A six-week artistic journey exploring how we look, interpret and create.
Have you ever wondered why two people can look at exactly the same thing and see something completely different?
Inspired by my recent visit to the Matisse exhibition in Paris, this six-week course invites you to slow down, look again and explore the many ways an artist can interpret the world around them.
We won’t be learning to simply reproduce what we see. Instead, we’ll explore how artists use colour, shape, light, pattern, texture and imagination to transform the familiar into something new.
Across six weeks, you’ll experiment with a range of artistic approaches and mixed-media processes, taking inspiration from artists who have challenged the way we see and make art.
Each week you’ll have the opportunity to explore painting, mark-making, collage and printing, using each process as a way to discover new possibilities and develop your own creative ideas.
Most importantly, this is a journey of discovery. There is no single right way to see or create. You’ll be encouraged to experiment, take creative risks and gradually develop your own perspective.
WHAT WE’LL EXPLORE
Seeing Colour
Discover how colour can change mood, atmosphere and meaning. Move beyond realistic colour and explore expressive, unexpected palettes.
Seeing Shape
Look at the world in a new way by simplifying, cropping and transforming the shapes around you.
Seeing Light
Explore the effects of light, shadow and atmosphere, and discover how they can completely change the feeling of an image.
Seeing Pattern
Find rhythm and repetition in the world around you. Experiment with pattern, decoration and visual movement.
Seeing Texture
Explore layers, marks and surfaces through paint, collage and printing.
Seeing It Your Way
Bring together the ideas and processes that have inspired you to create a final piece that reflects your own developing perspective.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
Throughout the course, you’ll develop practical and creative skills in:
- Colour mixing and expressive colour
- Composition and cropping
- Simplifying and abstracting
- Mark-making and visual expression
- Pattern and repetition
- Layering and texture
- Different types of printing
- Collage and mixed media
- Developing ideas through experimentation
- Making confident, creative decisions
- Finding your own artistic voice
WHO IS IT FOR?
This course is for anyone who wants to explore their creativity in a relaxed, welcoming, small group environment.
Whether you’re an experienced painter or someone who is simply curious to try something new, you’ll be encouraged to work at your own level and find your own way into the ideas.
You don’t need to be “good at art”. You just need to be curious.
Come with an open mind, and leave with a new perspective.
THE DETAILS
Six-week course starting Wednesday 7-9pm 16th September 2026
Six sessions, two hours each at The Exchange- Stroud
£125 for the full course
All materials provided– Just turn up and enjoy
A NOTE FROM ME
I recently visited the Matisse exhibition in Paris and came away thinking about how differently an artist can look at the world.
Matisse didn’t simply reproduce what was in front of him. He found new ways to express it through colour, shape, pattern and imagination.
That idea stayed with me.
So this course is an invitation to explore it together: to look more closely, experiment more freely and gradually unfold your own way of seeing.
Louisa Jones Art 