Creative Catalyst Art Program
Aeon Academy’s Creative Catalyst program is renowned for it’s inspiring & engaging Artist-led workshops. Children & Teens, aged 7 – 16, have the chance to immerse themselves in the wide world of Arts where they can unleash their creativity! They’ll spend a day creating their very own masterpiece, learning new skills and bringing their designs to life.
They’ll learn a range of ways to transform their ideas into reality, and everyone gets the opportunity to create at their own pace. The program encourages students to take the time they need to finish an artwork while exploring the process and journey of making.
Creative Catalyst champions Picasso’s famous words: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”. Our dedicated team of art educators , led by Aeon Academy Founder & Art Director Teffany Thiedeman, all graduated from the Canberra School of Art & Design and bring their specialised skills to each of the different workshops. Children & Teens can choose between a suite of exciting workshops across a range of mediums including Ceramics, Mixed Media, Sculpture, Painting & Drawing.
Choose your next Art Adventure…
Summer 2025 Creative Catalyst Workshops
13th January – 31st January 8.30am to 6pm-Monday to Friday (Yarralumla)
Week 1
Monday 13th January: Gigantic Drawing – painting & more
Want to go big?
This drawing workshop will show you how to draw things on a larger scale. We will be using a range of drawing materials, different hardness of pencils, charcoal and graphite powder and combining them with watercolour, acrylics and ink to make a large image. Work as a group to build a mammoth sized art work and work individually to make your own
Gigantic Drawing!
Sometimes bigger is better!
Tuesday 14th January: Tree Houses – mixed materials
In this workshop we will be using recycled materials and foraged materials to make a beautiful tree house. Create the trunk of your tree using a found branch + cardboard and other paper materials. Create branches, leaves and greenery. Is your tree house a twisted ancient tree or a green and growing one with fruit and flowers? Add different levels and ledges to your house. Use air drying clay and other mixed materials to make all the features of your dream tree house. Finally add colour, furniture and all the imaginative touches your tree home deserves.
Grow your own home!
Wednesday 15th January: Summer Watercolours – painting
Capture the warmth and beauty of Summer with watercolour paints. Focus on ways we manage the heat of summer, swimming, lazing, hiding in the shade with cold drinks and visits to the beach.
Contrast this with the bone dry landscape surrounded by the oranges, browns and yellows of the Australian bush. Play with watercolour techniques to blend colours, create depth, texture and tell a summer story
Kayaking, Nickolas Long
Thursday 16th January: Ceramic Castles – ceramics
Design and construct your very own keep, a fortified stronghold on the borderland, a place to seek refuge from what lies beyond the walls. Do the walls curve round, or corners jut out on your towering structure, is the keep a stronghold in its own right or does it form part of a larger complex? These and many other questions can be answered on the day with a little reflection on the purpose and use of one’s keep. This ceramic workshop will encourage participants to perfect clay skills of forming and joining clay as the walls are built brick by brick or module by module.
All work will be painted with ceramic colourants and fired in a kiln.
Spend the day making Castles of Clay
Friday 17th January: Action Art– painting & mixed media
Combine movement, fun and a variety of approaches – textured paints, spray bottles, splattering, throwing and more. Brilliant and dynamic artworks will be created on a large scale. A great way to combine physicality with art making and be inspired by famous painters who threw paint around!
Do wear old clothes that you don’t mind getting art actioned…
Art for kids who don’t want to sit still!
Week 2
Monday 20th January: Magic Wand & other props – mixed media
Spend the day making a wand and all the other bits and pieces you need to make magic!
Magic wands, magic amulets, wizard hats, potions and any other magical accessory you can imagine.
Go for a walk to find the perfect wand stick and use wire and air drying clay to give it character. Embed small gemstones and other magically imbued items to create your unique and personalised wand.
Create potion mixes, magical amulets, spell books and more in this magical mixed media madness!
Make magical art works
Tuesday 21st January: Year of the Snake – screenprinting
2025 is the Year of the Snake and we are going to celebrate everything Serpent.
The serpent is a universal and complex symbol, representing a range of powers across different cultures and religions. From the darker serpent symbology of death, temptation and poison, the serpent also symbolises fertility, life and rebirth. No matter what you believe, serpents are beautiful, graceful and eye-catching.
In this workshop we will create some striking designs of snakes. Working together we will turn our designs into stencils which can be screen printed onto some shirts and bags (and other fabric items if you bring some from home) to create our own wearable snake designs!
Celebrate year of the Ssssnake
Wednesday 22nd January – Plaster Caster Master – plaster & mixed media
Plaster is a wonderful substance. When you add water to the powder it becomes a thick liquid which gets warm and then sets into a hardy white substance. Bandages can be coated in plaster and then used to make reinforced forms. Paster can be poured, splatted, layered and carved, leading to all kinds of sculptural fun. In this workshop we will experiment with different ways to use plaster to make artworks and combine it with other materials as well.
Are you ready to be a Plaster Caster Master?
Thursday 23rd January: Coral Reef – ceramics
The ocean is like another world and we are going to be exploring everything beneath the surface!
Spend the day learning to create clay coral pieces and other ocean dwelling animals and plants. You will learn to create different textures and surfaces on your pieces and create a collection of beautiful and detailed pieces that can be placed together to create a coral reef.
Explore the tropical waters, with bright, tropical fish and then journey down to the cooler waters of Tasmania with giant kelp forests.
Coral reefs are an underwater world full of life and colour!
All work will be fired and glazed & ready for pickup at our next Day of Activities.
Spend your day at the beach in the art room.
Friday 24th January: Shields of Power – mixed media
A shield is both a defensive object and a symbol of who you are.
Historically shields have been worn on the left arm leaving the right arm free to brandish a weapon (but we can swap this!), shields are often highly decorated, more symbolic than protective. They have been decorated with dragons, rampant lions, pouncing eagles, thorny roses and some much weirder stuff…
We will be designing and making our shields from a combination of plywood, metal, paint and fabric.
Prepare for Shields of Power!
Week 3
Monday 27th January: Public Holiday
Tuesday 28th January: Animal Planters – ceramics
Build your own one-of-a-kind animal planter!
Learn and develop hand building coiling techniques to build as large or as small a form you need to create the animal vessel of your choice. Investigate form, surface texture and colour, try different shapes.
Concentrate on one large piece or construct a smaller series of planters. Brainstorming and design is part of this process.
Glaze and finish your work with a waterproof glassy surface, all the planters will be fired in a kiln so they can grow plants in them for a very long time.
Growing plants is fun in a unique Animal Planter.
Wednesday 29th January: Mad Hatters – mixed media
Enjoy Tea Time with a twist as you design and construct your very own sculptural Hat.
This is a wearable art workshop and we encourage you to let your imagination fly! From clock top hats to Bowling Hats with a swimming pool in them, here is your chance to make the zaniest hat you can conceive…
In the afternoon we will all have a very special afternoon tea/performance in our wonderful hats.
More is More in the Mad Hatters Workshop!
Thursday 30th January: Marsupial Animalia – ceramics
Australia is home to many unique animals. We will be exploring those that fall into the classification of Marsupial- animals with pouches. The rich diversity of Australia’s marsupial wildlife ranges from tiny hopping mice to fierce carnivores like the Tasmanian Devil.
Learn how to make marsupial animals out of clay using handbuilding techniques like pinch pots, slabs and coiling. These creations will be painted with ceramic stains and fired in a kiln for a permanent and beautiful finish.
Tassie Devils, wombats, koalas and more
Friday 31st January: Lost World Terrarium – mixed media
A Terrarium is a miniature indoor garden in a glass container. Design, plan and grow your own world under glass using a wide range of materials, both found objects and hand made in class using polymer clay.
Design a lost world terrarium… from prehistoric dinosaurs to overgrown jungle temples, create a forgotten world within a jar.
Choose from a range of easy care succulents to plant out your terrarium and take it home and watch it grow.
Build a world in a jar!
Spring 2024 Creative Catalyst Workshops
30th September – 11th October 8.30am to 6pm-Monday to Friday (Yarralumla)
Week 1
Monday 30th September: Watercolour Treasure Book painting & drawing
Look at water drops, crystals and the iridescent shine of beetle backs. Learn some techniques for producing these natural gems using watercolour pencils, paint, thick paper and mineral pigments. Become a scientist artist and channel your powers of observation into a series of small artworks. At the end of the day each participant will create a folding book of exquisite paintings to take home and share.
Led by Crafter and Educator, Sophia Boag Humphries
Become an Art Scientist for a day!
Tuesday 1st October: Dragon Eggs Ceramics
Using the perfect shape of an egg, create a sculptural object inspired by the Dragon. These mythical creatures symbolise power and strength and are found across the world guarding special places. Learn how to firstly marble clay and then try your hand at burnishing- using the natural colours of the earth itself as ornament. Learn techniques such as wedging, coiling and beating clay into shape.
All work will be fired in a kiln and be ready for pick up at a future date.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
Mysterious Dragon eggs made from earth
Wednesday 2nd October: Fakery Bakery Ceramics
Don’t play with your food! Unless you make it yourself…
What do you want to make for afternoon tea? A chocolate cake? Croissants? Lamingtons? Build and fire your own clay creations onto ceramic plates to make a delicious permanent treat which will never get old. Use icing bags and squeezy tools to trail slip and ice your delicious confections. Mix up delicious looking glazes and slips to finish your clay food.
All pieces will be fired in a kiln.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
What’s for afternoon tea?
Thursday 3rd October: Secret Garden Ceramics
A pebbled courtyard, protected from the outside world by walls of ivy and a hidden entrance. A secret garden, a place to retreat and be surrounded by things that bring you calmness and joy. What features will your secret garden have? A small fountain in the middle? A sanctuary of your favourite plants and animals? Learn how to make or create the illusion of tiny bricks, potted plants and miniature features to bring your garden to life.
Melt a marble in a bird bath, it will be glazed and fired in a kiln.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
Create a secret magic garden
Friday 4th October: Deep Forest Diorama mixed media
Build a world in a box…dioramas are an exciting mixture of painting, sculpture, design and construction. Explore the deep forest of your imagination and then have access to a huge range of materials to express it. Using a mixture of cardboard, wire, air dry clay and more learn how to use tools to cut, glue and assemble your creation. Populate it with the levels of a forest from underground to canopy. Fill your diorama with the creatures that live there and finally place some LED lighting to bring your work to life.
Led by Crafter and Educator, Sophia Boag Humphries
What will you find deep in the forest?
Week 2
Monday 7th October: PUBLIC HOLIDAY
Tuesday 8th October: Spring Printmaking Bag mixed media
Get ready for Spring with an original art bag featuring designs and prints by you! Design a theme and use simple etching techniques into foam to make printing stamps that will bring your drawings to life. From natural themes like birds and mermaids to machinery and planets- you choose the idea. Select a palette and then roll out the colours on a cotton bag building up areas as you go. Leave at the end of the day with an item you can use, proudly, for years.
Led by Crafter and Educator, Sophia Boag Humphries
Make art & wear it too!
Wednesday 9th October: Masks Ceramics
Take a look at Masks from all over the World. Sketch and design your mask and then make a small model- is it Friend or Foe? Horns, teeth, scars, scales or fur? Build a larger version of your model- this ceramic workshop utilises sculptural and functional ceramic techniques like coiling, slab building, carving and stamping. Most masks have exaggerated features which can make them quite scary to look at. Huge eyes, mouths and teeth. What features do you want to create to bring your mask to life?
All work will be glazed and fired in a kiln for outdoor display.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
What features will your mask have?
Thursday 10th October: Prehistoric Pots Ceramics
The oldest pots in the world were built around 15 000 years ago. Humans have been making pots, ornaments and instruments out of clay for a very long time. This is your chance to join in the tradition and coil a huge pot and decorate it with earth coloured slips. We will look at images of pots from the ancient past from all over the world and design our own decorations based on these. Handprints and animal shapes are some of the most popular motifs and Australia has some of the best of them. Spend the day making the best pot you can, after all, it might be discovered by someone 15 000 years from now!
All work will be fired in a kiln and decorated with clay slips.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
Make a pot that may outlive the world as we know it!
Friday 11th October: Spring Tiles Ceramics
Introducing the creative and technical challenges involved in creating nature-inspired clay tiles, that explores the creative technical challenges of design, tool-making, function & form, and their interplay with materials challenges of texture, stamping, carving, relief, painting, glazing, as well as function & form. In this clay workshop we will be inspired by the new life and growth of Spring. Experiment with pressing things into the clay to create both relief and embossed tiles which we will paint with underglazes.
All work will be fired and glazed in the kiln ensuring your tiles can be used in projects around the home and garden.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
Make beautiful and original nature tiles
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Term 3 After School
Creative Catalyst
Ages 7+
Mondays 4-5.30pm (Yarralumla)
Painting & Drawing
Learn painting & drawing techniques, colour theory, shading and texture and more!
Tuesdays 4-5.30pm (Yarralumla)
Costumes and Props
This After School Class is for every child that loves to design, make things and dress up.
Thursdays 4-5.30 (Yarralumla)
Ceramics
Learn hand building techniques such as pinch pots, coil pots, slab work and decorative techniques to finish your unique pieces.
Winter 2024 Creative Catalyst Workshops
8th July – 19th July 8.30am to 6pm-Monday to Friday (Yarralumla)
Week 1
Monday 8th July: Yarn Bomb textiles & mixed media
Have a go at weaving using a range of materials from wool to recycled t-shirts.
Weaving is a bit like magic, you transform single threads into a piece of material, a stick into a basket…
During this workshop we will weave at different scales, from tiny finger knitting to large communal rugs.
Learn some weaving skills and understand the Warp and the Weft!
Led by Crafter and Educator, Sophia Boag Humphries
Yarn bomb some colour into the world
Tuesday 9th July: Babushkas Ceramics
Babushkas are traditional wooden nesting dolls from Russia. They have captivated people’s imagination and are now found all over the world taking many, sometimes surprising, forms.
Enjoy the challenge of hand building a series of ceramic nesting figures and then decorating them with glazes. Use a range of clay techniques to decorate the surface.
All work will be fired in the kiln.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
Your babushka’s don’t have to be traditional…
Wednesday 10th July: Monsters! Ceramics
Bring your favourite mythological being to life with some clay and colours. Look at images of dragons, minotaurs, harpies, sphinx’s, bunyips and more. Or perhaps you want to create your own monster?
Learn handbuilding techniques to create your piece and decorative techniques to make scales, feathers and fur and create something from another world.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
What features will your monster have?
Thursday 11th July: Soup Kitchen Ceramics
Create a beautiful, original functional vessel to use for eating food. A souper bowl of Splendour! A ceramics workshop specially for winter.
Explore hand building techniques like coiling, slab building & mould work. Produce some functional ware & glaze it raw with stencils and brush.
All work will be fired in a kiln.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
Souper bowls to keep you warm!
Friday 12th July: Winter Scene Oil Painting
Winter, the season of short days and long nights. Here in Canberra we really get to taste the bite of winter cold and use it as inspiration for our oil painting workshop Although winter brings its own pleasures it has always traditionally been a time of introspection and quiet thought as people try to keep warm and eat food they have stored away after Autumn harvests.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Still Life with Skulls, Paul Cezanne 1895-1900
Week 2
Monday 15th July: Antarctic Dioramas Mixed Media
Travel South from Australia to one of the last great wildernesses on Earth, Antarctica. Home to colonies of thousands of different species of penguins, dolphins, seals and birds. In this nature inspired class look at the beauty of the wild animals of land and sea which inhabit this human unfriendly environment and learn how to model them in clay.
Led by Crafter and Educator, Sophia Boag Humphries
Travel South to the land of water & wildlife
Tuesday 16th July: Gnomania Ceramics
The little people have been part of European culture for a long, long time. Gnome, Goblin, Tomte or Leprechaun, they are all related and can bring good luck to the home. Turn away from mass produced plastic garden gnomes and make your own good luck charm!
Learn a range of hand building skills to construct your very own gnome out of clay. Glaze it in your preferred colour scheme and then it will be fired in the kiln for a permanent finish.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
A little guardian to bring good luck to your house
Wednesday 17th July: Beastie Banks Ceramics
Collecting your coins is a great way to save up for something you really want. Maybe if you build a ceramic Beastie Bank based on your favourite animal you’ll save more money?! It’s worth a try…
Learn to make pinch pots out of clay to create a hollow form. Then learn handbuilding techniques to give your beastie bank unique features and details. Don’t forget to put a little slot to stash your coins away!
All work will be fired in a kiln.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
What beast will guard your gold coins?
Thursday 18th July: Winter Tea Party Ceramics
Invite all your friends over for dress ups and a tea party using a tea set you have made yourself! Design a unique tea set with all the features you’ve always wanted in a teapot.
Learn handbuilding techniques and how to make a great pouring spout.
All work will be glazed and fired in the kiln ready to take home and show off to friends and family!
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
Who wants a cuppa?
Friday 19th July: Gigantic Drawings Drawing & Painting
Want to go big?
This drawing workshop will show you how to draw things in a larger scale. We will be using a range of drawing materials, different hardness of pencils, charcoal and graphite powder and combining them with watercolour, acrylics and ink to make a large image. Work as a group to build a mammoth sized art work and work individually to make your own Gigantic Drawing
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Go big and zoom in!
Term 2
Mondays- after school 4-5.30pm
Painting & Drawing
Ages 7+
Thursdays- after school 4-5.30
Ceramics
This term we will be making musical clay instruments. Learn how to make ocarinas and other percussion instruments.
Ages 7+
Autumn 2024 Creative Catalyst Workshops
Week 1
Monday 15th April: Anime Art Drawing & Ink
Be inspired by your favourite animations. Spend a day creating and developing your own manga drawings, using the illustrative style used in anime. inspire. Draw your own characters, costumes and stories using a range of drawing mediums such as fine markers, graphite and ink.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
The magic of Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro
Tuesday 16th April: Bird Houses Ceramics
Bring all the birds to your garden with these delightful ceramic bird houses! Learn slab building techniques to make a beautiful clay bird house. Learn decorative techniques to embellish your work. We will then decorate our bird houses with ceramic colourants. Hang them from your favourite tree and wait to see who moves in…
All work will be glazed and fired in a kiln.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
A little house
Wednesday 17th April: Ocarinas & Percussion Instruments Ceramics
Ocarinas are little clay whistles from Mesoamerica. They are ancient musical instruments that often take the form of animals or people. They can be highly decorated and ornamented or very simple and smooth. This class will teach you how to make whistles out of a lovely smooth chocolate coloured clay, they will be painted in slips and fired in the kiln,
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
Charm your family and friends with a set of homemade ocarinas!
Thursday 18th April: Dragon Animalia Ceramics
The Dragon is a symbol of power across the world and 2024 happens to be the Year of the Dragon. From the fluid sky swimming dragons of China to the ravenous wyrms of Europe they have enchanted our imagination with stories of their savagery, wisdom and great hordes of wealth. Choose your dragon tradition and set out on a one day quest to create it in clay. Learn ceramic techniques to build your beast and bring it to life with colour and detail.
All work will be glazed and fired in a kiln.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
Friday 19th April: Autumn Mandalas Mixed Media
A mandala is a geometric configuration of symbols commonly used in the World Religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, just to name a few. Mandalas are also a popular way to spend time in a mindful and meditative art practice. We will be creating Autumn mandalas with a mixture of foraged leaves and drawing. Arrange your leaves in a beautiful pattern to create a mandala and fill in the gaps with patterns.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
Week 2
Monday 22nd April: Mega Masks Mixed Media
Masks are a way to create impossible creatures with both animal and human characteristics. Different cultures believe these masks give the wearer special abilities like the ability to talk to spirits or animals. Take a look at Masks from all over the World. Sketch and design your mask and then make a small model- is it Friend or Foe? Horns, teeth, scars, scales or fur? This mixed media workshop utilises paper sculpture, some paper mache, cutting, assembling. Most masks have exaggerated features which can make them quite scary to look at. Huge eyes, mouths and teeth. What features do you want to create to bring your mask to life?
Led by Crafter and Educator, Sophia Boag Humphries
Tuesday 23rd April: Gargoyles Ceramics
Gargoyles are medieval monsters made to adorn the sides of important buildings. Some of them are scary, some are funny, some spit water out of their mouths. Have a look at some famous gargoyles and then learn hand building techniques to build your very own gargoyle out of clay. We will decorate it with oxides and fire it in the kiln so you can take it home and find a wall for it to live..
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
Wednesday 24th April: Wearable Art Mixed Media
Have a go at badge making, shrinky ornaments, fabric painting 
and more. No need to leave your art at home ever again! Art you can wear is both decorative and expressive and can tell us something of the person doing the wearing! From a detailed art badge, hand crafted ‘shrinky’ brooch to a beautifully painted cotton bandana/scarf, this workshop offers many forms through which your art can shine. Drawing inspiration from the decorative traditions of jewellery making and fashion design, students will plan their wearable art pieces of choice, learning new skills such as badge making and fabric painting, whilst refining others such as detailed drawing, to create a variety of decorative art pieces.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi (Red Ochre Studio)
Thursday 25th April: PUBLIC HOLIDAY
Friday 26th April: Autumn Watercolours Painting
Capture a range of delicious Autumn colours and celebrate Canberra’s best season! Students will spend the morning sketching and painting in ‘plein air’ to capture a little of Yarralumla’s deciduous trees, then head inside for an afternoon of colour mixing and painting the autumn landscape at their easels. Participants will be able to work with both acrylic and watercolours over the day and will have time to experiment with a range of approaches.
Led by Crafter and Educator, Sophia Boag Humphries
Term 1
Mondays- after school 4-5.30pm
Develop painting and drawing skills.
Join artist Lauren Van der Hoek for some skilled painting direction across a range of painting and drawing mediums.
This term we will be focussing on Ancient Egyptian Art. From fine line drawings with Pictographs to beautiful inked drawings with gold leaf, this term we will be inspired by the art of the Ancient Egyptians.
Tuesdays- after school 4-5.30pm
Mixed Media – Printmaking
Join artist Lauren Van Der Hoek for our mixed media class. This term the focus will be on printmaking.
We will be trying a range of different printing methods, from mono printing to lino printing. Develop a range of different prints & stencils over the term, be influenced by the Summer; sun, warmth and growth.
Thursdays- after school 4-5.30
Join Sophia Boag Humphries and Teffany Thiedeman for ceramics!
Thursday clay class will be starting the term by exploring everything that lives under water. From aquatic animals and shells to lost words beneath the surface. We will be making a range of animals and treasures from the depths.
Summer 2024 Creative Catalyst Workshops
Week 1
Monday January 8th: Insect Close Ups painting & more.
Insects are the most populous animals across the Earth. They can be found in nearly every climate and are a vital part of the ecosystem. Using a magnifying glass take a close up view of these fascinating creatures, from beautiful butterflies and dragon flies to spotted and horned beetles. Learn painting techniques to reproduce the iridescent sheen of a wing, the furry bodies of Bumblebees and the shiny carapace of beetles. Observe insect anatomy in books, preserved insect bodies and living animals. We’ll also go for a walk and see what we can discover in the garden.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
See the big picture in the small subject
Tuesday January 9th: Imagination Maps drawing and painting
Map making has a long and intriguing history forming a visual context for famous imaginary lands such as Middle Earth and Narnia. It is an excellent way to share your world with others and help explain a storyline.
Draw a map of your imaginary land using pen, pencil and a range of paints on a large strong piece of paper. Learn how to use scale and create a key representing the terrain of your landscape.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Map your world
Wednesday January 10th: Skulls drawing
Work from a replica human skull, a found animal skull or piece of bone like a tooth or jawbone, to practise your drawing. Learn how to use tone and play with light and dark to build up an image on nice art paper.
Try pencil marks on white paper and then white pencil on black paper and see how you can bring your bony model to life on the paper.
Try shading, smudging, rubbing and crosshatching techniques to give your drawing depth and three dimensionality.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
A classic drawing exercise. Sketch by Leonardo Da Vinci
Thursday January 11th: Dinner on a Plate ceramics
Don’t play with your food! Unless you make it yourself…What do you want to make for dinner? Spag bol? Brussel Sprouts and chips? Chicken curry and rice?
Try a range of ceramic tools. From little extruders to stamps, to make the food items you have chosen. Your dinner sculpture can be as realistic or fantastical as you decide. All clay work will be painted with ceramic stains and underglazes to make your food look as realistic as possible.
We will fire your own clay creations onto ceramic plates in a kiln to make a delicious permanent dinner.
Pick up finished clay pieces next Open Day
Make a meal that will never go off!
Friday January 12th: Animal Pop Up Tiles ceramics
Spend the day with clay.
Animals have inspired people working with clay forever.
Use a combination of slab and coiling to build original, small, relief tiles of animals in clay. Look at styles of decoration from around the world and try different ways to create lively and attractive ceramic pieces.
All work will be fired in a kiln and ready for pick up on the next Open Day
Led by Artist and Educator, Teffany Thiedeman
stylised ceramic animal tiles
Week 2
Monday January 15th: Patterns in Nature drawing
Take an investigative look around you at the natural world and see the patterns that surround us and are part of us.
From fingerprints to spiralling sprouts, the micro to the macro, we can often predict how patterns will appear and sometimes mathematically model them. In this drawing workshop we will be using these natural patterns to inspire and inform our work using a number of approaches and materials.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Spirals, tessellations and more.
Tuesday January 16th: Rockpools painting
Rockpools are a window into the wonders of the ocean. Each little pool can contain an incredible diversity of plant and animal life. From the elusive and dangerous blue ringed octopus, to squirtie polyps and tiny fish. Rockpools are an underwater garden, full of life and colour!
Spend the day at the beach creating a rock pool using watercolours with salty water, watercolor pencils and more.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Spend your day at the beach in the art room.
Wednesday January 17th: Marsupials painting & drawing
Australia is home to many unique animals. We will be exploring those that fall into the classification of Marsupial- animals with pouches. The rich diversity of Australia’s marsupial wildlife ranges from tiny hopping mice to fierce carnivores like the Tasmanian Devil.
Learn how to draw marsupial animals using pencils of different hardness, ink and watercolours. Learn techniques to create furry texture, shiny eyes and more
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Explore nature with a pencil
Thursday January 18th: Stained Glass Windows painting & mixed media
Be inspired by beautiful stained glass windows through the centuries and put your imagination to work coming up with a design for your own version. Transfer your design using a light box and a strong black border.
Working on acetate, use a combination of permanent ink and translucent colour washes to build up your image. You will finish with a vibrant and glowing painting which can be mounted on a window to capture the sun and then spread the coloured light throughout the room.
Choose to work from a range of sizes from palm sized to A3.
Light up your world
Friday January 19th: Prehistoric Pots ceramics
The oldest pots in the world were built around 15 000 years ago. Humans have been making pots, ornaments and instruments out of clay for a very long time. This is your chance to join in the tradition and coil a huge pot and decorate it with earth coloured slips. We will look at images of pots from the ancient past from all over the world and design our own decorations based on these.
Handprints and animal shapes are some of the most popular motifs. Spend the day making the best pot you can, after all, it might be discovered by someone 15 000 years from now!
All pots will be fired in a kiln.
Pick up finished clay pieces at the next Open day
Led by Artist and Educator, Teffany Thiedeman
Flame pot from Japan, 3000BCE.
Week 3
Monday January 22nd: Animal Portraits painting & drawing
We share the world with other animals. Sometimes as tame pets, as livestock and more rarely as wild creatures. We will imagine a well loved pet (or wild animal) turned into a human and dress it accordingly. This attribution of human behaviour and personality to animals is called anthropomorphism. If we make our portraits kind of funny they can become caricatures- where we exaggerate certain qualities- the stylishness of the fox, the clumsiness of the bulldog, the show off cockatoo.
Use markers and ink pens to make your creations. Anyone who loves drawing (and animals) will enjoy this workshop.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Express the personality of an animal
Tuesday January 23rd: Magic Dioramas mixed materials
Build a world in a box!
Dioramas are miniature scenes contained in a space, in our case a cardboard box. Create your favourite magical environment, a scene from a book or a 3D snapshot of a moment. Use a huge variety of tools and materials to construct the diorama.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Create a world in a box!
Wednesday January 24th: Beastie Banks ceramics
Collecting your coins is a great way to save up for something you really want. Maybe if you build a ceramic Beastie Bank based on your favourite animal you’ll save more money?! It’s worth a try…
Get your pinch potting ready to go as you learn how to construct your chosen animal piece by piece to make a generous bodied animal, ready to store your treasure.
Use ceramic colourants to finish your bank which will be fired in a kiln for and ready for pick up at our next Open Day.
Led by Artist and Educator, Teffany Thiedeman
Save in style!
Thursday January 25th: Mad Hatters Tea Party mixed materials
Enjoy Tea Time with a twist as you design and construct your very own sculptural Hat.
This is a wearable art workshop and we encourage you to let your imagination fly! From clock top hats to Bowling Hats with a swimming pool in them, here is your chance to make the zaniest hat you can conceive…
Our hats will be constructed from a base of firm foam and then we will use an immense range of materials to make the most original hats ever…
In the afternoon we will all have a very special afternoon tea/performance in our wonderful hats.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
More is More in the Mad Hatters Workshop!
Friday 26th January: PUBLIC HOLIDAY
Term 4
Mondays- after school 4-5.30pm
Join artist Lauren Van der Hoek and Teffany Thiedeman for ceramics! Monday clay class will be putting together clay trees, animals and little houses to create a diorama. Later we’ll make some wind chimes and hanging decorations with plenty of free time clay in between. We will be glazing and testing a range of different surface treatments.
Tuesdays- after school 4-5.30pm
Develop painting and drawing skills.
Join artist Lauren Van Der Hoek for some skilled painting direction across a range of painting and drawing mediums. This term we will focus on acrylics and pencil work. Animals will be our main inspiration and children will choose the animals they wish to explore with a library of images to work from.
Thursdays- after school 4-5.30
A mixed materials art class with Bethany-Ann Barclay. Thursday is dedicated to Christmas (and other celebratory) Crafts. This relaxing class will be sampling traditional crafts from around the world. From metal embossing, paper crafts, candle holders and more.
Spring 2023 Creative Catalyst Workshops
Week 1
Monday September 25th: Tiny Town ceramics
A miniature village, made of clay! From cities, to towns, to ancient civilisations, create a whole miniature ceramic setting. You will learn handbuilding techniques to build your clay buildings, as well as ways to add texture and detail to your buildings to bring them to life. Clay is a wonderful material to work with, and in this workshop we will be embracing the textural nature of the clay. You will then get to colour your pieces with special clay colourants and pick them up at our next Open Day.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi
A butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker
Tuesday September 26th: Bird Baths ceramics
Create a great big, beautiful birdbath to welcome all the birds to your backyard. Keep them safe and happy with your hand crafted ceramic water bowl. Clay is a natural, non toxic and lovely material to work with allowing both functional and sculptural elements to be explored. All work will be glazed and fired in the kiln.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi
Make your own bird bath of beauty!
Wednesday September 27th: Clay Mandalas ceramics
A mandala is a geometric design, made up of repeating patterns often with a meditative and ritual purpose. Each mandala is unique to its creator and personal expression. Be inspired by garden motifs, leaves and spirals. Experiment with different textures and patterns. Create a round mandala tile which you can then colour using ceramic colourants before it is fired in the kiln.
Led by Artist and Educator, Ochre Bodhi
Create a one of a kind mandala in clay
Thursday September 28th: Garden Collage mixed media
Celebrate all things growing and green with this abundant art workshop. Curate an amazing selection of colourful images from art magazines. Combine them with your own drawings using a range of materials. Cut, paste and stick images to create a lively and beautiful Garden collage which you can take home and bring any wall to life.
Led by Crafter and Educator, Bethany-Ann Barclay
What lives in your garden?
Friday September 29th: Spray Paint Spring stencil & mixed media
Welcome the start of Spring with this colourful and lively spray painting workshop! We will use both canned spray paint and manual spray bottles to investigate negative and positive images. Experiment with picking leaves and flowers and spraying them so you get the negative imprint. Learn how to make stencils and build layers. Create a large exciting spray paint masterpiece!
Led by Artist and Educator, Teffany Thiedeman
Colourful and lively spray painting!
Week 2
Monday October 2nd: PUBLIC HOLIDAY
Tuesday October 3rd: Bird Animalia ceramics
Our city is lucky to be home to many different species of birds, from raucous cockatoos, to colourful parrots and tiny, gem like wrens. Birds can be seen everywhere around us.
We will also look at birds from around the world and marvel at their diversity and beauty. Birds are used as symbols of freedom, peace and splendour on flags, shields, buildings and clothes. Work with your handbuilding skills and celebrate everything bird in this ceramic workshop.
Led by Artist and Educator, Teffany Thiedeman
What is your favourite bird?
Wednesday October 4th: Dragon Painting oil painting
Your chance to paint a masterpiece using the ancient mythological dragon as the source for your work. Learn how to paint using rich and glossy oil paint, a traditional medium for hundreds of years. Investigate the special qualities of luscious oil paint and see how it slowly brings your dragon to life. Oil paintings dry very slowly and can last for a very long time, a suitable medium for capturing dragons…
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Paint your dragon into life!
Thursday October 5th: Mythological Dioramas mixed media
Time to tell a story in a box- a staged recreation of a favorite myth or a traditional story. Turn a cardboard box into a land of volcanos or a hoard of gold guarded by a sleeping monster… If you love to make, build, paint and construct this workshop is for you- learn how to use a range of tools and materials to create your 3 dimensional story box.
Diorama building encourages imagination, invention and problem solving and lets design skills flourish.
Led by Crafter and Educator, Bethany-Ann Barclay
What story will you bring to life?
Friday October 6th: Aurora Drawer (The Southern Lights) painting & drawing
Be inspired by the awesome southern lights and learn how to use pastels and pencils to create glowing skies. Use your hands to move, and layer, colour across the paper. Learn about composition and lighting to create a truly wondrous painting which glows from within. Practice making skyscapes in graphite, watercolour and pigment powders to express feelings and ideas which can not always be expressed in any other way!
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Southern Lights on Cradle Mountain, Tasmania
Term 3
Mondays- after school 4-5.30pm
Join artist Lauren Van der Hoek and Teffany Thiedeman for some hands on, earthy hand building. This term we will using the tree as inspiration for our clay work, we will look at different forms and decorative techniques. We will then work on our technical skills by learning how to wedge clay & recycle clay. To end the term we will be doing some tile work, focussing on design and texture.
Tuesdays- after school 4-5.30pm
Develop painting and drawing skills.
Join artist Lauren Van Der Hoek for some skilled painting direction across a range of painting and drawing mediums. This term we will be doing everything Dragon! Think scales, wings, eyes, Dragon caves and treasure halls. We will focus on both the macro (a Dragons den or treasure hall) and the micro (a close up of a Dragons eye? Or perhaps the pattern of its scales).
Thursdays- after school 4-5.30
A mixed materials art class with Bethany-Ann Barclay.
Start the term with an exploration of the wildly creative art form of dioramas. We will be using a wide range of materials, techniques and tools to create imaginative landscapes in boxes which draw you into their detailed stories, later in the term our stories will move onto paper with illustration as the focus.
for our 20th Birthday celebrations in October.
Winter 2023 Creative Catalyst Workshops
Week 1
Monday July 3rd: Winter Landscapes Oil Painting drawing & painting
Winter, the season of short days and long nights. Here in Canberra we really get to taste the bite of winter cold and use it as inspiration for our oil painting workshop. Although winter brings its own pleasures it has always traditionally been a time of introspection and quiet thought. Capture the feeling, texture and light of a Winter landscape to create a calming and cool oil painting you will be proud of.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Celebrate the season of long nights, short days and contemplation…
Tuesday July 4th: Hot Chocolate Ceramics ceramics
Create a beautiful, original functional set of mugs to hold the hot chocolate of your dreams! A ceramics workshop specially for winter. Explore hand building techniques like pinch pots, coiling & slab building. Produce some functional ware & glaze it raw with stencils and brush.
All work will be fired in a kiln and ready for pick up at our next Open Day.
Led by Artist and Educator, Teffany Thiedeman
Make a unique cup for your favourite hot beverage!
Wednesday July 5th: Liquid Skyscapes painting
Capture the movement, texture and light across a landscape to create a luminous watercolour painting. Drawing inspiration from an array of wonderful Australian landscape artists: Namatjira, Heysen, Penleigh Boyd and Streeton, we’ll learn how to manipulate colour transparency, intensity and temperature to make our scenes and skies come alive. Play with additions such as salt, masking fluid and wax to alter the way your watercolours settle on the paper and build up layers to construct your paintings.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Be inspired by the cool and liquid tones of Winter
Thursday July 6th: Black & White Stories drawing & illustration
Choose a storyline and create a striking and contrasting image using only black and white. This can be your own story or someone else’s story that you love. Learn how to illustrate a scene and to incorporate text into the image, like a graphic novel.
Look at a range of graphic novels and be inspired by the work of famous illustrators and comic book artists.
Led by Crafter and Educator, Lucy Marshall
Image by Kiran Gill. From Nerdu’s fan Art- Yu-Tu Mu-Tati Chronicles.
Friday July 7th: Printing with Stencils mixed media
Work on design and composition and learn how to create stencils to create a masterpiece made up of layered prints. Through creating stencils you can produce multiple copies of the same image, and combine your artwork with other images to create a sense of depth. Go abstract or create a scene! Print both on paper and a simple fabric bag.
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Create a fun and colourful image with personal stencils!
Week 2
Monday July 10th: Misty Mountain drawing & painting
Step into the landscape of your dreams and spend a day capturing the scene on canvas using a combination of acrylic paints and drawing. Amongst the clouds emerge blue peaks, their ridges lined with trees and below lie the fern lined, misty gullies. Lauren will teach you how to paint the suggestions of inhabitants of your mountain, birds, dragons and adventurers!
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
Create a painting capturing the magic and mystique of the mountains
Tuesday July 11th: Cool Candelabra ceramics
Lighting a Candle is part of many strong traditions. We light them for birthdays, religious festivals, special dinners and to create an ambience or a mood of celebration. A Candleabrum is a purpose built candle holder to mark these occasions, choose a theme you wish to celebrate with yours.
All work will be fired in a kiln and ready for pick up next Open Day.
Led by Artist and Educator, Teffany Thiedeman
What occasion will you light your candle for?
Wednesday July 12th: Musical Un-Still Life! drawing
Where pencil meets movement and music! Make your way around the art room and capture the different scenarios you see in front of you. End up with around 5-10 different still life drawings. Try drawing with charcoal, graphite and ink from all; kinds of different angles and positions. This is a fun and active art day for people who love art, gesture and movement.
Led by Crafter and Educator, Dora Porfirio
Spend a day with a fun and fluid day of painting!
Thursday July 13th: Antarctic Animalia diorama
Travel South from Australia to one of the last great wildernesses on Earth, Antarctica. Home to colonies of thousands of different species of penguins, dolphins, seals and birds. In this nature inspired class look at the beauty of the wild animals of land and sea which inhabit this human unfriendly environment and learn how to model them in air drying clay. Dioramas are miniature scenes contained in a space, in our case a cardboard box- create a winter wonderland in a box!
Led by Crafter and Educator, Lucy Marshall.
Take a trip to the South Pole!
Friday July 14th: Painted Tiles ceramics
Using up to four prefired terracotta tiles work to make a design which you will draw out and then paint using ceramic underglazes. Choose a theme to focus on, or do one large image and break it up over your four tiles. Explore a range of ceramic surface decorations from stencilling to slip trailing.
All work will be fired in a kiln and ready for pick up next Open Day.
Create a series of painted tiles to beautify your home
Term 2
Mondays- after school 4-5.30pm
Clay Classes are Back!
Join artist Lauren Van der Hoek and Teffany Thiedeman for some hands on, earthy hand building. We’ll start the term with mega coil building pots, learn how to direct and alter the clay forms then move into texture and decoration. Along the way we will stop to make some small clay animals and finish with our very own clay paint palette.
Tuesdays- after school 4-5.30pm
Develop painting and drawing skills!
Join artist Lauren Van Der Hoek for some skilled painting direction across a range of painting and drawing mediums. Everyone will start the term with a painted panorama, exploring scale and mood. As we progress into the term art students will move from the macro to the micro with observational paintings and drawings using seasonal and natural objects and models.
Thursdays- after school 4-5.30
A new mixed materials art class with Bethany-Ann Barclay!
Join artist Bethany to work with recycled materials to create expressive animal masks and forms. Learn how to handle hot glue guns safely and experiment with a range of joining techniques. Thursday class will also work with collaging and drawing techniques to explore the animal world.
All art students will also participate in the creating of a giant paper mache animal for our 20th Birthday celebrations in October.
Autumn 2023 Creative Catalyst Workshops
Week 1
Monday April 10th: Public Holiday
Tuesday 11th April: Underwater Painting drawing & painting
Life beneath the waves is a great source of inspiration. Create a vision into the depths of the ocean; discover underwater worlds, shipwrecks and lost treasure, living or dying reefs and their inhabitants, possibly ocean creatures of mythology, krakens and great serpents… Participants will create an underwater masterpiece by first sketching out their design and then painting with acrylic & watercolour paints to add depth and life!
Led by Painter and Educator, Lauren Van Der Hoek
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