SUMMER HOLIDAY WORKSHOPS 2025

After relaxing in all the ways we relax over Summer, come join me in the cool of the Gallery for a week of Workshops to continue our celebration of ‘s-l-o-w’ Summer vibes when we explore and experiment with drawing mediums & modes to escape on a Watermelon Picnic, celebrate A Circus of SEA SLUGS! Take a walk-through SUMMER Days & Nights, conjure up Marshmallow Monsters & Other Campfire Creatures and escape into the world of Paper Cuts and Portraits.. Summer is a time for making memories and this Summer we'll create our own drawing stories through days of creative FUN & PLAY!

Watermelon Picnic

Water colour is a beautiful Summer medium, it’s cool in its transparency, it’s dreamy in its colour range & perfect to play with on a hot day. Better still it is gorgeous at capturing the tasty, juicy essence of the Summer Foods & Fruits that we love to eat to cool us down & to create special Summer memories. Be it a blanket spread with delicacies for all to share or a salad sandwich gobbled on the edge of a rock pool, we love our Watermelon Picnics & in this Workshop we will study, capture & consume a visual feast of this quintessential sign of Summer in all it’s glorious watery wonder.

Ages 5+

Monday 20th January 10:00 - 4:00

A Circus of SEA SLUGS!

One of the fun things about Sea Slugs is their names … Sea Clown, Shaggy Mouse, Spanish Dancer, Spotted Sea Hare and (perhaps my very favourite) Orange-Peel Doris to name just a few! The other really fun thing about Sea Slugs is their strikingly beautiful colours, magnificent markings and patterns, & the fascinating array of their sensory head stalks or horns. If these things alone don’t scream CIRCUS I don’t know what does. The Nudibranchia are the largest group of sea slugs, they live on the seafloor from Antarctica to the tropics, with the greatest numbers in the shallow tropical waters of coral reefs (yes that includes our very own Great Barrier Reef). In this Workshop we will be joining these fascinating comical creatures in their seafloor arena and drawing them in their very own underwater CIRCUS (Ra da da da da da da da Circus Da da da da da da da da Circus) think ink, collage and creative chaos – this day of drawing will have it all.

Ages 5+

Tuesday 21st January 10:00 - 4:00

SUMMER Days & Nights

We’ve all played Flashlight on a Summer night, either creeping around a Caravan Park or Campsite or in our own backyards, navigating our way through the magical maze of darkness that unfolds as day turns into night. Just because the days are longer doesn’t mean we can’t continue to celebrate Summer when the sun goes down. FLASHLIGHT by Lizi Boyd is one of my favourite visual story books as it cleverly takes us on a magical tour outside at night using the light of a Flashlight to guide us through the dark. This Workshop will take inspiration from this wonderful wordless book stepping into the dark & light of a Summer’s Day & a Summer’s Night.

Ages 5+

Wednesday 22nd January 10:00 - 4:00

Marshmallow Monsters & Other Campfire Creatures

Stick check, Marshmallows check, campfire check, Monsters YEP, Creatures Certainly! In this Workshop we’ll have melting moments & fiery fun creating our own Monsters & Creatures while playing with Ink, Collage and Charcoal. With the stroke of a Fine Liner we’ll watch all the personalities emerge as we sit around our drawing campfire telling stories of Summer, roasting a make-believe marshmallow or two and stretching our creativity to see what we see in the flames & … the melting mess of our imaginations!

Ages 5+

Thursday 23rd January 10:00 - 4:00

Paper Cuts and Portraits

While researching Paper Sculpture techniques recently, I was inspired by the AMAZING Paper Cut Portraits of Séverin Millet, the use of negative & positive space to create something magical when folded & turned, colour & cuts that make an expressive bold statement. In this Workshop we will explore & experiment with ways of taking a 2D Drawing into a 3D Papercut Sculpture, looking from all angles & trying a range of techniques.

This Workshop is specifically designed for older kids and is the perfect way to experiment with different types of drawing & drawing mediums.

Ages 10+