a foundry. Pewter is a silver coloured tin metal alloy which melts at low temperatures. During the course you will model a sculpture in wax, learn how to cast in pewter using plaster waste moulds and the ‘lost wax’ casting technique. Bring your own ideas or come with an open mind and be inspired to work with new materials and sculpture techniques. This is a practical workshop based course with one to one and group guidance from the tutor.

Portrait sculpture is an immensely absorbing and enjoyable discovery with every new sitter. This week-long course aims to introduce you to the process; to observe and translate your observation into a clay portrait sculpture from a life model.Whether setting out a portrait head from a structural point of view with a clear path of constructive method and/or searching for a more expressive manner of approach, you will benefit from exploring with a professional sculptor to help build upon your own sculptural experience.

Portrait sculpture is an immensely absorbing and enjoyable discovery with every new sitter. This course aims to build upon your previous experience [Intermediate/Advanced] to further how to observe and translate your observation into a clay portrait sculpture from a life model. Refresh, renew or find alternative ways of looking through group and individual discussion with your tutor, David Klein, member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors (MRBS) and the Society of Portrait Sculptors (SPS). Whether setting out a portrait head from a structural point of view with a clear path of constructive method and/or searching for a more expressive manner of approach, you will benefit from exploring with a professional sculptor to help build upon your own sculptural experience. David Klein hopes to impart a few of the tools he has learnt and explore on this course that wonderful tension between finely rendered form and unworked chaos. Portraiture is a search. This search for form, truth and personality requires tools. From the force of the neck into the weight of the head, which in so many ways defines and marks exceptional sculpture. This course will explore the structure, turning points of form, emphasis and simplification.

This is the ideal dual opportunity to have a full sculptural experience over 5 days, of both figure modelling in clay and working in plaster and mixed media to develop your own creative idea. For three days you will be working in clay from a life model, learning observational and measuring techniques of the figure. The following two days begin with both practical and thought provoking exercises followed by your own creative time and freedom to realise and develop an individual interest. This combination of sculptural techniques and skills provides a broad approach for further sculptural progression. The course is suitable for those with no previous experience or those who wish to develop further.

Designed for both beginners and more experienced students, this interesting new course looks at the power of the needle and the ways stitch has been used as a tool of subversion. With the rise in popularity of textile art and blurring of the distinction between fine art and craft, the possibilities of this medium are endless and unexpected. You'll learn techniques and processes, explore how they can be used in your own work, and engage in discussion about what it means to use stitch in fine art practice in the 21st century. The classes are structured; in the morning there will be a presentation of the techniques being taught that day as well as contemporary artists who use these processes in their work. This will show you the possibilities of stitch and embroidery, both as an end in themselves and a way of adding texture and dimension to your artwork. In the afternoon, you will have the opportunity to experiment with the techniques that have been taught or use them to work on a personal project.