Self Portraits in Clay

Tutor: Andrew Cooke
Age: 18+

This laid-back workshop is for the people who don’t normally sign up for workshops - especially the blokes who think it’s ‘not for them’. This is a ‘no pressure’ adults only workshop, a calm space where people can switch off and take a bit of time for themselves.

We’ll work with air dried clay to create simple self portraits, but this isn’t about producing a perfect final piece - it’s about what happens in your hands and in your head when you’re making something. There’s a calm that comes from focusing on a ball of clay - shaping it, pressing it, rolling it - and letting everything else fall away for a while.

Andrew will share how he became an artist - from car body repair to completing a degree in Fine and Applied Art - and how his dyslectic thinking shapes the work he makes today. His story shows that creativity isn’t about being ‘good at art’; it’s about the kind of creativity that comes from a lifetime of using your hands. The same skills you use in trades - shaping, fixing, problem solving, noticing details, trusting your instincts - are the same skills that feed art.