Short Courses 2019

Weekend Courses – Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 August, 9.30am-4.30pm

Make a low stool with Evan Dunstone (3-day workshop)

 Friday 2 - Sunday 4 August | Level: All | Cost: $465 + $230 materials
The low stool is comprised of a simple 3-board construction that relies on 2 critical joints. A “bird’s beak” connecting the legs to the top is consistent across all three joinery options. Entry level Students can choose a through-wedged-dowel joint to finish off the Bird’s Beak. Intermediate woodworkers can choose a single through-wedged-tenon option while advanced woodworkers can choose a twin through-wedged-tenon option.
In this course you will learn marking out techniques, accurate joinery, tool preparation, sharpening, chisel handling, hand sawing and much, much more. 
You will be supplied with 1 x (500 x 246mm x 30mm) and 2 x (350mm x 246mm x 350mm) panels of clear Tasmanian Myrtle, a piece of 3mm MDF to protect your work during chisel work, a piece of rubber mat to protect your work during other processes and an accurate 45 deg. chiselling jig made from 420mm x 110mm x 42mm rock maple (you can keep the jig). 
Evan Dunstone is one of Australia’s foremost contemporary chair designers, represented in galleries through out the country. Awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study contemporary chair design and manufacture in England and the USA Evan found the Fellowship his passport to a greater understanding of the craft and deeper appreciation of design.

Explore rib basketry with Jillian Culey

Saturday 3 - Sunday 4 August | Level: All | Cost: $310 + materials (TBA)
Create three baskets in one weekend exploring the ancient art of Rib Basketry. Day one you will have the opportunity to create two small rib baskets using various weaving and construction techniques and on day two focus on a larger piece with an opportunity to incorporate your own handmade string.
Jillian Culey is a fibre artist who is inspired by the natural fibres she uses and by the ancient and universal craft of basket weaving. Her work explores the woven form; its delicacy, its strength, its simplicity and its complexity. Jillian designs and creates baskets and sculptural pieces for exhibition, retail stores and private collections.

Tactile tecniques – ceramics with Rachel Wood (UK) *COURSE FULL

Saturday 3 - Sunday 4 August | Level: All | Cost: $310 + materials (TBA)
The emphasis in this 2 day workshop is on process, trial and error. You will learn competent core skills in pinching and coiling while enriching your knowledge in the possibilities of creating, using these techniques. Rachel will also demonstrate step by step form and surface treatments. The small class size will allow your tutor to provide you with strong support for your individual needs and ideas. Saturday will begin with practical warm-up exercises, group and test work. Over the weekend, you will have the chance to absorb yourself in a larger piece, developing personality in both form and surface using these timeless techniques. Sunday we shall explore and apply slips to your pieces. Please note that, clay being clay, your pieces will not be totally dry by the end of Sunday, and therefore will not be fired.
Rachel Wood studied ceramics at Loughborough School of Art & Design. Working from Harley Foundation Studios in Welbeck, England, she creates her handbuilt stoneware vessels which are recognised for their unique and complex surfaces. Rachel was assistant to renowned ceramacist, Robin Welch, based in Suffolk, England. Her work was significantly inspired by the Australian landscape after her last visit to Sturt in 2013. Rachel exhibits widely in the UK, Netherlands, France and Germany. In 2016 she was winner of the Neue Keramik Preis in Germany, and in 2017 winner of the Diessen Ceramic Prize.

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Weekend Courses – Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 September, 9.30am-4.30pm

Spoon carving: making beautiful and useful tableware from waste timber with Fiona Glove

Level: All | Cost: $310 + materials (TBA)
Timber offcuts don’t need to be thrown away – you can transform them into useful, hardwearing utensils for the kitchen and table. In this two-day course you’ll have the opportunity to work with beautiful seasoned hardwoods to hand carve cooking and serving spoons, scoops, spreader knives and more. We’ll learn a variety of techniques working with traditional hand tools and explore finishing options, hand tool maintenance and sharpening. You’ll take home all the pieces you make, as well as the confidence, skills and further resources to continue your own spoon carving journey at home.
Fiona Glover has a lifelong interest in woodcraft and design and was drawn to spoon carving due to its gentle and meditative process. She initially learnt traditional techniques in greenwood carving and has since developed her practice to also work with seasoned hardwoods that are recycled or offcuts from furniture making. Fiona shares her love of spoon carving, teaching workshops in Canberra and Sydney. Fiona’s hand carved woodenware is sold under the label Twig to Table at selected outlets in Canberra including the National Gallery of Australia Shop ACT, the National Library of Australia Bookshop, the Canberra Glasssworks and Craft ACT. Fiona is a student of the Furniture studio at the ANU School of Art and Design.
Online registration »

Knitting with wire with Angharad Rixon

Level: All | Cost: $310 + $30 materials

Knitting metal wire in the traditional way with two needles or even on a spool or knitting Nancy results in a very open knit as wire is not elastic in the way that yarn is. During this workshop, we will explore an alternative technique of knitting wire which allows you to knit beautiful 3D forms with greater control over the size of the stitches and texture of the knit than traditional knitting. The participants will begin with a sample to learn how to cast on, knit and cast off. We will work on a small project of sculptural knitted beads and experiment with different ways of using them in jewellery. 
Angharad Rixon is a technical textile historian specialising in lace and passementerie; her studies in Italy, Switzerland and Spain have led to her skills in a variety of off-loom techniques. Angharad lectures in Milan and Florence and consults for museums and universities around the world.

Contemporary stitching & fabric play with Cath Derksema

Level: All | Cost: $310 + materials (TBA)

Create two beautiful cushions through fabric exploration, creative stitching, dyeing and screenprinting. This workshop will be a colourful mixture of fabric manipulation and surface play. Use fabric, thread and paint to explore traditional concepts then ‘deconstruct’ them to create your own unique works with one of Australia’s favorite textile designers.
Happenstore’s Cath Dersksema has been a textile designer for a long and wonderful time. From John Kaldor in the ‘80s , Art Park in the ‘90s to Prints Charming Original Fabrics in the 2000s. Today Cath shares her passion through commissions, workshops, bespoke fabric and artisan projects.

The ceramic canvas with Tania Rollond

Level: All | Cost: $310 + materials (TBA)

Have you ever wondered about the possibility of translating your drawings, watercolours, paintings or prints onto ceramic surfaces? In this workshop Tania Rollond will introduce a variety of mark making media specific to ceramics, and work with you to create simple hand-built ceramic forms which transform your two dimensional artworks into three dimensions. No ceramic experience is required, but you’ll need to bring some 2D artworks with you.

Tania Rollond has been making work for solo and group exhibitions in Australia and overseas for the last decade. In 2011, Tania completed her Master of Fine Art (by Research) in Drawing at UNSW. In addition to her studio practice, Tania has been teaching since 2001. Her experience includes the University of NSW, TAFE and Sturt Craft Centre. She is currently a part-time Lecturer in Ceramics at the National Art School, Sydney, where she has worked since 2004.

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Weekend Courses – Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 October, 9.30am-4.30pm

Steam-bent fruit bowl – wood project with Isabelle Moore (Scotland)

Level: All | Cost: $310 + materials (TBA)
Through the process of creating a simple steam bent vessel form, this course will give a introductory hands on opportunity to create, combine and shape curved components during a short weekend course. Using locally sourced timber we’ll create a sculptural vessel form that can be carved and finished in a variety of ways. We’ll discuss factors including timber selection and preparation, the steam box, the mould making process, heat forming and drying the components, so that the techniques learnt can be applied to future projects with greater confidence.

Isabelle Moore trained at Parnham College (1993-95) as a furniture designer/maker, after which she lived and worked in the USA for 10 years before returning to Edinburgh in 2006. Isabelle creates commissions in a shared Albion Business Centre wood studio in central Edinburgh, with the exploratory developments in her work to date owing a great deal to the residency programmes and temporary teaching positions periodically undertaken overseas. These have offered the privilege of focused time and workshop facilities to realise new ideas, an exposure to different cultures and a reciprocal exchange with a myriad of makers in many disciplines. Her work is represented in public and private collections at home and abroad and has been exhibited widely, including Collect 2018 at the Saatchi Gallery and the V&A in 2016.

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To enrol in a course, please use the online enrolment form or download the enrolment form below and return to Sturt Short Courses, PO Box 34 Mittagong NSW 2575 or email to: shop@sturt.nsw.edu.au. For more information, phone: 02 4860 2083. 

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SHORT COURSES TERMS & CONDITIONS

  • ENROLMENT: Students are strongly encouraged to enrol early – at least 2 weeks out from the course commencement date. Late enrolments cannot be guaranteed a place or that the course will run.
  • PAYMENT: Full payment is required to confirm your place in any course.
  • CANCELLATION BY STURT: Sturt Craft Centre reserves the right to cancel or postpone any class due to under enrolment or other unforeseen circumstances. Courses with insufficient enrolments will be cancelled 2 weeks in advance of the course commencement date. In this case enrolled students will receive a full refund.
  • CANCELLATION BY STUDENTS: No refunds will be given to enrolled students wishing to cancel less than two weeks in advance of the course commencement date. Students who cancel and wish to receive a refund before 2 weeks in advance of the course commencement date will incur a $50 cancellation fee. 
  • MINIMUM AGE for adult course enrolment is 16 years.
  • PHOTOGRAPHY: Sturt reserves the right to photograph classes and to use these photos for publicity purposes only.