Join us for a fresh 5-month block starting in January 2027, treating the gelli plate as a playful research lab. Together, we will act as visual foragers, extracting raw textures, structural patterns, and emotional moods from the environments around us—whether physical, internal, or abstract.
What you will build along the way:
• A Living Reference Deck: Crop snippets from your prints, mount them onto heavy card, and add them to a personal book ring. Note color mixes, thoughts, and "what if?" questions on the back to create a valuable, tactile tool to spark future studio work.
• Fresh Artworks: Create unique, multi-layered finished pieces and paper-cut collages.
• Colour Confidence: Learn how to capture the value and mood of a subject without feeling trapped into copying literal colors.
The 5-Month Breakdown:
Month 1 (15th January): Tactile Finds, Surfaces & Deep Tones
• The Spark: Gather physical fragments or photos of local surfaces (cracked textures, overlapping patterns, weathered materials).
• On the Plate: Dive into subtractive printing—using your finds to lift and scrape paint off the plate to discover rich, unexpected ground textures.
• Colour Focus: Mixing deep, rich shadow values and moody tones without relying on simple black paint.
Month 2 (12th February): Structural Geometry & Contrast
• The Spark: Focus on the underlying architecture of forms, looking closely at lines, angles, intersecting structures, and silhouettes.
• On the Plate: Tear and cut loose paper masks based on these shapes, exploring how to trap complex background textures inside or around clean outlines.
• Colour Focus: Playing with dynamic tension, learning how to make an abstract shape pop off the page using contrasting color weights.
Month 3 (12th March): Atmospheric Veils & Monochromatic Mood
• The Spark: Capturing shifting, ethereal elements—mist, transparency, blur, or fading memories.
• On the Plate: Mix glazing mediums to print delicate, transparent ghost images onto tissue paper and vellum, moving away from heavy, solid paint.
• Colour Focus: Building quiet, atmospheric depth using limited color palettes plus white, seeing how shifting color temperatures alters the emotional weight of a print.
Month 4 (16th April): The Fresh Composition Lab
• The Spark: Shifting focus to an expressive, full-scale abstract or environmental composition.
• On the Plate: Intentionally print fresh layers using both opacity and transparency, guided by your reference cards. Or bring your stack of prints from pervious pulls.
• The Artwork: Tear, slice, and weave your printed sheets to build a large-scale collage, experimenting with the tension between organic torn edges and clean cut lines.
Month 5 (14th May): The Fusion Lab & The Great Shuffle
• The Spark: Breaking out of comfort zones and playing with the element of chance.
• On the Plate: Shuffle your reference deck and do a "blind draw" of two random cards. Create a brand-new print forcing those two accidental techniques to live together.
• Colour Focus: "The Colour Swap." Completely detach colour from reality, printing your chosen textures in wild, expressive, or unexpected pairings to see how value and texture carry a composition all on their own.
When?
5 monthly sessions on a Friday morning from 10-1pm, starting January 2027
Dates: Fridays 15/01/27; 12/02/27; 12/03/27; 16/04/27 and last session for this run 14/05/27.
How much?
Then £150 if all 5 sessions are booked in advance.
£40 per session if booked individually
Materials:
Please bring your own gelli plate and roller (can be supplied by tutor if new).
Photocopy paper (A4 and A5) and paints and other required materials will be provided including 120gsm+ cartridge paper for larger compositions.
The max group size is 10 so you'll have lots of chance to get help and ask questions in a relaxed informal setting.
Refreshments are included.
Where?
Clevedon Craft Centre
Moor Lane
Clevedon
North Somerset
BS21 6TD
The room is upstairs in an old listed building. There are 4 big heaters in the room that keep us cosy but please wear layers of warm, old clothes that you don't mind getting paint on during Winter months.
Parking is free on site.
COMMENTS from recent course participants:
'Julia's expertise and the way she explains things helped as I am a complete beginner. The encouragement to play and experiment was right up my street,' Fizz.
'Julia is a knowledgeable and encouraging tutor. She offers well planned sessions with generous resources in a supportive environment', Fi.
'It was very helpful - Julia had visual examples demonstrating the various stages in the printmaking process in her sketch book as well as finished pieces. Julia also provided links for further information and research, also websites for purchasing resources,' Claire.
'Well organised, lovely relaxed setting, course leader delightful and helpful, a pleasure to have attended,' Lisa
TERMS: I reserve the right to cancel the course before the event if there aren't enough people signed up. Full refund or place on alternative course offered in the event of my cancellation.
If you need to cancel, I will aim to offer you a place on another suitable course if reasonable notice is given. Refunds are not given.
Contact me with any questions or if you have any problems with booking.
