This summer I decided to run a workshop in my local village hall. I work for an arts charity teaching primary school children as a workshop facilitator, and thought I could try my hand at teaching adults, including beginners.

I put together a brief, worked out all the costs, made a poster and advertised it on my local Facebook pages. I got a few likes but not a single enquiry. The morning of the workshop, knowing that no one was going to come, I asked my husband and my son if they would like to join my workshop. I called my mother who lives nearby. At 10am, my husband, my eleven year old son, my mother and my stepfather arrived. I had set up tables and chairs, made coffee, put out supplies.

We started by doing some loose drawing exercises using charcoal on newsprint. I gave them pencils with different hardness to try, and a stick of charcoal. They played for ten minutes, drank coffee (and water in my son’s case!), chatted and we headed to the Eyecatcher to sketch.

We drove to the top of the field, and walked down carrying foldable chairs, cushions, sketchbooks and drawing materials.

It was quite warm, so we passed the bench at the top of the folly field and walked further on until we reached the shade of a big tree. I talked about composition, darks, lights, tone, where the lines at the top of the field met the folly, using mark making to depict different areas and directions, and generally about landscapes. They listened and drew. After about forty minutes they all produced some really good work, work they were really proud of!

They loved it! They drew and chatted. I worked out timings, what worked, what didn’t and thought about all the different kinds of workshops I could do going forward, without the pressure of having a paying customer. I now feel ready to embark on my next venture.