November is always my busiest time of year as my entire family have their birthdays that month. Alongside birthday parties and wrapping presents, this month’s art classes focused on painting misty landscapes. We played with adding lots of water to the page with brushes and even spraying it on and then allowing the paint to mix and merge naturally to create the soft shapes of partially clouded hills, mountains and forests.
Towards the end of the month my focus turned more to printing. I hosted two ‘print your own Christmas cards’ workshops at the Botanical gardens which were really good fun and it was amazing to see how well the participants did creating really effective print blocks and getting a good number of cards printed in a short amount of time. Then, (because printing nearly 200 cards in one day just isn’t enough for me!), I went home and helped my daughter print more cards to sell as part of her fundraising efforts towards her participation in the World Scout Jamboree in 2027. My trusty little X-cut press was very busy!
Coming up in December…
Adult Art Club at Dungworth Village Hall
Thursday 18th December – 7-9pm
There will be no Wednesday session this month due to the hall being used for the local Carol singing but we have one last art club of the year and this one will have a festive slant. We’ll be looking at painting simple leaves and berries with a wintery feel and then composing these into a wreath shape. These will make lovely Christmas cards or even last-minute gifts.
This is the last session of the year but booking is open for spring art club dates. The group is very friendly and open to everyone with or without prior experience. The sessions focus mainly on drawing and watercolour painting techniques but I like to throw in other processes such as printing occasionally! Each week is a stand alone session so don’t worry if you can’t commit to each one but if you do attend regularly, you’ll really start to notice your skills improve over time.
I provide stimulus and gentle instruction so you don’t have to worry about knowing what to draw. I also provide paper, drinks and usually homemade cake! I can provide a sketchbook, graded pencils and watercolour paints or you are welcome to bring your own. Sessions are £9 each or £32 for 4 sessions booked in advance.
Other workshops booking now:
Spring Art Club at Dungworth Village Hall
Nature Journalling – Spring! @ The Botanical Gardens
Monday 16th March 2026 – 9:30am – 12:30pm
Botanical Printing – Spring! @ The Botanical Gardens
Other great things to do in December!
- Get out and listen – The colours may be more muted at this time of year but I find the sounds are often more vivid. I love the crunchy sound of an icy path or the cries of an owl at dusk. Maybe try to get out for a walk and focus just on what you can hear.
- Enjoy carol singing – Yay! It’s carols season again! Our wonderful warm local tradition with all its quirky individual songs is back. There are many pubs which keep the tradition going – check out https://www.villagecarols.org.uk/ for details.
- Take part in Carve December – #carvedecember is an online daily challenge designed to encourage regular carving of small print blocks or stamps. Throughout the month of December there are daily prompts which you can follow and post your own work. I’ve taken past in previous years and it’s a great way to experiment with small off-cuts of soft-cut lino using them to create small stamps and create patterns in a more playful way. If you’ve taken part in one of my printing classes this year, this might be just the way to practice your skills.
Thank you so much for reading this and supporting me! If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter and want to stay in touch with upcoming workshops, ideas and tutorials, please add your email below to subscribe and why not share this with friends who you think might also fancy something creative in their lives?!
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