This course is currently fully booked and will reopen for registration in 2024.

If you’ve worked with me before you’ll know that a lot of what we do together is about exploring ways of working intuitively and in “collaboration” with our materials.  It’s all about opening up to possibilities, becoming curious, allowing time and space for play.  I often use the term, finding seeds, planting them, and watching the seedlings sprout.  

If the courses and workshops we’ve worked on together so far have been about seeds, Magic and Mastery is about sending down roots.  

I’m going to stretch the hell out of this seed and root analogy, then ramble for a bit, so bear with me….

Roots create stability.  Roots create safety, structure, connection.  They give that tiny little seedling a place to grow and expand.  With a strong sense of place that little sapling can relax a little after cracking open the seed and rushing to the break the surface of the soil.  With a stable root system spreading deep down into the mud, that little bright green shoot can take it’s time developing into a big strong tree.

You see, I was always a little bit afraid of that kind of claiming one place and taking time to expand and grow within it.  I always saw that sort of rooting as binding myself to one thing and excluding all the other wonderful possibilities in my art practice.  The reality is that if you want to work in a spontaneous, intuitive, curious way for any length of time you’re going to need to tether yourself and the work to something solid, grounded and real.  

Magic is made in big solid cauldrons.  

Which, sort of, brings me back to what this course is about.  

In this course we’re going to be working on creating structure in your art practice, but the sort of structure that lets your saplings take root and your potions bubble.  Alongside this, we’ll be deepening and developing your doll making skills, taking your pattern cutting to the next level, your design into a more personal and honed direction, and your understanding of your own work to a place where you feel more confident and self assured about your art practice.  

I’ll be guiding you in how to create more complex sewing patterns, more expressive faces, more elaborate embellishments, along with detailed instructions on the essential tips and adjustments you can make for a more professional finish in your doll making.  We’ll be delving deeper into the doll making design process and developing characters with a clear sense of identity and resonance.

And, as always, there will be a few educational curve balls to open up creative possibilities and keep things playful and curious.

We will be working with;

• Drawing ( yes you can draw)
• Photography
• Developing your own doll making sewing patterns to create more detailed forms
• Embroidery and embellishment
• Creating a space to work within
• Using your own body to understand character, movement and expression
• Building structures and rituals that support your art practice
• Understanding the characters you create in your doll work
• Honing your sewing skills
• Building collections of technical experiments to hone and develop practical skills
• 3D collage
• Developing specific characters from spontaneous experimental projects to detailed doll designs.

We will not be working with;

• Tailoring ( advanced pattern cutting ) 
• Birds’ heads
• Dolls that are free standing

I feel I need to make this really clear so that you know exactly what you’re signing up for. There will be no bird heads and no free standing dolls. Both of these are complex and way beyond the scope of this or any other course I teach. Please respect that these aspects of my personal work will not be covered in this course.

Is this a Digital Course? 

No. You will receive all of your lessons directly via email from me. I send every single email personally. Nothing is automated and nothing is downloaded from the internet. There are no video tutorials, no pre-recorded messages and absolutely no pre-written email responses. Think of this as an old fashioned correspondence course that’s being delivered by email. Throughout the course, you can email me for regular private tuition, or work entirely independently. Our interactions will be one to one, and private, not on a social media platform. I always choose to teach courses that are not social media dependant, and although there are many incredible digital courses out there, this particular one is designed to be worked on offline. 

What previous experience do I need to take part?
I strongly recommend that you only register for this course if you have worked with me previously, either in person or as part of another correspondence course.  This course is designed to sit alongside the other courses I offer, and works best for those who are familiar with my particular approach to teaching.  You don’t need to have worked on all the courses I offer, as long as we’ve worked together previously, this course is for you.

How much time will I have to commit to the course?

You’ll receive eight lessons in total – two a week for four weeks.  The lessons are going to be a bit meatier than previous courses and will be delivered over four rather than five weeks. I strongly recommend that you only register for this course if we have worked together before as this will mean that you already have the skills to jump right in to the lessons in this course. You can work at your own pace as all lessons are emailed in PDF format by me personally, and you can work through them as quickly or slowly as you like.  I keep class numbers small enough to allow for one to one email tuition with every student.  You can choose the amount of tuition you prefer.  Some participants like to work with me regularly, some prefer to work alone, it’s entirely your choice.

What’s the course fee? 

As always, that’s up to you. I’m offering this course on a “pay-what-you-can” basis, with a minimum of £60 and a maximum of £120. I know that many are struggling with financial stresses and I hope that the range of fee options makes the course more accessible. There is no need to justify or explain how much you’d like to pay. Regardless of what you can afford to pay, you’ll receive the same lessons and support as anyone else. 

What materials will I need?

As with all the courses I offer, the materials needed for the course are all inexpensive, easy to find, and you will be given plenty of time to get them ready for each part of the course. 

How many places are there?

I limit the places on the course to the number of students I can comfortably connect with over the duration of the course so I can offer one to one email support for those who would like or need it.  This is not a course where students are flying solo and the teacher has no real connection with anyone. Unfortunately this means that there are never enough places to meet demand, and that available places fill up very quickly. If you miss out on a place this time around, please get in touch and I may be able to add you to the cancellation waiting list.

How long does the course last?

The course will begin on Monday the 4th of September 2023 and run for four weeks.  Lessons will be sent on Monday and Thursday afternoons.  You can work at your own pace and all of the lessons will be emailed directly to you so you can access them when ever you need to. 

How do I join the course?

You will be able to sign up for the course from Sunday the 27th of August, at 8pm ( United Kingdom time) by clicking on the button below.

_{I cannot offer tuition for any projects that are not covered within the course material. I can however, offer individual, heart felt tuition for the projects and lessons within the course.  Please respect that I will not be teaching how to make specific dolls from my collection.}