Arts and Crafts
ARTS
Welcome to the new stimulating programme of quality Art Courses available at ACRES for 2012/13. Our varied and inspirational programme is designed for students of all abilities, developed to provide a relaxing environment so you can really discover the joy of the creative process. Many of our tutors are practicing artists and therefore are able to bring that depth of experience and knowledge to their teaching.
Courses this year vary in length from single day weekend workshops to 30 week courses that run over 3 terms. Many of our courses continue into the spring and summer terms, subject to student demand.
In the brochure we state what level the course is aimed at, e.g. all abilities, beginners, improvers or advanced. We run courses for all abilities where our tutors can vary the projects to suit the level of experience. Beginners courses are for students with no prior knowledge or who may have done art in the past but feel very rusty. Improvers are students who have completed a year in our beginners course and are now ready to move onto the next level, or for new students who may have had recent subject experience at another organisation. Advanced students are students who have been attending for more than 2 years and have increased their skill and knowledge, but wish to focus on personal development through longer negotiated projects.
If you need further information on what course would suit you please contact us on 01825 761820. Alternatively you can click on the Course Search button to find out more details and to download a course information sheet which provides useful details and information.
Art Courses on offer this year
Art workshops
Printmaking
Introduction to Art through Printmaking
Wood Sculpture
Sculpture
Wood and Willow Sculpture
Ceramics
Art Workshops
Art Workshops this year are offered as all abilities courses. Beginner students will, in the first term, work through a structured, but flexible programme, which will take you through the basics of image making with a variety of mediums. You will learn about the importance of line, mark, tone, form and colour while working on creative projects. The second and third terms will focus on consolidating the skills learnt in the first term through extended projects. Improvers and Advanced students will be encouraged to experiment further still with a greater focus on personalised projects and using their workbooks for research, ideas and playing with mediums and techniques.
Introduction to Art
This is a 4 week introduction to Art on offer at Hailsham College to allow students to explore the basics of art and develop core skills through observational work, using different mediums and experimenting with mark making, in order to provide a solid grounding with which further courses can be undertaken.
Printmaking
This course introduces students to a range of printmaking techniques to produce their own, unique, hand finished or edition prints on paper. You will learn the process of lino printing, monotyping, relief and block printing. See our Website Gallery for examples of the prints that you could create. New for this year is our Printmaking Saturday workshop at Uckfield Community College for those students who are unable to attend classes during the week.
Introduction to Art through Printmaking provides a diverse source of ideas for creative printmaking that will enable beginners or students who have some experience of printmaking to develop their printmaking skills and extend the range of techniques that can be used to produce single or multiple prints using simple relief printing techniques.
Wood Sculpture
This course enables each student to learn to carve in wood and explore its natural sculptural qualities. Each student will learn the skills and techniques needed in order to carve and create their unique sculpture. Those with carving or sculptural experience will be extended with more complex works and there will be a greater emphasis on drawing on the work of other sculptors and artists to enhance and inspire students own pieces.
Sculpture
In the first part of the course, students will receive an introduction to sculpture using a variety of materials to create your own 3 dimensional forms. As you move into the second term you will be encouraged to work on longer individualised projects in your preferred medium. You will be using materials such as clay, plaster, cardboard and wire construction. This is a hands on course which will enable you to experience how you move from a partly formed idea or design on paper to a sculptural fine art form.
Wood and Willow Sculpture Workshops
We are running a number of Wood and Willow Workshops, either working in willow or wood or both. Please see the course title for clarification as to the medium. Students will learn the techniques and skills to create individualised wood and willow sculptures for an interior or an outside space, with plenty of support and guidance from our specialist tutor.
Ceramics
This course will enable students to design and construct unique decorative and functional ceramic wares using hand-building methods and the pottery wheels.The college provides a specialist studio with a kiln and 3 potters’ wheels. Improvers will be guided by the tutor to embark on extended longer projects with a greater emphasis on workbooks for design and research.
CRAFT
This year’s programme at ACRES offers a broad brush of creative possibilities. In all our craft courses students learn hands on practical skills from specialist tutors, which will enable you to produce an object – whether it be jewellery in fused glass or silver, stained glass, an upholstered stool, a wooden tray or box, or a embroidered sample. Our tutors are practicing crafts people and bring this depth of experience and knowledge to their teaching.
Courses this year vary in length from single day weekend workshops to 30 week courses. Many of our courses continue into the spring and summer terms, subject to student demand.
In the brochure we state what level the course is aimed at, e.g. all abilities, beginners, improvers or advanced. We run courses for all abilities where our tutors can vary the projects to suit the level of experience. Beginners courses are for students with no prior knowledge or may have done this subject in the past but feel very rusty. Improvers are students who have completed a year in our beginners course and are now ready to move onto the next level, or for new students who may have had recent subject experience at another organisation. Advanced students are students who have been attending for more than 2 years and have increased their skill and knowledge but wish to focus on personal development through longer negotiated projects.
If you need further information on what course would suit you please contact us on 01825 761820. Alternatively you can click on the Course Search button to find out more details and to download a course information sheet which provides useful details and information.
Craft courses on offer this year
Art Textiles for Beginners and Improvers
Stained Glass
Jewellery Making
Beaded Jewellery
Creative Machine Embroidery
Dressmaking
Sewing
Sewing workshops
Soft Furnishing and Upholstery Workshops
Upholstery for Beginners
Natural Wood Furniture Workshop
Woodwork for beginners and improvers
Pottery Workshop
Floristry
Embroidery Workshop
Art Textiles for Beginners and Improvers is a new course which gives you the techniques and confidence to go “off piste” with your sewing machine. Learn to create works of art with Textiles and/or embellish articles you make in a very personal way.
Contemporary Stained Glass
This is a 2 day Saturday workshop which will result in the production of a stained glass panel or mirror frame using traditional leading techniques from a beautiful selection of coloured glass.
Introduction to Leaded Stained Glass will use hands-on learning to introduce students to the traditional leaded method of producing stained glass panels, an art form that has been practised in Britain for at least thirteen hundred years, but is well adapted to modern style.
Stained Glass for beginners
This popular course at Uplands College is where students will learn the skills and traditional techniques in stained glass, resulting in the creation of an individually designed leaded panel and a sun catcher using the copper foiling techniques.
Stained Glass for improvers
This course is aimed at students who have attended our beginner’s course last year or has attended a course at another establishment and has some experience in Stained Glass. Students will work on one lead or copper foil project of their own choice, expanding the skills learned to produce a more complex finished piece of glass-work.
Jewellery Making for Beginners and Improvers
This is a popular course at ACRES which runs throughout the year in two 15 week blocks. This year we have combined two levels; beginners and improvers. The beginners in the first 15 weeks students will learn the skills and techniques to make silver jewellery. In the following 15 weeks, students will consolidate the techniques learnt and pursue negotiated personalised projects with tutor guidance. Meanwhile for students who have experience there will be more emphasis on the design aspects, individual projects and extending skills with more complex pieces of jewellery. The tutor will encourage the use of workbooks for ideas, research and experimentation to help you achieve good quality designed jewellery.
Beaded Jewellery
This is an intensive, but creative one day workshop where students will work with a variety of good quality glass beads. Students will make a chained linked necklace or a bracelet and earrings depending on experience.
Creative Machine Embroidery
This course is designed to cater for students with experience and those who are new to this craft. Students will learn to stitch creatively and confidently with their sewing machine, using a wide variety of stitching techniques, and begin to produce personal and expressive work. All students are able to gain a City & Guilds Level 1 Award if they wish, but this is not a compulsory part of the course.
Dressmaking for beginners and improvers
This is a fun creative course for students who have very little or no knowledge of sewing either by hand or with a sewing machine, and for students who have completed the beginners course or who have some knowledge of dressmaking. Enthusiasm is essential. Students will complete a simple or complex garment according to experience each term with plenty of tutor guidance and support.
Sewing for Beginners and Improvers
The course will offer the opportunity to introduce students to a variety of sewing techniques both by hand and machine which will enable them to create unique and useful textile items to enhance their everyday lives. Students will embark on a variety of small projects designed to build confidence and broaden their repertoire of skills leading to more complex challenges as the course progresses. More experienced students’ abilities can be stretched through opting for different inclusions and embellishments with each project.
Sewing Workshops
We are pleased to offer 3 workshops in sewing this year for students who are unable to access our longer courses. Our workshops are intensive 1 or 2 days creating presents for Christmas, or learning how to make your own cushions designed around your own interiors, or simply learn basics sewing skills so you can embark in the future on a range of sewing projects.. Please see our course information sheets for further details of each workshop.
Woodwork
ACRES delivers this course in specialist technical room at Uckfield Community Technology College. Our experienced tutors will enable students to develop the skills to complete a project every 10 weeks from a rough idea on paper to a functional piece of furniture or object. The improver’s course will be able to refine their skills and create more complex pieces of woodwork with tutor guidance and support. On the beginners course students will learn how to produce a series of basic joints while completing a simple wooden tray. Aspects of design and planning will feature in both courses in order to create good quality items.
Pottery 2 Day Workshop
This 2 day workshop will introduce the student to some basic pottery techniques in hand-building, for example pinching, coiling and slabbing. Day 2 will cover the decorating aspect of bisque clay, incorporating designs and the use of oxides or underglazes on a functional ceramic vessel, tiles, jewellery or sculptural clay objects created by the students.
Soft Furnishing and Upholstery Workshops
Our tutor will enable each student to transform their furniture using both modern and traditional methods. On some Upholstery courses the tutor also provides a Soft Furnishing course where students are taught how to make curtains, blinds, lampshades and cushion covers. The tutor is also able to teach the skills and techniques to create cane and rush seating.
Upholstery for beginners
This course is for the complete beginner, who has not undertaken classes in Upholstery before, who wishes to learn and develop their creative skills and discover how the craft of upholstery can become a fascinating hobby. The course will cover the basic principles of upholstery and result in the successful completion of the re upholstery of a piece of furniture.
Natural Wood Furniture Workshop
In this workshop students will make their own piece of garden furniture using chestnut oak birch and other small diameter woods. Students will be introduced to a variety of hand tools and techniques to turn felled timber into a functional piece of furniture working with the natural properties of the wood.
Floristry
All floristry courses will allow students to learn about the care and conditioning of flowers and foliage, basics of colour, form and texture and balance, as well as floristry techniques and mechanics. We run 4 week seasonal workshops and 1 day workshops with a Christmas and Wedding themes. Floristry courses are on offer in local areas – Heathfield, Wadhurst, Crowborough, Uckfield and Hailsham.
Embroidery Workshop
This is an untutored group of like-minded people coming together each week to sew, share ideas, with a optional termly project coordinated by Bridget Barber.
