Short Courses

Wednesday 12 - 21 January, 9.30am-4.30pm 

Level: Beginners | Cost: $1,610 includes all materials 

Create a breadboard with inserted splines and a hand-cut dovetail bench with hand-cut through mortise rail in this 10-day course specifically designed for people with no previous woodworking experience. You will learn the fundamentals of hand tool techniques including:

• understanding wood movement, how timber is cut and the difference between flat sawn, rift sawn and quarter sawn material 
• understanding, sharpening and using hand planes, chisels and saws 
• different types of glue and when to use them 
• how to layout and cut precise joinery 
• how to apply a shellac and an oil finish 

The breadboard provides an opportunity to learn about wood types, using a bench plane to flatten a board and to edge joint prior to glue-up. The bench project will enable you to learn about cutting precise joinery using hand tools particularly the rip saw and bench chisels. 

Written notes will be provided for background reading on planes, steel types, sharpening techniques and dovetail techniques. An illustrated PowerPoint on dovetail technique and sharpening technique will also be provided. 

Peter Young is a former research scientist who retrained in furniture making and design at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine. He has run a solo finewoodworking practice for the past 16 years, specialising in veneering techniques including marquetry and parquetry. Peter is a regular instructor at Sturt School for Wood and a regular Summer and Winter School instructor. He is also a frequent contributor to Australian Wood Review magazine.

Recommended reading prior to your course: Peter Korn’s Woodworking Basics - paperback $35 Kindle $14 

Please bring with you: 

• 0.7 technical pencil & Stanley knife (Peter wishes to advise before purchase. He will contact students) 
• note book 
• pen and pencil 
• camera/phone for documentation 
• your own lunch, mug and water bottle 

Saturday 19 to Sunday 20 March, 9.30am-4.30pm 

Learn the skill of bezel setting cabochon or faceted stone rings while you revisit traditional silver-smithing techniques such as sawing, annealing, soldering, forming, and polishing your pieces. 

Over the weekend, depending on skill level, you will make either two simple bezel set stone rings or a more detailed silver bezel set stone ring. Practice with cutting & texturing skills with copper before moving onto pieces of silver to create your own unique stone set rings. 

This is an intermediate to experienced workshop, where prior knowledge of silver smithing techniques are essential. 

Level: Intermediate - advanced | Cost: $330 + 80 materials + stone 

Yvette de Mestre is a contemporary Australian Jeweller, based in the Illawarra. Her work is defined by experimentation to produce unique pieces of various materials using hand working processes. Today Yvette’s practice explores silver clay texturing and laser cutting timber technology to create her distinctive range of jewellery. Inspiration comes from nature and includes organic and symmetrical shapes, found objects, precious colourful gemstones which are incorporated into a variety of metals. Yvette draws on international experience and practice of over 20 years to create and teach in secondary and tertiary institutions. Her work is represented by Sturt Gallery and selected galleries throughout Australia. 

Please bring with you: 

• note pad for sketching 
• pen and pencil 
• Yvette will supply some stones for purchase, eg opals, onyx & some facetted stones, or you may wish to purchase your own 
• round stones on line 
• ring size of the ring you’re creating 
• your own lunch, mug and water bottle

Saturday 19 to Sunday 20 March, 9.30am-4.30pm 

Immerse yourself in the world of design, pattern and colour, exploring and developing techniques to create interest or tell a story on the surface of your vessels. 

This course will cover various techniques and their design considerations: shellac/water resist, stamping and texture, sgraffito, transfers, carving and inlay. Initially experimenting on flat tiles you will then progress to explore a technique of your choice, allowing you to further develop your technique onto a small vessel. 

At the conclusion of your weekend you will have made a series of test tiles and at least one small decorated piece. Work will be left at Sturt for a bisque firing plus an option of a stoneware firing of the unglazed work. Includes a half bag of Lumina Stoneware clay and all materials. 

Level: Beginners - intermediate | Cost: $330 + materials $60 (includes bisque firing) 

Tracey Mitchell’s working life has led her through fashion and graphic design and into ceramics with a keen interest in nature and an obsession with patterns. Tracey’s ceramic work explores the surface of vessels, specialising in shellac resist, stamping, texture and sgraffito using a combination of slab, slip casting and throwing. 

Please bring with you: 

• apron/old shirt 
• visual art diary 
• B Pencil, pen, eraser & metal ruler 
• inspirational reference & images 
• any tools (if you have them): sgraffito for carving , kidney (rubber or metal), sponge 
• stoneware clay *optional 
• raw, previously made pieces ready to decorate(please keep them small) *optional 
• closed toed shoes 
• your lunch, a mug & water bottle 

Saturday 19 to Sunday 20 March, 9.30am-4.30pm 

Carve small wooden animal forms using hand tools while learning finishing techniques that enhance the characteristics of your subject in this engaging 3-day workshop. 

Working with beautiful Australian timber, learn to select suitable timber for whittling your small sculptures, playing with shapes and grain without being bound by functionality. 

Focus on aspects that make your animal so endearing; the tilt of the head, the position of the ears, its beauty and vulnerability, encouraging your story telling to evoke strong emotion. 

Level: All | Cost:  $495 (all materials included) 

Carol Russell has worked with wood all her adult life. She began as a furniture maker, but these days it’s the small hand-held, whittled and carved pieces that are of most interest. She spends most of her time teaching people the meditative art of creating small, sculpted forms using only a few tools. 

‘I love the silence of using hand tools and the conversation between your hands, the tools and the material. A lot can be said in a simple form. There are so many ways to interpret what we see and I love observing what each student will draw out of their work.’ 

Saturday 21 to Sunday 22 May, 9.30am-4.30pm 

Discover the art and science behind the amazing Cyanotype process producing exquisite blue and white images on paper from both natural materials and photographs. Cyanotype is a non-toxic 19th century photographic process doesn’t require a camera - only the sun and your imagination! 

Over the course of the weekend you will: 

• learn about the fascinating history of this technique 
• how to mix and coat papers with photosensitive emulsion 
• how to make photograms using pressed flowers and plants; feathers, lacy fabrics; stencils; 3D objects; photographic negatives and much more. 
• how to tone and distort your cyanotypes using different processes

Level: Beginners - intermediate | Cost: $330 + materials $60 

Julie Ryder is one of Australia’s leading textile artists and educators. She has been exploring the cyanotype process for over 15 years with The National Museum of Australia acquiring her large-format cyanotypes of seaweed in 2019. Many of Julie’s smaller works are now in private collections. Cyanotype adds a wonderful dimension to her repertoire of techniques and is an addictive process with which to focus on the beauty of nature around us. 

Please bring with you: 

• apron/old shirt 
• notebook 
• B Pencil, pen, eraser & metal ruler 
• closed toed shoes 
• your lunch, a mug & water bottle 

Saturday 21 to Sunday 22 May, 9.30am-4.30pm 

If you can centre clay on a pottery wheel and wish to improve your throwing skills, this workshop is for you! 

This 2 day course will cover the important steps of clay preparation; centring, managing larger balls of clay and developing a greater understanding of shape development. 

Under the guidance of Megan Patey you will throw a range of pots, jugs, mugs and plates exploring endless possibilities creating forms on the potting wheel. Starting with the basics of a cylinder and a plate, Meg will begin the weekend with subtle distortion and extension to create new and exciting results. Day 2 will include creating handles, turning and finishing methods. 

Level: Some experience | Cost: $330 + $20 materials  (includes one bisque firing) 

Meg Patey is a professional ceramist and educator. Megan has taught ceramics in TAFE and has worked at and taught in pottery studios in Australia and France. Meg currently makes thrown, slab and altered tableware for galleries as well as producing unique pieces with her own reduced lustre technique for exhibition.