Courses, workshops and education

There are loads of courses and workshops in Derbyshire, and we’ve trawled around for the best courses for you to improve your skills or gain new ones — or just simply to feed your soul. Read on!

Craft and practical skills courses and workshops

Have you always promised yourself some 'me time' to get to grips with a new skill? We've got all angles covered with our selection of groups, classes and workshops to get involved with. So, get wiggling your belly, tapping those feet, carving wood or stone or take to treading the boards.

• Take part inthe ancient art of carvingand create completely unique and organic art forms in regular classes inIlkeston.

• Polish your own slice of Blue John in May and June at Treak Cliff Cavern in Castleton

• Drop into Coffee, Craft and Chat in Bolsover every last Wednesday of the month, and enjoy a coffee while you work on your latest craft project

• Get moving every Thursday at the Friesland Performing Arts centre and learn simple salsa, jive and cha cha cha steps!

• Have you received a fancy, new camera for Christmas and have no idea what to do with it? Then help is at hand as Matlock-based photographer Tez Marsden offers photography courses year-round

• Drop in to these Untutored Life Drawing Sessions in Belper every Thursday night 

• Try these Fused Glass Workshops weekly in Radbourne

• Go along to this card making workshop in Long Eaton every Tuesday and learn how to make hand-crafted cards. 

• Knit & Natter, Crochet & Chat every week in Ilkeston, running through until the end of July

• Try your hand at sewing in these sewing sessions for adults every week in Ilkeston until the end of July 2013

• Learn the formulas regarding the structure and proportions of the head and face and the drawing elements of line, edges and tone at this free Portrait Painting workshop in Derby on 3 and 10 June
• Be introduced to the process of Printmaking with Collagraph Plates in Bolsover on 9 June 

• Have a go at this Bavarian Crochet Workshop in Alvaston on 9 June

• Design & make an object from clay at this adult clay workshop in Swadlincote on 18 June

• Try this adult's Paper Mache Workshop in Bolsover over 2 weeks on 23 and 30 June

• Learn how to stitch with wire and transform haberdashery into elegant jewellery at this workshop in Draycott on 23 June.

• Get some Basic Needlework Stitches skills in this workshop to be held in Alstonefield near Ashbourne on 27 June and make your work up into a Booklet

• At this Jumpers and Jumble Workshop recycle your old jumpers and shirts to make a simple patchwork effect throw/quilt. Bolsover, 7 July

• Create surface pattern by using decorated papers and fabrics at this workshop in Bolsover on 14 July

• Make a silver bangle at this workshop in Bolsover on 21 July

• Join this workshop in Alstonefield near Ashbourne on 7 September and learn how to Make a Temari Ball for Beginners

• One Day Photography Workshops run in Buxton on the first Sunday of every month, so check one of them out.

• There's a Weekly Watercolour Painting Class in Belper to improve your skills

• Band rehearsals - Senior band Wednesday evenings 7.30pm. Training band and novice group Monday evenings 6.50pm in Long Eaton.

General interest courses, lectures and workshops

There's something for everyone here, whether you want to actively get involved in a workshop, or want to listen to a lecture by a seasoned guide.

Try one of these silk painting workshops with Pauline Townsend who is running her ever-popular workshops from her studio in Buxton on a series of themes throughout the year.

• A Silk Painting for Beginners workshop will run on 28 July

• Paint seascapes on silk on 9 June

• Or on 13 June be inspired by the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh 

• On 30 June Pauline will be leading a buildings painting workshop

• If you love Roses then try this silk painting workshop on 11 August.
  

• Immerse yourself in a day of science-fiction, fantasy and horror writing readings and workshops at Derby QUAD's Edge-Lit 2 on 13 July

• Build on a fantastic range of techniques to produce simple ceramic pieces, including slab and coil pots, basic and figurative sculpture and wheel work at these classes at the Eco Centre in Middleton-by-Wirksworth.

• Gain confidence in capturing a likeness with this tutored portraits from life course in Derby, providing experience with different materials, painting flesh and facial features from real life models.

• Join in at the next monthly Jam Session at Chesterfield Jazz Club monthly throughout the year

• If you are a young writer and based near Derby, then go along to the next Derby Young Writers meet monthly until June 2013

• Join the Chesterfield Write Here group in Chesterfield for the group's monthly meetings

• Or focus on writing, perform writing exercises and get feedback on your work at Derby Scribes Writing Group

• Join the Newton Solney Art Group weekly in Newton Solney, every Friday between 2 and 4pm 

• Get a free guided tour of Sharpe's Pottery MuseuminSwadlincoteon the last Wednesday of each month

• Learn how to develop your photographic techniques with this Photography 101 Technique & Creativity 2 day workshop in Derby on 8 and 15 June

• Using your own drawings or images supplied, learn the process of making a collagraph plate to ink up and run through a relief printer in Bolsover on 9 June.

• Get involved in some Sensational Salsa! Learn to dance salsa weekly in Buxton until the end of July

• Join the Brampton Best Knitters every Wednesday night, in Brampton , for knitting! (well, actually for crochet and spinning too)

• Or join the Belper Community Ensemble weekly and revive your musical interests

• Try Saturday Life Drawing in Cromford every Saturday morning 10am till 12 noon.  

• Learn the art of hand spinning at these monthly workshops in Heage

• Field Breaks: Art breaks offer a range of non-residential and residential art, craft, textiles and media workshops running over two to three days or a week throughout the year in Castleton.

• Forest Arts provides workshops at Rosliston Forestry Centre in various forms; watercolour painting, botanical painting, photography, drumming, singing for pleasure, drawing from the forest floor and more.

• Enjoy a literary lunch break ! Come along and read (or listen to), historical fiction in a period setting on the first Monday of every month. Pickford's House Museum, Derby .

Derbyshire Arts at Pear Tree Farm  near Matlock offers a wide variety of day attendance and residential art courses. Choose from a range of mediums and styles with day, two-day and three-day courses available throughout 2013.

• Watercolour Landscapes with Joe Francis-Dowden, 4-6 June
• Derbyshire Landscapes with David Bellamy , 10-12 June
• Contemporary Landscape Techniques with Michael Porter , 17-19 June
• Atmosphere and Light , 25-27 June
• Dramatic Landscapes with John Connollu , 2-4 July
• Watercolours the 'Weltonway' , 16-18 July
• Botanical Illustration with Roger Reynolds , 23-25 July
• Light in Watercolour with Trevor Waugh , 30 July - 1 August
• Pen and Ink Drawing & pastel Flowers with Tony Merrick , 3 & 4 August
• Watercolour Landscapes with Charles Evans , 13-15 August
• Vibrant Acrylics with Hashim Akib , 20-22 August    
• Portraits in Oils and Pastels with Rob Wareing , 27-29 August  
• Expressive Landscapes with Lewis Noble , 3-5 September 
• Interpreting Landscapes with Colin Halliday , 10-12 September
• Flowers and Landscapes with Soraya French , 17-19 September
• Painting faces and figures with Hazel Lale , 1-3 October
• Introduction to Atelier Oils with Sue Sareen , 10-11 October
• Atmospheric Landscapes with Colin Allbrook , 22-24 October
• Seascapes in Oils with Roy Lang , 5-7 November
• Drawing and Painting Wildlife with Vic Bearcroft ,12-14 November
• Flowers and Still Life with Hazel Lale , 19-20 November

Derbyshire artist Ingrid Karlsson-Kemp has a whole season of her popular mixed media workshops on offer in 2013 that she delivers from her studio near Buxton .  Take a look at the what's on offer this year. 

• Swedish Folk Art - Mixed Media Techniques , 8 June
• Recycle your old artwork - Mixed Media Techniques , 6 July
• Mixed Media Seascapes , 7 September
• Memory Making in Mixed Media , 5 October
• Poetry and Pattern - Stitching with words , 2 November   
• Time for Treasure - Using Found Objects , 30 November

For children

There's plenty going on to keep your children entertained with classes and regular group meetings to suit just about every artistic taste.

• Have a go at a little bit of everythingat this fun day out atShipley Country Parkon 21 July
• Kids Club runs every Friday evening and Saturday daytime.  So join in at a 2 hour session in Alfreton where you can paint your choice of figurine and then have a go on the potter's wheel.  
• There are helping hands for your Piano, Organ and Music theory tuition in Long Eaton. 
• Bakewell School of Dance & Theatre Arts offers comprehensive Theatre training for all ages and abilities   
• Theatreworks- Classes offered in Drama and Musical Production for aged three to 17 years in Bonsall .
• The ICODA Infrared dance and theatre school runs very Wednesday 4.15pm-6.15pm in Long Eaton and is dedicated to teaching children and young adults skills in performing arts.

• ARK Youth Theatre run drama classes in Stretton where children will learn the craft of acting for theatre, acting for film, story telling and more.

• Rachael Pinks leads this Children's Monthly Art Group in Cromford until the end of the year.

• The Glee Club Burton on Trent runs every Monday from 6.30-7.30pm for 10-16 year olds and from 7.45pm to 8.45pm for 17+ year olds. 

• Parent & Toddler Movement & Dance - a great way to connect with your children through the medium of movement and music. Mondays 1.30 - 2.30pm in Matlock.

• Twistin' Tots is a fun mix of songs, rhymes, actions and props to educate young children and keep them entertained. Every Monday in Duffield , Tuesday at 10am in Matlock or 2pm in Belper , Wednesday in Ripley , or Fridays at 10am or 11.15am in Belper .

• Pyjama Drama work across a variety of venues in Derbyshire and provide young children with a drama programme that is fun, exciting, and which develops key social skills.

• Dancebeats are dance classes around Derby for children aged 3-18 years old. Venues include Stepping Lane, Chellaston, Mickleover and Chaddesden.
  

• Hey Diddle Diddle is an informal, relaxed and friendly music group/class for Babies, Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers. Songs, actions, movement, percussion, musical development and bubbles! Every Monday,Wednesday and Thursday in Chesterfield .

• Performing Arts classes for aged three to 17 years. Theatreworks in Matlock every Saturday.

Professional development

Keep your professional practice skills up to date. Also check out our Artists' and Arts Organisations' Training News page for many more opportunities.

• Sign up for this Relational Dynamics coaching course in three 3-day sessions over October, November and December
• Sign up for the next Creative Derbyshire Marketing workshop in Matlock on 18 June
• Go along to the Creative Derbyshire Roadshow in Buxton on 26 June to discover where what and who can help you in your creative practice.

Adult Community Education

Get on course with Derbyshire Adult Community Education. New courses start running each term, and so it's never too late. For full course details, download a brochure for your area from the Derbyshire County Council website. The areas covered by each brochure are as follows:

Western : Covering Ashbourne, Bakewell, Hope Valley, Matlock, Wirksworth, Buxton and Fairfield, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Gamesley, Glossop and New Mills.

Eastern : Covering Bolsover, Chesterfield, Clay Cross, Dronfield, Eckington, Killamarsh, Shirebrook and South Normanton.

Southern : Covering Alfreton, Belper, Codnor, Long Eaton, Ilkeston, Hatton, Melbourne, Newhall and Swadlincote.