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Portrait Drawing

Led by Mick McNicholas

Learn about the stages of portraiture, drawing with charcoal from a live model.

Suitable for all levels of experience.

Age guidance: 18+ years

Spring
Sat 1 Mar, Sat 19 Apr
11am – 4pm

£34 per session

Food and drinks can be purchased from our Café Bar. If you are providing your own lunch we ask that you eat this in the workshop space. Only Norden Farm’s catering can be consumed in the main foyer.

Norden Farm is a charity that operates on extremely tight margins and every penny really counts. Income from the Café Bar is essential to support our running costs. If you are able to support the charity, by buying food and drink from our Café Bar when you are here, it really helps.

other events you may be interested in

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Zen Drawing (online)

Led by Amanda Schenk

Amanda Schenk is the visual artist behind Norden Farm's much-loved (and Instagrammed) glass corridor artwork in the school holidays. Join Amanda for this new drawing course, aimed at helping to create a sense of calm and relaxation through drawing patterns.

Suitable for all abilities, the workshops will focus on building confidence in your drawing abilities - concentrating on the soothing journey of the drawing experience, rather than the finished drawing.

In each session you'll explore how to produce different types of patterns in abstract drawings - looking at different designs each week.

You will need: paper (plain, no smaller than A5), lead pencil, eraser, sharpener, black fine liner or a pen. Optional is a black marker.

Autumn
11 Nov, 16 Dec
7.30pm - 8.45pm
£8 per class | £28 for all 4 sessions
Online only

Suitable for ages 18+ years.

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Life Drawing

Led by Mick McNicholas

Explore the complexities of the human form by working from a professional life model. With a variety of short and long poses. Learn both traditional charcoal drawing methods and new experimental techniques.

Half day sessions comprise of a variety of short and long poses.

Any mediums can be used in these sessions. Materials will be provided, although participants are very welcome to bring their own if you have something you like to work with.

Spring
Sat 25 Jan, 15 Mar
11am - 2pm

£25 per session

Age guidance: 18+ years

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Crafternoons - Tuesdays

Led by Creative Eye

Norden Farm's Crafternoons are relaxed crafting sessions for older people.

Get crafty with a range of activities, or bring along your own projects to work on with support from tutor Kayleigh Robinson.

You can learn new skills, meet new people and try something new, a cup of tea is included with the ticket price. Come either Tuesday or Wednesday and join in that week's craft. If you are unable to attend in person you can log on from home to chat and join in the session.

Spring Season
Tues 14 Jan - Charcoal Drawing
Tues 21 Jan - Embroidered Photos
Tues 28 Jan - Decoupage Log Slices
Tues 4 Feb - No Session
Tues 11 Feb - Polymer Clay Octopus
Tues 18 Feb - Pin Board
Tues 25 Feb - Willow Suncatcher
Tues 4 Mar - Wire Flowers
Tues 11 Mar - Felt Keyring / Brooch
Tues 18 Mar - Woven Basket
Tues 25 Mar - Wool Hoop Art
Tues 1 Apr - Book Folded Sheep
Tues 8 Apr - Fabric Flower
Tues 15 Apr - Cube Bunny
Tues 22 Apr - Embossed Foil Decorations
Tues 29 Apr - Iris Paper Folding

Social Arts Crafternoons is a partially funded project run by Norden Farm with support from The Berkshire Community Foundation.

Local transport can be provided as part of the ticket price for those attending on a Wednesday.

If you need transport to Norden Farm for the Wednesday sessions please contact Jess Thompson at [email protected] / 01628 682563 to talk through your requirements.

Suitable for ages 60+ years.

2pm - 3pm
£6.50 per session, including a cup of tea

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Crafternoons - Wednesdays

Led by Creative Eye

Norden Farm's Crafternoons are relaxed crafting sessions for older people.

Get crafty with a range of activities, or bring along your own projects to work on with support from tutor Kayleigh Robinson.

You can learn new skills, meet new people and try something new, a cup of tea is included with the ticket price. Come either Tuesday or Wednesday and join in that week's craft. If you are unable to attend in person you can log on from home to chat and join in the session.

Spring Season
Wed 15 Jan - Charcoal Drawing
Wed 22 Jan - Embroidered Photos
Wed 29 Jan - Decoupage Log Slices
Wed 5 Feb - No Session
Wed 12 Feb - Polymer Clay Octopus
Wed 19 Feb - Pin Board
Wed 26 Feb - Willow Suncatcher
Wed 5 Mar - Wire Flowers
Wed 12 Mar - Felt Keyring / Brooch
Wed 19 Mar - Woven Basket
Wed 26 Mar - Wool Hoop Art
Wed 2 Apr - Book Folded Sheep
Wed 9 Apr - Fabric Flower
Wed 16 Apr - Cube Bunny
Wed 23 Apr - Embossed Foil Decorations
Wed 30 Apr - Iris Paper Folding

Social Arts Crafternoons is a partially funded project run by Norden Farm with support from The Berkshire Community Foundation.

Local transport can be provided as part of the ticket price for those attending on a Wednesday.

If you need transport to Norden Farm for the Wednesday sessions please contact Jess Thompson at [email protected] / 01628 682563 to talk through your requirements.

Suitable for ages 60+ years.

2pm - 3pm
£6.50 per session, including a cup of tea

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Studio Art Sessions

Led by Sue Bridge

These sessions are suitable for those with some prior experience of drawing and painting (either previous study or art course participation).

As with the preceding course 'Transform your Sketchpad' these 3 hour studio sessions will be wide ranging both in terms of media and subject matter. Over the duration of the course you will gain experience in a range of media, acrylic/watercolour, pen and ink and collage. Some sessions will be one off activities other topics may spread over a couple of weeks.

Students to provide their own materials.

Spring
Wed 15 Jan - 12 Feb (5 weeks)
Wed 26 Feb - 26 Mar (5 weeks)
Wed 30 Apr - Wed 21 May (4 weeks)

£125 per 5 week course
£100 per 4 week course

Age guidance: 18+ years

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Redacted Poems from Rejection Emails

Artist and producer Abhi Arumbakkam attempts to take the sting out of rejections by repurposing them as poetry.

Since 2013 Berkshire-based creative Abhi has been keeping hold of every rejection email she’s received. These range from funding bid denials to job application rejections, amounting to an impressive 258 knock-backs so far.

Drawing inspiration from American artist Austin Kleon's redacted poetry, Abhi has worked alongside local artist Grace Derriman. This exhibition is Abhi's attempt to find hidden poetry amidst all the rejections. It is Abhi’s way of turning lemons into lemonade — or, as she puts it, making manure from waste.

The exhibition is also an invitation to the audience to turn their hand at redacting email texts to discover poetry within them. Abhi firmly believes that rejection is inherent in any creative process, and that it should be embraced with both courage and vulnerability. For her, rejection isn’t a mark of shame but a badge of honour, a pertinent reminder to celebrate the inevitable fallout of daring to try.

Visitors to the exhibition will have a chance to create their own poems by redacting Abhi’s rejections emails. They can share their creations using #rejectionredacted.

Open Tuesdays - Saturdays

Tues 14 Jan - Sat 8 Feb

Entry is Free

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Patterns of Light

A vibrant and dramatic collection of works exploring themes of fragmenting light though collage, pattern and assemblage.

Norden Farm’s Art tutor, Lucy Wright brings together this eclectic collective of artists in a new exhibition with Stacey Donnelly, Jess Thompson and Andrew Thompson.

Open Tuesdays - Saturdays

Tues 25 Feb - Sat 22 Mar

Entry is Free

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Zumba (Thursdays)

Led by Annet Bowler

Zumba with Annet is a fun, easy to follow, dance based class. Get fit and exercise in disguise to uplifting Latin rhythms!

This 60 minute class feels more than a party that exercise class. It suits all levels of ability and beginners are very welcome.

Zumba is a total workout, combining all elements of fitness – cardio, muscle conditioning, balance and flexibility.

It can help make you feel happy, healthy, strong, amazing, unstoppable and confident!

Spring
Thur 9 Jan - 24 Apr
11.30am – 12.30pm

£7 per class | £30 for 5 sessions a term

Age guidance: 18+ years

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