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ART & CRAFT
WORKSHOPS
With long careers in the animation world we’ve have had to turn our hands to all sorts of arts and crafts - and the joy of making has never left us. At the Tanyard Studios we’ll be enthusiastically exploring a wide range of fun activities. Our aim is to provide an enjoyable experience for small groups, in a lovely nurturing and creative environment. Typical prices are £50 for a half-day and £100 for a full day. Half-days will include tasty home-made refreshments and full-days a delicious lunchtime meal too! Below are some of the classes we'll be running most frequently - but we'll be adding lots of others and hosting drop-in sessions - or perhaps you'd like to get together with a few of your friends and arrange a session of your very own! Please check the COURSES page for details and CONTACT us to arrange a date.
FELT
Spend a day learning the art of felting. Design and make your own unique felted accessory by blending beautiful colourful wools and silks.
Workshops will cover scarf, hat, bag, teacosy or slipper making. All materials provided and no previous experience is necessary... just enthusiasm and energy!.
BATIK
Using this fascinating technique you will learn how to draw and paint with molten wax and colourful dyes to create a beautiful cushion cover or scarf.
A two-day batik and simple quilting workshop to create a personalised baby quilt is also available
DRAWING
To sit and observe something for an hour as you draw it is wonderfully rewarding.
Join us for informal costumed life drawing sessions every month.
We'll also be adding some more structured lessons which will cover the basics, using different tools (traditional and digital), drawing from life, character design and thumbnailing.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Digital cameras have made taking a photograph easy but are we sometimes missing out on the really exciting pictures?
This simple workshop will explain how a camera works and will give you the confidence to stop using the 'auto' setting.
More advanced classes are also planned.
LATEST NEWS!
Well it's been a much quieter couple of years in the Tanyard Studio. We hope you've managed to keep safe and well. Arts and crafts have played an important part in keeping us sane and cheerful in our isolation - and it's great to hear from many people who have rediscovered a love for drawing whilst being stuck at home. Now that restrictions are lifted we'll still be being extra careful and often running courses outside - Cathy has even made a giant gazebo so there will be shelter from the rain - or blazing sun! We're really looking forward to getting together again.
GIFT VOUCHERS! The perfect present for someone that's difficult to get something for as they can choose any course they like. They're for half-days, cost £50, and can be topped up or combined for full-days. Please contact us for more info.
Cathy spent many years as a model maker - building wonderful sets and models for films from The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb to Chicken Run. If she's not wielding a power tool she'll be knee deep in colourful fabrics and paints! Join her for for some enthusiastic (and probably messy) classes in felt making, batik, quilting, sewing, seasonal crafts such as wreath making and more!
In a past life as a creative Director at Aardman, Stefan had to draw thousands of funny character designs. Now he's mostly sketching, filming and photographing old cars for magazines and other clients. Join him for beginners sessions in photography and sketching.
Courses
Most classes will be kept quite small so that you'll get all the help you need. Half day courses (typically £50) will include home-made refreshments and full day courses (£100) a delicious lunchtime meal too! Please use the CONTACT page to let us know which sessions you are interested in. If you cannot find a convenient date - or have found something you'd like to do in the list at the bottom, please let us know and we will try to arrange a day that suits you. Private sessions are also available for small groups of friends.
PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
£100.00
Please contact us to arrange a date
Full day, 10 - 5pm
The main aim is to get people with fancy cameras off their 'auto' setting and to understand how to use aperture and shutter speed to take more creative photos. During the day I hope to...
- Demystify your fancy digital camera
- Demonstrate how to use aperture, shutter speed and ISO to make better images.
- Get you to do some test shots with your new found knowledge.
- Critique the test-shots, pointing out what worked or what didn’t.
- Cover shooting RAW and post-processing your images in Lightroom.
(Along the way I’ll touch on composition, lenses and other creative choices.)
This is a good way for someone with a new camera (or a camera that someone has never taken off auto) - or someone who is thinking of buying a new camera - to get a bit of confidence and a few pointers to set them on the road to making better images. It’s quite a lot to fit in - so you probably won’t leave with a beautiful image to print and hang on your wall - but you’ll have a better chance of taking one the next time you go out with your camera. I have spare cameras if needed. The cost includes tea, cake and a delicious home-cooked vegetarian meal! Please contact us to book the remaining place. Course is limited to two people.
COSTUMED LIFE DRAWING
£5.00
Coming again soon!
4 - 6 pm
Join us for some costumed life drawing - but not the usual 'serious' class, held in silence. There will be a theme, background music, refreshments, a chance to socialise and some unusually costumed 'models'. The sessions will be structured much like the ones we had at Aardman, with mostly shorter poses (ideal for gesture drawing) and a few longer ones towards the end. Suitable for all ages and abilities - with drawing help if you want it. Limited space so please contact us to reserve a seat. Bring drawing materials if you have them - or we can provide some.
NUNO SCARF WORKSHOP
£100.00
Please contact to arrange a date
Full day, 10am - 5pm
Design and make your own nuno scarf. Nuno is a technique combining silk with wet felted wool and other fabrics such as lace and dyed silk threads. As the felt shrinks it pulls the silk into intricate gathers - resulting in really interesting textures and shapes. Please wear old comfortable clothes and shoes as we will be using dyes and a lot of water!. Please contact us to to arrange a date that suits you.
WET FELTING INTRODUCTION
£100.00
Please contact to arrange a date
Full day, 10am - 5pm
Join Cathy and learn the fascinating process of wet-felting. In a full day you can make something more challenging such as a bag, bowl or decorative panel. Includes all materials, home made refreshments and a delicious vegan meal. Wear suitably comfortable clothes and shoes and be prepared for it to be fairly strenuous if you're making a larger item :) Please contact us to book a place.
NEEDLE-FELTING ANIMALS
£50-100.00
Please contact us to arrange a date
Half-day £50 or Full day £100
Needle-felting can be used to sculpt quite complex shapes and is perfect for modelling animals. In this small class you will learn all the basic techniques and create your own model. All materials and refreshments provided. Please contact us to arrange a date to suit you.
CHRISTMAS WREATH MAKING WORKSHOP
£40.00
Starting again in December
2-5pm
Spend a cosy afternoon by our lovely studio fire, creating your very own bespoke Christmas wreath. We will be working on a willow ring cut from the tree in our garden. It will then be covered in moss and decorated using a combination of locally sourced greenery, fruit and berries, seed and flower heads, ribbons and... maybe even some lights. You will create a wreath which will be the envy of the neighbourhood! - Includes all materials, mulled wine, hot chocolate and home-baked mince pies! Please contact us to reserve a space.
... AND MORE!
Here is a long list of the things we think it would be fun to teach. We'd be delighted if you could let us know which ones you would be most interested in :)
CATHY
Batik Introduction - ½ day
Batik Silk Baby quilt - 2 days
Batik art/scarf/cushion cover - 1 day
Felt Introduction - ½ day
Nuno scarf - 1 day
Felt slippers - 1 day
Felt bag/iPad case - 1 day
Felt hat/tea-cosy - 1 day
Felt baby shoe making - ½ day
Christmas wreath making - ½ day
Christmas gift tag and wrapping block printing - ½ day
Christmas felt tree decoration making - ½ day
Christmas stocking making - ½ day
Crazy patchwork - 1 day
Creative appliqué - 1 day
Basic machine patchwork cushion cover - ½ day
Simple blind making - 1 day
Fancy dress costume making - Individual sessions can be arranged
Basic sewing machine skills - ½ or full day
Corsage/flower fascinator making - ½ day
Simple block printing - ½ day
Animatable puppet making - 1 day
Mask making (for masked ball) - ½ day
Monoprint pictures - ½ day
STEFAN
Photography Introduction - 1/2 day or full day
Photography - Advanced/Post processing - ½ day or full day
Photography - long exposure light painting - evening
Photography - woodland walk (tuition whilst on the walk, then a little post-processing over tea and buns) - ½ day
Drawing for beginners - ½ day or full day
Costumed Life Drawing - 2 hours - or longer
Intoduction to drawing on the iPad (and Android tablets) - ½ day
Doodle Breakfasts - Free sunday morning family drawing session (with pastries and coffee!)
Drawing - cars - ½ day or full day
Drawing - perspective - ½ day
Sketchcrawl (free - meeting up and going for a wander with our sketchbooks - Wrington, Wells etc)
Introduction to Photoshop - ½ day
Introduction to Animation - ½ day
£ 30.00
CONTACT US
Please get in touch if you'd like to book a place on a course or if you'd like more information. We'd also love to hear from you if you'd like to arrange a private session for you and your friends.
CONTACT DETAILS
Laurel Cottage, Saxon Street, Lower Langford, BS40 5BP
E-mail: info@tanyardstudio.com
Telephone: 01934 861242
