Let Your Creativity Flow At These Art Classes For Every Skill Level

By Julia Gessler
Viva
Photo / Guy Coombes


KintsugiA practical, beautiful Japanese artform, kintsugi, the process of mending broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with a powdered precious metal, like gold, silver or platinum, is about creating a newfound tenderness for the broken and the imperfect. Learn this practice with Yuka O'Shannessy in a one-day workshop for $125 on Sunday, February 28, from 10am to 12.30pm, at The Clay Centre. 145 Marua Rd, Ellerslie, Auckland.

While you're there: The Clay Centre also runs wheel and wine nights every Friday evening they're beginner-friendly and BYO and coffee and clay classes each Saturday. Keep an eye out on its website as both options are often snapped up quickly.

Rag rug-makingHand-weave a rug made of small strips of variously coloured fabric at the Howick Historical Village on Saturday, February 27, from 10am to 12pm. You'll make your eclectic tapestry by way of a pegging system, and get to take it home to put underfoot. Tickets are free and are available here. 75 Bells Rd, Auckland.

Glass castingThis self-titled crash course at the Corban Estate Art Centre will have you building plaster moulds and utilising positive and negative space to make your very own glass tree. Work with wax and clay, and find out how to set up a kiln too. The three-day workshop (Saturday March 6, Sunday March 7 and Saturday March 27) is $325. 2 Mount Lebanon Lane, Henderson, Auckland.

Nude life-drawing (with gin and music)Local gin label Exhibit A Brand is running a gin and nude life-drawing event in collaboration with London St Art Club on February 25 at Textile Lofts in Parnell. Be guided through drawing techniques as you sip on cocktails and sketch the human form. Tickets are $100. Level 4/1 Kenwyn St, Parnell, Auckland.

WoodworkDown Cross St resides The Warren, a community workshop space fully equiped to guide you through workworking classes on how to make a cheeseboard or a cabinetmaker's workbench. Check out the full programme until June on its website (there's classes on spoon carving, relief wood carving, woodmaking with machines and making shelves). 2A Cross Street, Auckland.

Jewellery-makingMake your own adornments "saw, drill, file, clean, texture, form and solder" at one of Whau Studio's beginner, intermediate or advanced jewellery-making classes. 161 Point Chevalier Rd, Point Chevalier.

STUDIO ONE TOI TUPonsonby studio-meets-creative hub Studio One Toi Tu offers a range of entry- and expert-level classes to flex your artistic muscles.

Large-scale drawingEmbrace large, sweeping strokes in this class that’s all about grand artistic gestures across three weeks. Begins Tuesday, March 16, and runs each week from 7pm to 9pm. Tickets are $120.

Charcoal drawingThis intensive four-hour class with Han Nae Kim is open to a breadth of ages and skill levels for a veritable charcoal bonanza. Become comfortable with this famously messy medium on Saturday, February 27, from 10am to 2pm.

Amulet-making and writingJoin Juliana Duran and Sandra Blanco as they teach amulet-making in a one-day-only $10 workshop. The class also includes learning how to articulate ideas into a message, with the aim of creating a personal good luck charm and a thoughtful note to accompany it. Saturday, March 27, from 11am to 2pm.

MokuhangaA popular craft in Japan's Edo period (Hokusai's famed The Great Wave off Kanagawa was made in the style), this woodblock printing technique uses water-based inks and a hand-held baren. With expert tutelage in this two-day class, you'll make like the ukiyo-e artist and create your own print, carving a plate for a two-coloured image. Saturday March 13 and Sunday March 14 from 10am to 3pm, priced at $130.

Book-makingBlind, stitch and talk books at this weekend-long course, where you'll learn about book-binding techniques and create your own tome to take home. Saturday March 17 and Sunday March 18, from 10am to 6pm. Tickets are $200.

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