Artistically, Bridport is to Dorset what St Ives is to Cornwall minus the Tate Gallery! The Town and local area has lots to offer and a good place to browse the many galleries and shops, and of course the busy Market Days too. Bridport Open Studios event is held on May and August Bank Holiday weekends and features the work of many local artists, potters and makers of furniture and fashion. The Bridport Arts Centre has a varied programme of visual arts as well as  great music, drama and dance performances and the Electric Palace which has been restored and re-opened offers a wide range of films and social events with bar and food facilities, which all add to its unique atmosphere. All in all it is a wonderful place to live and a great place to come for a creative holiday as there is something to inspire everyone with the sea, cliffs, harbours, rivers and wonderful landscapes all around. We invite you to enjoy a day with one of our talented artists. It's a fun day out and you get to make something nice! Price includes tea, coffee and home-made cake, maybe some sticky toffee pudding or apple cake! 10.30am- 4.30pm, unless stated. Workshop Gift vouchers available which can include a B&B stay. Let me know if you'd like to be kept updated by email.

 Workshops and Courses 2012

11th Feb Felt-making ~ fibre landscapes ~ Colmers Hill ~ Dennie Rose
A therapeutic day experiencing the ancient techniques of creating fabric from fleece, can be from cobweb to carpet quality and inspired from our beautiful Dorset landscapes. £38 +materials supplied at cost approx £7.50 pay on day.

3rd March Another Rag Rugs day, the traditional way ~ Tania Cash
Have you ever fancied having a go at rugging? Well now’s your chance! Create a small rug or wall hanging, learn traditional techniques in a day. £35, + £5 towards materials payable to tutor. Option to buy hook.

7th March Stunning Hats ~ Felt Cloche Hats ~ Fiona Neylan
With the help and guidance of Fiona create a unique hat that fits! Blocked & finished the traditional way and completed by adding feathers, buttons, bows, ribbons, your choice. £45, +approx £17 basic hat in wool felt or fur felt hat & materials at cost
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10th March Wonders of the Wonder Knitter ~ Arty yarn jewellery ~ Tania Cash
Create vintage inspired jewellery, suitable for all. £35, + £5 towards materials payable to tutor.
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24th March Felt-making ~ beautiful felt and beaded nuno scarves ~ Dennie Rose
Incorporating fibres into chiffon to create beautiful individual scarves, complete with stitching and beading to create a stunning scarf. £38. +materials supplied at cost approx £7.50 pay tutor on the day.

14th & 15th April Hazelwood Garden Furniture ~ Peter Moors 10am start
This is a two-day workshop. Try your hand at furniture making and be inspired and guided by green woodman and tutor Peter Moors. Make your own unique garden furniture, its well worth the effort! £90 plus approx £15 for wood used
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19th April Wire Sculptures ~ Helen Godfrey
Helen Godfrey’s work is unique. Working with chicken wire to create a unique 3-dimensional animal, bird or body. You’ll be thrilled with the end result and friends will be impressed! www.helen-godfrey.co.uk £45 +materials at cost from tutor on the day
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28th April Fabulous walking sticks ~ Peter Snelson. 
The selection of a suitable ‘shank’, basic preparation and straightening, finishing techniques and instruction on how to make a two-piece stick and you should be able to complete one if not two sticks during the day workshop. £45 materials/tools included.

12th May Baskets, made the traditional way ~ Andy Southwell
Relax and enjoy working with natural willow. Andy Southall is a natural and patient tutor with lots of knowledge, and I know you'll be delighted with your hand-made basket. £45 plus £5 for willow payable to tutor.
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13th May Willow sculptures, birds and beasties, teepees too! ~ Andy Southwell
This workshop is always popular so book early. Come and make an exciting sculpture to take home, remember it has to fit in the car! It can be a bird or beastie or anything you fancy. £40 plus £5 for willow payable to tutor.
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26th May – 10th June DORSET ARTS WEEK ~ 6 Textile Artists ~exciting exhibits~ @ Highway Farm 
www.dorsetvisualarts.org Come and make baskets during the Arts Week and there’s refreshments on offer too.
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Wed 30th May/ 6th June Hedgerow Baskets ~ Petra Hughes
Unique and beautiful gypsy baskets made from natural materials and woven with green climbers gathered from the farm. 
Come & make a basket during Dorset Arts week. Suitable for all. £35 materials incl. www.hedge-baskets.co.uk 

16th June Wire Sculptures ~ that have the whow factor! ~ Helen Godfrey ~ 
Helen Godfrey’s work is unique. Working with chicken wire to create a unique 3-dimensional animal, bird or body. You’ll be thrilled with the end result and friends will be impressed! www.helen-godfrey.co.uk  £45 +materials at cost from tutor on the day
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22nd & 23rd June Hazelwood Garden Furniture ~ Peter Moors. See details above
This is a two-day workshop. Try your hand at furniture making and be inspired and guided by green woodman and tutor Peter Moors. Make your own unique garden furniture, its well worth the effort! £90 plus approx £15 for wood used

27th June Workshop 1 ~ Picture mounting, the process ~ Faye Boon
A one or two day workshop that fit together or work separately. Calling all artists ~ Bring your photos, wedding photos, your art work & print! Learn how to choose from all the various ways of mounting your pictures/paintings then hands-on cutting mounts and decorating them. Bring along 2 or 3 pictures, A4 size max is good. £40 + materials approx. £5 - £8 
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7th July Workshop 2 ~ Picture Framing to complete the picture! ~ Faye Boon 
Learn the skills of picture framing using basic equipment, no maths needed! Using very simple methods to achieve interesting frames. Wooden mouldings, hand-finished with colour/stains You’ll be surprised at the professional finish you can achieve. 
£40 +materials approx £10, payable on the day.

30th June Felt-making ~A Wall Hanging “Come into my garden” ~ Dennie Rose
Wet felting is such fun & for all levels, creating fabric from fleece. Come and make a beautiful wall hanging with inlaid techniques £38 +materials supplied at cost approx £7.50 pay tutor on the day

14th July Beaded jewellery ~ wire and bead scribble bangles ~ Fran Griffith
Experiment with coloured wires, sparkling crystals & light catching glass beads with textile/suede throngs, refreshingly easy!
Fran is a very experienced beader, all her own designs and she's always coming up with new ideas! £40 + cost of beads used.
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19th July Creative textiles ~ Shibori dyeing with indigo ~ Annabel Wilson
The process of dyeing with indigo is magical! Learn to stitch and manipulate fabric to resist the dye creating beautiful patterns, take home an attractive cushion or bag. Relaxed, friendly, Annabel is an expert guide to the art of shibori. £45 incl materials www.townhillstudio.co.uk

4th August Scupltures ~ Fairies and tribal figures ~ Tania Cash
and now for something different! Sculpt a figure, a fairy, angel or a tribal figure. It’s weatherproof, so your finished creation can take pride of place inside or out. No experience needed. £35, +£5 materials
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16th August More Fabulous walking sticks ~ Peter Snelson. ~ 
The selection of a suitable ‘shank’, basic preparation and straightening, finishing techniques and instruction on how to make a two-piece stick and you should be able to complete one if not two sticks during the day workshop. £45 materials/tools included.

1st September HONEY! The remarkable powers of honey ~ Tania Cash 
It’s antiseptic, antifungal, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. A truly indulgent day! Create gorgeous beauty preparations and experiment with honey remedies & be enlightened to the healing, soothing and flavour of ‘natures gold’. £35 materials incl.
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15th September Bridport HAT Festival, a weekend celebration of hats!
www.bridporthatfest.org
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21st September Baskets, the traditional way ~ WILLOW WEEKEND ~ Andy Southwell
Relax and enjoy working with natural willow. Andy Southall is a natural and patient tutor with lots of knowledge, and I know you'll be delighted with your hand-made basket. £45 plus £5 for willow payable to tutor.
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22nd September Willow sculptures, birds and beasties, teepees too ~ 
This workshop is always popular so book early. Come and make an exciting sculpture to take home, remember it has to fit in the car! It can be a bird or beastie or anything you fancy. £40 plus £5 for willow payable to tutor.

6th & 7th Oct Hazelwood Garden Furniture ~ Peter Moors. See details above
Try your hand at furniture making and be inspired and guided by green woodman and tutor Peter Moors. Make your own unique garden furniture, its well worth the effort! £90 plus approx £15 for wood used
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13th October Felting in the barn ~ Funky felted hats! ~ Dennie Rose
Learn to make felt, be creative and make a special winter hat. £38 +materials supplied at cost approx £7.50 payable to tutor
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For dates please ask; Pottery ~ local potters at Symonsbury.
This can easily be arranged for 2-5 people and its fun! £25 for a morning or afternoon sessions, ring me to arrange.

1st Dec Date for your diary Makers MARKET, Eype Church for the Arts 10-4pm 

  Coarse Fishing Lessons

The workshops have brought many lovely people through our doors and I hope you all enjoyed taking time out to be creative!
We can all be creative; you just need excellent tutors and my thanks to the tutors for their inspiration, guidance and patience!
Warm regards Pauline.

Workshop Feedback
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Rag Rugs
10 eager looking ladies arrived for Rag Rugging Workshop and gathered around the large dining table. Led and guided by expert textile tutor Angela Axeby. They were shown wonderfully unique samples woven by Angela  herself and taught techniques to weave old defunct garments into interesting and useable rugs.  Colourful assorted pieces of materials adorned the tables, with bits all over the floor!  There was a real community atmosphere and the opportunity to meet new people and exchanges news and views while rag-rugging.  It was busy and buzzy with the ladies all working extremely hard, they enjoyed a break for a nice home cooked lunch and then all completed their starter rug.  When these were all put together they achieved a super colourful carpet and we hope everyone went home happy and will be inspired to do more.  Pauline

Willow Sculptures

Hi Pauline, Just to let you know I'm the proud owner of a willow dome (started off as a tee pee!) constructed last weekend, all my own work! The kids love it, am hoping it will start to sprout soon, Best wishes  Lisa

 

Floral buttonholes and hand tied posies 

We spent a very wet and windy Saturday making wedding buttonholes around the kitchen table by the warmth of the aga.  Lots of wedding talk and with the helpful guidance from tutor Sylvia we made a wonderful variety corsage to brighten any wedding outfit.  Midday cooked brunch followed with a demonstration of how to make beautiful hand-tied posies which made wonderful Easter gifts. This was a small friendly group and a very productive day was had by all.  So at the next wedding, no excuses, hand-made buttonholes! 

 

Creative felt-making

Just a note to thank you and John for providing lovely food, setting and atmosphere for the day, it was great. Kind regards,  Chris 

 

Willow Sculptures for the garden
Thank you for a lovely day yesterday; we had a super journey home and hey - Dilys and Dennis look great on the lawn!  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and actually feel chuffed to bits with our achievement.  Pauline & Peter.

 

We had a wonderful day thank you. Attitude the swan now guards my back garden. Jackie

Rustic Hazelwood Furniture
Review - at last!   Pauline - just to let you know what an enjoyable weekend the 'rustic hazelwood furniture has been'. With expert tuition from Peter I have made the most exquisite 2-seater garden bench, which is already the talk of the village - much admired by friends and neighbours. In fact three of them now want to do the same course - so please can you ask Peter to do another one in the autumn. I'd like to do it again too and make something else!
I've done five of your workshops now and each one has been really good; all the tutors have been first class and I've learnt some brilliant new skills.  Highway Farm is such a friendly, welcoming place - I'd recommend it to anyone!   Jill Turner
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Basket-making

Thanks Pauline for arranging the day and for the delicious lunch. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and I think my husband was 'impressed' with the results of my efforts.   Andy is a good tutor and I think the group kept him busy all day - I hope he was not too exhausted.   It must be tiring when seven people are working on  various projects and working at different speeds.  Do thank him as it was an excellent day.

 

I think everyone got something out of the course;  it is all too easy to stay within ones comfort zone, but to step outside that is stimulating and rewarding in so many ways.  Maggie

 

 

                                                                                                     

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From Jill Innis: "Just a note to say thanks for such a lovely weekend. I thought the idea of an art package with bed and breakfast was wonderful - and would be grateful if you could let me know when you are having another one. I just feel the package would be of interest to any one interested in art as its basically a short stay - you have two nights away - and several sessions of art tuition as well as supper with you, John and Michael which all helped to make it special. I really enjoyed my time with Michael - just thought he was inspiring, just what you need when you are trying to paint. Anywhere I go where I come into contact with other art people I will spread the word and give out your cards where possible."