Adult Courses

Gain confidence painting portraits in oils using photographic reference then progress to working with a live model. Explore in paint how to bring to life the character in your subject in a way a photograph cannot. Through a disciplined approach, learn strong compositional skills, proportion, colour palette, colour mixing, mark making, drawing and underpainting. You’ll cover techniques such as wet-on-wet, dramatic lighting, minimal palette, keeping the paint loose and allowing accidents to happen!

Level: All* | Cost: $825 + $55 materials *some experience

James King is a professional artist practicing for over twenty years with solo exhibitions in Australia and France. James won the inaugural Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize and The Goulburn Art Prize and has been a finalist in numerous more. He’s represented by Becker Minty in Sydney and has work in public and private collections around the world.

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Build your expertise as a watercolour artist and unlock new approaches for elements of landscape. Mist, snow and atmospherics require vastly different approaches to painting
a water source for example. By breaking down elements of a landscape such as sky, snow and flora with a singular focus, the whole landscape lifts! With fresh approaches and skills introduced in the first three days, the remaining days of your Winter School week will focus on completing a 76x57cm watercolour landscape.

Level: All* | Cost: $825 + $60 materials *some experience

Phillip Edwards is a Victorian artist, member of the Australian Watercolour Institute, a Wynne prize finalist and is represented in Victoria by Australian Galleries (Collingwood) and in NSW by Art Atrium (Botany).

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A practical search for solutions in the ‘Still Life’ genre with emphasis on composition, tone and colour to produce detailed work, with a respect for individual style. Work in acrylics to create your own provincial masterpiece, using seasonal fruit, foliage, vegetables, china and linen as props.

Level: All* | Cost: $825 + $40 materials *some experience

Charlotte Thodey has exhibited her work for over 25 years. She has produced a number of posters for the Botanic Gardens and Historic Houses Trust and illustrated many books. Charlotte regularly teaches at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney and exhibits her work in Australia and France.

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Immerse yourself in woodcut relief printing exploring aspects of woodcut technique from hand printing to press printing over five days. You will cover transferring your image to the block using traditional and contemporary techniques, setting and printing on press, registration for colour and multiple block printing, tool sharpening and Chine colle. Over the week you will create a small body of work using woodcut methods.

Level: All* | Cost: $825 + $45 materials  *some experience

Michael Schlitz studied his craft in Mokuhanga in Japan and has completed his Masters at the Tasmanian School of Art Hobart. With over 25 years of teaching experience and twenty plus solo exhibitions he has work in international, national, state and private collections. Michael has won numerous awards for printmaking and currently lives and works in Tasmania.

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Delve into drawing through this dynamic workshop which focuses on experimentation and risk taking! You will be encouraged to work outside your comfort zone and explore various media, beginning with small sketches of a still life composition then using them as a starting point for developing medium to large scale works on paper.

Level: All | Cost: $825 + $60 materials

Joanna Gambotto completed a BFA degree at the National Art School in 2013 and has since worked full time as a professional artist. She has won and been a finalist in numerous art competitions, most recently winning the People’s Choice Award in the Dobell Prize for Drawing 2021.

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Compose, clarify and create the story in your art while playing with pastels. What makes a good composition? Does artwork have balance, unity, movement? If you are not sure what these terms mean or want to learn how to use them more confidently this is the course for you. While playing with pastels, delve into diverse application techniques and paper choices as you explore elements and principles of design to gain confidence in composing great landscapes, cityscapes, still life and more.

Level: All | Cost: $825 + $55 materials

Tricia Taylor is a Master Pastellist from Queensland with 25 years of experience working with pastels. Having an impressionistic style of realism Tricia’s work has life and movement focusing on the beauty of light. Tricia is an accredited Unison artist. (As an Accredited Unison artist Tricia has been given her own selections of Unison pastel sets that can be ordered from her website: taylorart.com.au)

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Explore fresh approaches to traditional techniques of intricate paper cutting and mark making with ink under the master guidance of Dr Zu. In Zu’s diverse and unique style, participants experiment with ideas, study and discuss new techniques exploring a range of methods, including novel and unfamiliar methodologies of ancient mediums. Using sketches from nature, reimagine your works in the studio, join analytical discussion and create new works. This workshop seeks to enrich and extend your experience through your own art practice. Zu aims to spark your creativity, leading to renewed revelations in your own artistic identity.

Level: All | Cost: $825 + $55 materials 

Tianli Zu is an award-winning Chinese-Australian multimedia artist with a diverse practice of paper-cuts, sculpture, painting, animation, and installation. Dr Zu has over 30 years experience as a practicing artist. She’s lectured and led workshops at art museums and universities nationally and internationally.

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Learn to throw fine porcelain and explore the world of ceramic colour, drawing and pattern without using glazes! This is a workshop for all artists from ceramicists to painters and sculptors and is designed to be an adventure. Throughout the workshop you will flow between looking at form, throwing, and handbuilding, working on the technical aspects of creating with clay and exploring mark making, drawing, patterns, and colours. Work in an intuitive, expressive way making fine ceramic vessels or dynamic ceramic sculptures, getting layered, sophisticated surfaces and balancing form and drawing. Techniques include colour mixing, shellac resist, sgraffito and mishima. Head home with 4 finished pieces bisque and glaze fired.

Level: All | Cost: $825 + $40 materials

Shannon Garson is a ceramic artist, writer and curator with a studio practice spanning 20 years that includes commissions for festivals, exhibitions at public and private galleries, and arts advocacy. Shannon’s practice encompasses both handmade tableware and exhibition work across a range of media. She employs drawing, ceramics, photography and performance to investigate the relationship between human activity and the infinite variety of striations, spots, and marks found in nature.

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Join Sturt’s visiting artist-in-residence from Japan as he takes you on an adventure throwing traditional and contemporary forms, exploring stretching and marbling using commercial and locally sourced clays. In this totally immersive ‘making’ workshop Kaz hopes to take you on a journey to dig wild clay and play in this dynamic 5 day experience. Work will be bisque fired the following week and ready for collection 10 days after the course.

Level: All* | Cost: $825 + $60 materials *some experience  

Kazuya Ishida is an innovative ceramicist born in Bizen (famous for its traditional pottery) and now based in Ibe, Japan. Kaz studied under Living National Treasure Jun Isezaki and has worked in Kigbeare Pottery in Devon and Whichford Pottery in the UK. Kazuya has taught and done residencies at Oxford University, UK and the US, and has had successful solo shows in Japan and London. He is known for his innovative work blending western sensibilities with Bizen pottery and is known for Rahou or ‘spiral’- a technique expressing the beauty of centrifugal force in Bizen and inspired by his experience in the UK. Contemporary forms reflect the primordial rippled textures and patterns of an ocean floor or tectonic shifts in a cliff face. ‘I aim to express the beauty of clay which cannot be realised by other means or material of creation.’

*Please note Kazuya will finalise his Material’s List when he arrives in Australia in June. We recommend you join Kaz for the follow up 4-day Anagama wood firing workshop - Friday 22nd to Monday 25th July - to fire your work and complete your journey!

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Up-cycle your old clothes into fantastic rag rugs, vessels or sculptures using off-loom, no-sew, spiral braiding. The luxury of 5 days will allow you to push the boundaries of this terrific technique and apply spiral braiding to whatever you care to create. You’ll work from basic to advanced techniques including 3D, rectangular, cross-hatching and multiple working edges, weaving in as you go so there is no stitching up required afterward. A range of design possibilities open up as you play with tone, texture and contrast. Bring your own material to recycle and find out what riches can come from rags.

Level: All | Cost: $825 + $20 materials

Ilka White’s practice spans projects in textiles, drawing, sculpture and installation, community art plus cross-disciplinary collaboration. Direct engagement with the natural world and an interest in world textile traditions inform her making and teaching practice. Ilka has taught Contemporary art and design, weaving and textile history at RMIT for 12 years and now teaches throughout the country. She exhibits internationally and her work has appeared in many publications and public collections. Ilka’s workshops reflect the principles of sustainability alongside a love of the handmade and contemporary use of traditional methods. She is a strong believer in the ability of beauty and creativity to lift the spirit!

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Delve into the traditional, beautiful and practical Japanese technique of Hitomezashi, where worn fabric is reinforced with a simple running stitch that coincidentally becomes a charming pattern. A centuries old Japanese practice that’s ideal for today. Let Mary Taguchi guide you on an historic cultural journey introducing new projects daily: kitchenware, komebukuro (rice offering bag) and zokin style table mat.

Level: All | Cost: $825 + $60 materials

Mary Taguchi has been working with Japanese dyers, weavers and stencillers of indigo dyed cottons for years. “I need to work with the genuine craftspeople, with the correct tools, the correct instruction and hear their wisdom. Through their persistent making of necessary things, these people have developed remarkable skills.” Mary spends much of her life in Japan, particularly in the mountainous countryside where various stitching techniques are very much part of farming people’s lives. Mary also has a long history with Sturt and her beautiful work can be found in Sturt Gallery.

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Begin your five-day exploration into basketry studying traditional and contemporary techniques. Enjoy a journey of basketry techniques including weaving, coiling, twining, braiding, looping and interlacing while gaining hands-on, practical experience in preparing your own materials to use during the course. You’ll be encouraged to bring a concept for a project to work on independently under Lissa’s guidance during the week and will make a collection of small works produced from your explorations.

Level: All | Cost: $825 + $80 materials

Lissa de Sailes has had the privilege of learning both traditional and contemporary basketry skills locally and internationally with notable master makers such as Joe Hogan (Ireland), Polly Adams Sutton (USA), Jackie Abrams (USA) and Jim Wallace OAM. Her work is inspired by her love of the NSW South Coast and its history.

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Develop and build your wood carving skills carving an articulated whale. The process will include fitting joints and offer an opportunity to explore finishing techniques including the use of milk paint and off the blade texturing. There will be a focus on chisel honing, carving technique, tool maintenance, sharpening, and design exploration. While your class will work on the same design, you will have the opportunity to add your own unique elements. By week’s end you will have completed a delightful, articulated wooden whale to be enjoyed for years to come.

Level: All | Cost: $825 + $70 materials

Hape Kiddle is a renowned master wood carver and goldsmith based in Griffith NSW. He has exhibited works in group and solo shows for over a decade. His beautiful organic forms reflect a connection with the natural world and are in demand internationally. Recently the National Museum of Australia commissioned Hape to carve a sculptural work from Redgum, 2.25 metre, 600 kg depicting the great Murray River Cod.

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Create a beautiful cube stool, ‘Sit the Cube Down’ designed by Sturt School for Wood Graduate and resident, Steve Giannuzzi. Using New Guinea Rosewood and cotton webbing you’ll explore machine cut, three-way mitres plus hand and machine shaped components. Be guided in the use of the Festool Domino machine and in the techniques of weaving the seamless cotton seat.

Level: All | Cost: $825 + $150 materials

Steve Giannuzzi graduated from Sturt’s School for Wood in 2019, after beginning his journey in furniture as a cabinet maker and joiner. Steve has worked at Sturt in residence since and is much sought after for commissions and projects for his discerning clientele. His work is represented by Sturt Gallery and Bungendore Wood Works Gallery and graces public places and homes all over Australia.

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