Art Classes coming to Welland

Welland Community Art Classes 2024 with local artist Louise Pilditch

Would you like to learn the essential skills of drawing? I have taught art for many years and I love teaching beginners to draw – we all have great fun. Thanks to supportive funding from the Our Community Can project and the Parish Council, this Autumn I will be teaching eight evening classes in Welland Village Hall starting Monday the 23rd of September 7pm to 9pm at a subsidised cost of around £6.

A number of folks living in Welland expressed an interest in art related activity when they were asked what they would like to see more of in the village, so after discussion with our Community Development Coordinator Barbara Stephens, we agreed on a simple format that would also be fun and enable people to meet each other whilst learning something new.

The first four weeks I will concentrate on drawing skills and the subsequent weeks I will be introducing colour. The aim of this course is to enable anyone to take up any type of drawing or painting with confidence. We will end the evening with a social chat and perhaps a cheeky glass of wine!

The course content will include an introduction to drawing skills and step by step practice of simple techniques that enable accurate observation and mark making. Each class will build into a really useful skill set for being able to draw anything. There will be homework for anyone who would like it and I will give feedback in every class.

The introduction to colour will include some practical colour theory and exercises using artist quality colour pencils. These will introduce the skill of colour mixing, applicable to all media, dry or wet. (pastels or any paint)

The materials you will need are very simple and will be available to buy at the class.

For the drawing it will be an A4 artist sketchbook and one HB pencil with eraser. For the colour introduction the eight coloured pencils will need to be artist quality, and we will continue to use the A4 sketchbook.

Obviously, we will need to know in advance how many people are attending this course so there will be an opportunity to send in an enquiry on this website or ask any further questions by emailing our Community Development Coordinator Barbara Stephens at barbarastephens. cdc@gmail. com . We will be limiting numbers to a maximum of 15 to ensure that all attendees get the most from the classes.

And now a little information about me. My family and I moved to Welland in1995. For 19 years I was Head of Art at The Elms School in Colwall. In 2015 I had a solo exhibition in London to kick start my life as a full-time artist. I have been a member of the art and craft cooperative gallery Made in Ross for nine years. I participate in three local Open Studios: Worcestershire Open Studios, Herefordshire Art Week and Forest and River Open Studios.

I started teaching art way back in 1985, as a Masters Teaching assistant at Tulsa University, Oklahoma, USA. (Germaine Greer was a rather scary Professor of Women’s Studies at Tulsa University).