Improve your arts & craft ̨Íåswag, or learn some new ones

We’ve got the best modern arts and crafts classes that you can do online or in person at one of our learning venues across England and Scotland. It's never been easier to try your hand at something a little different and discover a new talent.

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Our arts and crafts workshops are perfect if you’re looking to get creative and hands on.

Show your creativity

Take centre stage with one of our performing arts courses, or indulge your photography passion and strike a pose with tips and techniques on how to capture that perfect shot.  

Develop the ̨Íåswag and get crafty with some jewellery making, with no previous experience required. With courses in textiles and sewing, as well as the arts, we really do have something for everyone, and everyone is welcome too.  

Small focused groups

The combination of small class sizes and guidance from expert tutors means that taking part in one of our arts and crafts courses is the perfect place for you to develop your talent, learn a new skill, or start that hobby you’ve always wanted to try.

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Art Practical: Beginners' - Drawing Course

This drawing course is for beginners who wish to find out about the basic ̨Íåswag of drawing. The course content will cover a range of drawing techniques whilst investigating the qualities of the drawing materials. You will learn about expressive mark-making, quick timed sketching, contour drawing, tonal drawing whilst recording from primary and secondary resources. You will be discovering the importance of line, tone, cross hatching, shape, pattern, and texture and how to scale up using a grid system. You will be using a variety of media which will include, pencils, fine liners, chalk, and charcoal pencils.

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 04/06/2024 -
Tue 25/06/2024
Times:
12:30pm - 2:30pm
Duration:
4 sessions
Location:
Victoria Park The Green House
Victoria Park
Anglesea Road
Portsmouth
PO1 3HJ
Tutor:
Janice Parfoot
Course code:
Q00014027
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
7 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £33.60

Photography: Creative ways to use Smartphone Photography

Photography is a way of seeing, and showing how you see the world around you. Smartphone photography has become increasingly popular. On average, people around the globe take over a trillion photos each year and according to research 92% of these photographs are taken with smartphones! This course will allow you to explore how to use your phone in a more creative way. Instead of taking just one photo of a subject you’re interested in, you will be encouraged to take 10, 20, or even 30 photographs then spend some time looking at your pictures to see which ones you like the best, and why. You will explore what makes an image stand out, looking for unique or unexpected angles, playing with composition to help you create illusions of depth and height. You will also discover how it feels to go out on shoots, visiting different location local to Weston-Super-Mare seafront. At the course’s conclusion, you will experiment with different post making methods, including photomontage, illustration, drawing and hand colouring on to photographs in order to help you produce a Photobook, using a series of images that tell a story about your experience of living in Weston - Super -Mare.

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 04/06/2024 -
Tue 09/07/2024
Times:
10:00am - 2:00pm
Duration:
6 sessions
Location:
NST Hub (North Somerset Training Communi
31 Alexandra Parade
Weston-super-Mare
BS23 1QZ
Tutor:
Katie Dexter
Course code:
Q00014894
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
2 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £100.80

Photography

This course is designed to enhance your photography ̨Íåswag and take your craft to the next level. Whether you’re an aspiring professional photographer or simply passionate about photography, this course will provide valuable insights and practical techniques. At WEA we offer a supportive and collaborative learning environment where participants can exchange ideas, receive constructive feedback, and elevate their photographic ̨Íåswag to new heights. While the course doesn’t lead to formal qualifications, it provides an excellent platform for building a portfolio. You’ll have the chance to experiment, refine your techniques, and create a body of work that reflects your unique vision.

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 04/06/2024 -
Tue 16/07/2024
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
7 sessions
Location:
Brinkburn CIO
Off Harton Lane
South Shields
NE34 0PP
Tutor:
Kathleen Scott
Course code:
Q00015261
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £58.80

Art Practical: Introduction to Figure Drawing

Ever wished that you had the skill to add figures to your artwork? Not quite ready to attend a life drawing class? This short course is an ideal introduction to the basics of figure drawing. Our experienced and supportive tutor will lead you through exercises covering proportion, posture, character and clothing. It will give you the confidence to create characters to include in your own paintings and feel able to tackle figure drawing from life. We will not be working from a life model. A great short course to get you started with figure drawing.

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 04/06/2024 -
Tue 18/06/2024
Times:
1:00pm - 3:00pm
Duration:
3 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Joanne Liddle
Course code:
Q00015303
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
5 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £22.20

WEA Membership

For just £15 a year, you can:

  • Join our popular, award-winning weekly lecture series,
  • Access an archive of over 100 past lectures,
  • Get priority online and phone booking for autumn courses (England only),
  • Receive our Highway magazine and access back issues,
  • Attend our members’ annual conference.

Just add us to your basket to sign up today!

Membership Information

Duration:
12 months
Fee:
WEA Membership

Craft: Crafts for beginners: Clay Pots

Explore your creativity through clay. You will learn about the materials, tools, and techniques to hand build pots using air drying clay. Create your own unique pieces of ceramic art, learning ̨Íåswag and techniques to complete your work with surface decoration, pattern, and texture. Ideal for beginners, the tutor will guide you through the process in a fun and supportive class. Join us to enjoy some calm creativity and find a new hobby for the summer.

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 04/06/2024 -
Tue 25/06/2024
Times:
1:00pm - 3:00pm
Duration:
4 sessions
Location:
Easington Lane Community Access Point
Easington Lane
Houghton - le- Spring
DH5 0LE
Tutor:
Jayne Liddle
Course code:
Q00015401
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee:
Free

Art Practical: Women and their Bodies: Drawing at the British Museum

Part of the WEA Art and About Festival 2024. This course will provide opportunities to make drawing studies of female sculptural forms from a variety of ancient cultures in the British Museum. This includes comparisons with examples from Greek, Roman and Aztec cultures found on pots, temple columns, busts and smaller figurines. These drawing activities hope to provide a deeper insight into their visual differences as well as symbolic details. This will then enable us to reflect on and discuss what we can uncover about women's lives and their roles in those societies. Meeting Point is the Lion in the main Atrium at the British Museum

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 04/06/2024 -
Tue 11/06/2024
Times:
10:30am - 12:30pm
Duration:
2 sessions
Location:
Meeting Place:British Museum (London)
Great Russell Street
London
WC1B 3DG
Tutor:
Debra Collis
Course code:
Q00015426
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £20.00

Craft: Paper-craft for a Peaceful Mind

Do you find yourself tired and stressed out at the end of the day? Are you looking for a hobby to relax you and help you unwind? Join me and discover the therapeutic art of paper-crafting and benefit from its profound impact on promoting a peaceful mind and lower stress levels. This course combines creative expression with mindfulness techniques to help you achieve a sense of peace and calm through the varied world of paper-crafts. On this course we will explore various paper-crafts from the clean and simple arts of origami and card-making to the messy randomness of collage, painting and mixed media. On our journey of exploration we will look at different mindfulness practices as we immerse ourselves in the joy of creating and crafting to help our general and mental wellbeing. On this course you will: v Practice basic paper-crafting techniques v Look at ways to be mindful while crafting v Engage in hands on projects designed to foster creativity and aid relaxation.. This course is anyone whether you are a long term crafted, a beginner or maybe you are new to crafting and are looking for a new hobby to engage in to help you deal with the stresses of life in the today's world. Everyone is welcome.

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 04/06/2024 -
Tue 16/07/2024
Times:
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Duration:
7 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Tracey Broomfield
Course code:
Q00015498
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £51.80

Hand Clay Pottery

This course is designed for you to develop your creative side and use your previous clay hand-building techniques to progress to an intermediate level, plus a chance explore the different decorative styles working with Clay. By the end of the course you should have lots of different pottery pieces and different pottery ̨Íåswag. You will be in a group with others and led by a talented Arts and Crafts tutor. Your work will be taken away and fired in a kiln by the tutor and it will be yours to keep!

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 05/06/2024 -
Wed 17/07/2024
Location:
GL11 Community Hub (Dursley)
Fairmead
Cam
Dursley
GL11 5JS
Course code:
P00000049
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
7 places remaining
Status:
Available

Art Practical: Learn to Paint Animals

We will learn how to paint chosen animal portraits (students can get to paint their own pets, or those of friends) using line, tone, colour and perspective in coloured chalk pastel, acrylic and watercolour. Advice on buying art materials will be given, but please have chalk pastels and coloured pastel paper (can be brown wrapping paper, or scrap book) available for the first lesson. If buying from new I recommend Inscribe half sticks as they are good value. Artists studied will be Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Holman Hunt, Lucian Freud and countless other contemporary examples. Learn the rewarding skill of painting animal portraits - achieve an ability to create a likeness, while developing your own style in a friendly supportive atmosphere.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 05/06/2024 -
Wed 10/07/2024
Times:
9:00am - 10:30am
Duration:
6 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Abi Kremer
Course code:
Q00013912
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
7 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £33.30

Art Practical: Introduction to Abstract Art

We will learn how to make abstract art that is unique and experimental, using chalk pastels, watercolour, acrylics, mixed media, and collage. Develop ̨Íåswag in all these media including brushwork and colour mixing. Artists studied will include JMW Turner, Kandinsky, Klee, Picasso, Matisse, Mondrian, Hilma af Klint, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, and countless contemporary artists. You will also be introduced to some lesser-known female artists who have been formerly neglected by the art establishment. A stimulating course which will help you will develop/improve your ̨Íåswag and creative thinking. Have fun and make art in a friendly like-minded group.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 05/06/2024 -
Wed 10/07/2024
Times:
11:00am - 12:30pm
Duration:
6 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Abi Kremer
Course code:
Q00013914
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £33.30