School of Traditional Arts Ticket Portal

Of all colours, black was one of the earliest pigments to be used by artists, evident in cave paintings over 60,000 years old. Symbolically black is the mother of colour, absorbing all other colours and light. Black signifies the receptive, existing beyond time and space, and embodies primordial feminine wisdom—the source of the universe. It is the hidden darkness from which all light emerges.

We will focus on the particular significance of black in traditional Chinese ink making, a craft that dates back to the 12th century. This process involves creating black ink through the burning of resinous pine, resulting in a unique black that is regarded as the finest of all blacks. Additionally, we will examine other historical black pigments, such as ivory, bone, lampblack, and vine black, and discuss how an understanding of ink-making processes is essential to its creative expression.

This short course provides an immersive exploration of floral painting techniques inspired by the rich traditions of the Ottoman Empire. Focusing on the style of the painter Ali Uskudari, students will master detailed brushwork, vibrant color layering, and delicate shading to bring floral subjects to life. They will learn to capture the essence of Ottoman floral motifs using traditional painting methods, gaining hands-on experience with these unique techniques along the way.

This course is designed to provide an introduction to all aspects of Byzantine icon painting and to teach students how to create their own patterns for halos.

Students will learn various gilding techniques and how to paint with traditional egg tempera, which is made with natural and semi-precious pigments, on gessoed wooden boards.

The tutor will paint alongside the class to demonstrate each process and stage of this traditional art form, serving as a guide for students to follow. Additionally, the course will include a brief introduction to the history of icon painting, exploring their significance and discussing why icons are still painted today from the perspective of a practicing artist.

Porcelain is a unique medium: the plasticity of its particles lends itself to fine detail, its whiteness, uncontaminated by other earth oxides, reflects light and gives a particular luminosity to glazes, and its high-vitrification point makes it incredibly durable and translucent when illuminated.   

During this five-day workshop, the participants will be introduced to porcelain’s enchanting history: used in China as early as 7th century A.D., attempts to recreate true porcelain in Europe seemed like an act of alchemy and magic. Taking it out of its utilitarian and industrial context, we will engage in the drawing and making process using plaster moulds to impress design details onto the clay surface. We will consider a range of making techniques, there will be an opportunity to experiment with matte and transparent glazes, and we will also consider the effects of kiln firing processes.

By the end of the course, each participant will have completed a small panel or a series of repeating design elements, where the designs are incised or in relief on the surface of porcelain, and will be equipped with skills for further experimentation and exploration into the beauty and functionality of this medium.    

Participants are encouraged to bring their own circular or square design composed of geometric and/or biomorphic motifs or may choose from a range of designs supplied by the tutor.

The practice of metal point drawing dates back to antiquity. In Europe from the 14th century to 16th century metalpoint was the popular medium for drawing. Each of the metals or alloys possess different physical characteristics, each metal giving a different type of stroke with subtle difference in hue also. In order for the metalpoint to create an clear flowing line, the paper or parchment requires to be carefully prepared. Ceninno Ceninno in the late 14th century describes preparing the surface with crushed chicken bones, chalk or white lead. As the metal is drawn across the surface, tiny particles of metal are left behind, creating a mark. Often the paper would also be given a pale tint created by mixing earth pigments with a little animal glue, this also gave the possibility of creating highlights with the addition of white. By the 15th century silver became the most popular metal to use for this technique, artists made use of the natural tarnishing qualities of the metal, resulting in the line becoming slightly darker with age. Other metals used were tin, bismuth, lead, gold and copper.

During this workshop students will be taken through a range of exercises using silverpoint. Students will learn how to prepare their own traditional grounds for silverpoint drawing as described by Cennino Cennini using ground bones and chalk. Students will prepare a range of different coloured surfaces onto which they will make studies from old master drawings as well as creating their own subjects, exploring the possibilities of this beautiful technique and their use on coloured grounds.

Discover how to make your own blackest of inks from nature, using Britain's oldest ink recipe from oak galls found in the forests of Sussex.

Oak gall ink was commonly used for drawing by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Rembrandt. Much of Britain's most famous literature was written using oak gall ink including works by William Shakespeare, John Milton, William Wordsworth and Jane Austen; it was common practice for these writers to prepare their own oak gall ink using their own personal recipes.

Having spent the morning making a most exquisite ink, students will then be taught how to cut and prepare their own quills for drawing and writing.

This one day workshop will conclude with students making their own sketches using ink and quill on watercolour paper.

Every sentient being is born with the seed of Buddhahood within. To truly realize this potential, one must nurture this seed. The lotus flower, a key motif in Buddhist art, symbolizes this profound state.

Floral patterns reflect heavenly beauty and ambiance, conveying a deep interconnection between nature and the divine. The artistic vision in Buddhist paintings flourishes alongside a rich variety of flowers and vegetation.

During this online course, students will not only learn how to draw different kinds of lotuses, but they will also learn to paint and shade them based on the traditional Newar Buddhist painting tradition, Paubha, and understand the symbolism and philosophy behind it.

Students will have an opportunity to work in tandem with the tutor in creating many different kinds of lotuses and enjoy the process of painting and shading.

Trade routes provide more than just exchanges of textiles and spices. They enrich understanding, broaden horizons, and spread knowledge and possibility across the lands. Languages, stories, beliefs, technological innovations, and also ornamental designs all travelled along established trade routes. 

In this six-part course, we begin in eastern China: the fountainhead of the Silk Road, where we will study and draw geometric wooden lattice designs. We then follow the historic trade route through India, Uzbekistan, Iran, Syria, Turkiye, Malta, and Sicily, exploring architectural ornamentation as a manifestation of connectivity. We will learn to draw a range of patterns based on rotated interlocking shapes, exploring design terrain outside of the star and rosette patterns which often dominate our Islamic geometric curricula. 

Students will learn how to construct square and triangular grids with ruler and compass, and learn how to develop these grids into a wide variety of diverse yet interconnected patterns. We will observe certain common features used to structure and organise our designs, including revolving symmetry motifs and chirality (“left and right handedness”) and discover connections across regions through shared motifs and shared geometric methodologies.  

This course provides an introduction to all aspects of traditional mosaic. By making two small mosaics, students will learn the principles with which Byzantine mosaics were designed and the techniques employed to realise them.

Students will use traditional materials, including glass tesserae from Murano in Venice and hand tools that have been in use since Roman times.

Rather than laying the mosaic tesserae in reverse, students will learn a ‘direct’ form of mosaic developed in Ravenna. In the ‘Ravenna method’ tesserae are laid into a temporary lime putty base before being transferred to a permanent mortar.

Over the five days, there will be opportunity to create two small mosaic studies based on a choice of Byzantine and Early Christian models.

Drawing inspiration from Persian, Indian and Medieval miniature painting, participants shall compose a painting on a gessoed ground, working with the traditional technique of egg tempera and pigments made from earths and minerals. Initially, mark-making will be explored leading into the painting of flower petals and leaves. Colour harmony studies follow to choose the palette for the painting. Sacred geometry studies will inform the composition, becoming the underlying structure upon which flowers, trees, mountains, valleys and water are placed creating a harmonious Garden of Paradise.

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a powerful symbol of faith and hope for many Catholics and is seen as a message of God’s love and mercy for all people. This icon is rich with symbolism. Her tunic is adorned with the “yolloxochitl” or heart flower, whose four tips point in the cardinal directions. Her blue mantle is adorned with stars positioned as could have been seen in the Winter Solstice when she first appeared to Juan Diego, a Chichimec peasant, in Mexico.

In this course, we will begin painting by grinding our own pigment to create a very thin and translucent paint, allowing us to achieve a soft, refined finish. This technique honors and conveys the essence of Mother Mary.

Additionally, we will learn how to gild the halo using clay. It is important to note that this process requires a sensitivity to embody the delicate nature of Mary. We will employ the Russian dry brush technique, which involves applying thin layers of paint to create an ethereal luminosity.

The aim is for each student to paint their own copy of this icon and to make significant progress, if not complete, the painting.

The epic poem of Zal and the Simurgh is one of the most famous parts of the Shahnameh, the Persian Book of Kings. Rejected by his father, Zal is brought up by the Simurgh (phoenix) and grows up to be one of the most important characters of the Shahnameh, and in turn his son, the legendary Rustam, becomes one of the main heroes of the epic. The myth of Zal is therefore of great importance as it sets the scene for things to come.

In this course, we will be working from the famous Zal and the Simurgh painting by Sadiqi with its beautiful crystalline rocks and jewel-like colours.

The pleasure of concentrating on a single miniature for a period of time involves us deeply. We are immersed in it; we live with it; we live in it. Inhabiting and internalising a painting in this way is a wonderful and traditional way to learn. In today’s fast-paced world we need to sit, focus on and contemplate our single piece and grow to love and understand it. We will understand the subtle art of colour, composition and blending by our action of making and doing, connecting with the work. The aim is not to rush, but to dwell. Thus painting is a form of meditation in itself. Students are invited to recreate this alongside the tutor, incorporate elements into existing work or be inspired to create their own compositions.

This course will take inspiration from the botanical paintings created by Indian artists in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. These flower paintings were produced with the miniature painting technique of applying opaque paint in a thick layer and then adding the finer detail. This is a process different to and distinct from European botanical drawings.

On this course, students will learn how to prepare paper, apply paint, and use the brush techniques of miniature painting. Looking closely at a selection of leaf forms and flower shapes, we shall create a lovely selection of small paintings.

This course explores watercolour as a contemplative and expressive medium for landscape painting. With a focus on light, atmosphere, and mood, students will learn to capture the essence of a place through tonal washes, spontaneous brushwork, and sensitive observation.

Practical sessions will be complemented by short talks on the history of watercolour, tracing its development through key figures in the English tradition — from Turner and Cotman to Seago and beyond. The aim is not only to build technical confidence but to cultivate a deeper attentiveness to the natural world and the watercolour medium.

Rather than enforcing a single way of working, the tutor will encourage curiosity, attentiveness, and personal interpretation — helping students to discover their own visual language within the discipline of watercolour.

On this course, students will paint a copy of the Annunciation as depicted in a beautiful 13th Century Armenian Book of Gospels.  Armenian manuscripts have a long and rich history, dating back fifteen centuries. These manuscripts are recognisable for their colour palette and its diversity of style.   

The tutor will begin with an illustrated talk discussing illumination, the meaning of the image, and the symbolism found throughout (including colour, the figures, the floral forms and buildings and so on).   

Students will then be guided through the intensive painting process including how to: prepare and burnish the Pergamenata paper;   make watercolour pigments with natural minerals and gum Arabic; transfer the image to the paper; gilding with gold leaf; and painting.

To achieve the fine lines necessary for a beautiful painting, students will be given practice exercises for line work, and guidance on painting small faces, the hands, and vestments of the figures. Students will also be introduced to different gilding methods such gilding with bole and different sizes as well as the use of shell gold.

 If you do not finish during the course, you should have the skills to continue painting on your own.  

In this class, we will create a book using traditional Islamic bookbinding techniques, featuring the iconic envelope flap that is characteristic of Islamic book design. You will learn how to bind a model book from scratch, including making endbands, and you will have the opportunity to create a fine leather cover. To make the cover, we will use techniques such as stamping, onlay, gold painting on leather, and leather tooling. The end result will be a book that you can hold in your hands and cherish. You can use it as a notebook, sketchbook, journal, or to showcase your miniature manuscript paintings.

Calligraphy was always prized in the Ottoman Court and thus inscriptions of remarkable strength emerged from this period. The manuscripts of 18th Century Calligrapher Mehmed Shawqi Effendi from the Ottoman School will be used as examples for the workshop.

The fluid style of thuluth ranks as one of the most popular scripts of choice for aesthetic expression due to its versatility and endless creativity. Thuluth is a proportioned script based on the principles of past masters. A rhomboid dot is used to measure each letter shape. The oblique angle of the pen (qalam) lends itself to the aesthetics of producing thick and thin angles. To control the flowing line whilst maintaining balance, elegance and harmony is a great achievement of artistic expression. Thuluth’s popularity is expressed in text, poems and aphorisms and  inscriptions are found in various mediums; architecture, manuscripts, metalwork, glass, wood, textiles and ceramics .

The workshop is a practical introduction to the script and provides participants a step-by-step guide to writing the Arabic letters according to the thuluth proportion system. Students will be shown how to construct each letter through basic strokes and learn the traditional practice, tools and materials used for thuluth.

Learn about the rich history and artistic traditions of Chinese polychrome paintings. These paintings decorating wooden palace buildings, are reflections of Chinese traditional culture and aesthetic concepts.

In this hands-on course, students will learn about the design principles of these paintings, key colour configurations, and painting techniques. Any returning students can try their hand at more complex designs.

Attention will be paid to the connection between these paintings and the architectural structures they are designed for. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about and appreciate the unique cultural heritage of China.

Learn to paint an icon of Christ in the style of Andrei Rublev, one of the greatest medieval Orthodox icon painters. Students will master the dry brush technique, which involves layering thin strokes of paint to create a luminous effect. Egg tempera paint will be combined with hand-crushed natural pigments and applied to a plaster panel. Additionally, students will learn gilding techniques using clay and real gold leaf.

Woodblock printmaking is a wonderful medium, full of surprise and beauty,  and a traditional art form that is also contemporary. Learn how to create woodblock prints, starting with your ideas and moving through each step: designing, cutting, offsetting, registering, and printing with both translucent and opaque colors.  Techniques taught in this course will draw on the tutor’s studies in China, and her own teaching-practice.

Students should develop their ideas, initially from how to create atmosphere and impact, through to the use of symbolism and tradition. Guided by tutor Merlyn Chesterman, students will learn all the techniques they need in order to develop their own handwriting and voice in the future.

We will start with exercises in cutting before working in black and white, following on with making an underblock to enhance the 'master block'. There will then be opportunities for students to work at different scales and on subjects of their own choosing.

In this course students will be introduced to the tiles from 13th century Kashan, Iran, considered by many to be the golden age of lustreware.

During the week students will learn the techniques and motifs behind this exquisite form of pottery before designing and making their very own lustreware tiles.

We will then fire your work for you. Final firings will need to be collected in January 2026, after the Christmas and New Year's break.

This practical art course introduces you to Naskh script and hüsnühat, the art of beautiful writing in the Ottoman tradition. You will learn to write in the elegant, rounded Naskh script, known for its clarity and often used to transcribe the Qur'an.Students will be given an insight into traditional practice, tools, and materials used for hüsnühat.

To begin, students will learn to cut and prepare a traditional reed pen, and be shown how to construct each letter through basic strokes, analyse the measurements for the Arabic letters, practice the pen angles from thick to thin strokes, and progress through shapes to write out letters.  

The art of calligraphy can take many years to master, but by the end of this course, students will have had an introduction to writing in this script, and an understanding of the rules of harmony and proportion behind it.

Design and weave your own carpet, in the Persian tradition.

In this practical course, students will learn the principles of traditional design, as well as essential weaving techniques. Students will also gain familiarity with the tools used in this craft. By the end of the course attendees will have a small unfinished carpet with enough knowledge to continue weaving at home and complete their carpets.

The art of carpet making is one of the oldest and most celebrated artistic traditions to have survived to the modern day. Carpets hold an especially distinguished place in the Middle East where they are held as an item of prestige in mosques, palaces, and houses. The historical methods of carpet-weaving are thus highly valued as skills which incorporate aesthetic beauty with traditional craftsmanship.

Description

Learn how to paint real and fantastical beasts using ancient techniques from the rich world of
Islamic art.

Join us on a journey exploring fabulous creatures, both real and imagined. This course will cover all
practical aspects in painting your own illuminated composition inspired by the exquisite borders of
Islamic manuscripts. We will begin by looking at the historical and stylistic context of these works of
art, tracing motifs though the Silk Road to their arrival in the Islamic lands. Students will have the
opportunity to learn about traditional painting and gilding methods. In guiding the class though
practical drawing and painting exercises, this comprehensive course will show students step-by-step,
how to gild their illuminated painting.

The course will be supported by illustrated talks, group and one-to-one feedback, and teaching
resources developed over 15 years of experience with the craft.

As the story goes, a competition took place between two great Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, to decide who was the wisest. Aristotle began by boasting that he possessed all earthly knowledge. In response, Plato listened to the music of the spheres and stars, then created a musical instrument unlike any seen before. When Plato drew a circle around himself and played this instrument, its sounds were so harmonious and perfect that animals around him—predator and prey alike—fell into a hypnotic swoon. Afterwards, Plato played another tune to wake them. The animals, now refreshed, continued on their way.

This astonishing scene is not mentioned in Greek epics. Instead, it is found in the Khamsa of Nizami, in Nizami's account of Alexander the Great (Iskandar). Aristotle, chastened by his loss, eventually accepts Plato as the true master. This is in line with the rise of Neoplatonism and Sufism in Persia at the time.

In this course, we will paint inspired by Plato’s charming and waking the animals - focus and reflect, and then emerge, refreshed by beauty and harmony.

The pleasure of concentrating on a single miniature for a period of time involves us deeply. We are immersed in it; we live with it; we live in it. Inhabiting and internalising a painting in this way is a wonderful and traditional way to learn. In today’s fast-paced world we need to sit, focus on and contemplate our single piece and grow to love and understand it. We will understand the subtle art of colour, composition and blending by our action of making and doing, connecting with the work. The aim is not to rush, but to dwell. Thus painting is a form of meditation in itself.

Students are invited to recreate this miniature painting alongside the tutor, incorporate elements into existing work or be inspired to create their own compositions. Lions, tigers, and antelopes lie in repose, allowing us to see and paint their soft bellies and draw them in positions we don't normally find in miniature painting.

Description

The art of the Celtic/Pictish manuscripts has fascinated modern people for a long time with its beauty of form, richness of colour and enigmatic style.

By close study of the Book of Kells and some other artefacts from these times we will look to recreate some of these patterns and gain some understanding and firsthand experience of their form.

We will then go on to create a small pattern page developing your own style within the form through line and colour.   

Upon ascending to the throne, Emperor Akbar established a royal atelier known as the tasvir khana. The atelier was led by prominent Persian artists. It also brought together artists from across India and the rest of Asia, including Hindus and Muslims. What emerged from the tasvir khana came to be known as the Mughal style.

The Hamzanama was among the first manuscripts to be commissioned by Akbar. The story recounts the life of Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib, the uncle of the Prophet Mohammed. It describes his fantastical encounters with sorcerers, demons, fairies, daring heroes, brave women, and trickster spies.

In this course, we will paint scenes from the Hamzanama. The course will cover the preparation of paper, and painting techniques such as flooding and fine shading.

Syria is home to some of the earliest examples of civilizational Islamic architecture. Its bold, high-contrast aesthetic weaves Roman and Byzantine influences into an authentically Islamic style. Beyond the capital city of Damascus, Syria is home to a variety of lesser documented architectural heritage sites, such as
Al Nuri Mosque in the city of Hama.

In this course, we will be utilizing a ruler and compass approach to recreate an extraordinary spandrel pattern from the interior of Al Nuri. Over the course of three sessions, we will construct a detailed and versatile grid, then learn how to apply the interwoven arcs and Syrian knotwork motifs. This methodology can subsequently be utilised by students to understand and recreate other similar designs from the region.

This enigmatic and unique ratio was referred to by Euclid as the 'extreme and mean division' of a line. It features prominently within the natural world of growth such as in flowers, microscopic sea organisms and even our own DNA spiral. It also indirectly expresses itself through the so-called 'Fibonacci sequence' where simple whole numbers can be used in relationship to approximate what is ultimately an inexpressible ratio.   

This practical art course will concentrate on the drawing of geometric golden ratio patterns from different spiritual traditions. It will also focus on various intriguing and beautiful geometric diagrams that can help the inquisitive student to ponder the spiritual meaning of this ideal mathematical relationship. All of this will be accompanied by regular slideshows consisting of beautiful images of the golden ratio in nature, art and the cosmos.   

This course introduces participants to the essential principles of geometry and number in nature. It includes the study of the three primary symmetry groups which embody the triangle and hexagon, the square and octagon and the pentagon and decagon. 

Participants will use compasses and ruler to draw a variety of patterns mainly from the Islamic tradition and the syllabus will slowly move from more simple patterns onto more complex ones as the course progresses.   

The use of geometry as a symbolic language and a contemplative form in the spiritual imagination will also be an on-going theme throughout the course. Participants will finish the course with a collection of around 12 completed patterns.     

Draw Islamic patterns, a Gothic Christian labyrinth, a Hindu Yantra and diagrams associated with the Great Pyramid in Egypt while exploring the underlying universality of geometry within four particular world traditions of sacred art.

Description

The earth is the natural apothecary of the arts; hidden within its depths are all the variety of pigments as seen in the great paintings and galleries of the world. During this workshop, students will explore the traditional processes by which these pure pigments are extracted from their natural sources in the form of earth, rocks, roots and berries, and how these are transformed into pure pigments.   

The traditional methods used to transform these raw materials were, in earlier times, a natural part of the traditional training of the artist; the process of preparing these natural materials was seen as an integral part of the painting process and was not separate from the painting. These craft practices are a journey into the very heart of the creative process, preparing the artist both outwardly and inwardly.   

Working with the semi-precious rocks malachite, azurite, cinnabar and chrysocolla, as well as certain plant colours (Madder roots and Persian berries), students will discover first-hand the miraculous processes by which these raw materials are ground, washed, purified and, in some cases, heated and precipitated, and slowly transformed into luminous jewel-like pigments.   

In the second part of this five-day workshop, students will be taught about traditional recipes and how these pure pigments can be made into handmade paints using gum arabic, egg tempera and oil. As well as producing pigments from plant dyes, students will also have the opportunity to experiment with tie-dying techniques on silk using gardenia and Brazil wood dyes.    

Chinese influence on Persian miniature painting manifests itself most clearly in wild, brightly coloured clouds. In these paintings, the air comes alive with spiraling forms. This course will focus on the spiral constructions of clouds and stylised cloud motifs or bulut.

To begin, your tutor will discuss the context and history of this fascinating world. You will then learn practical steps for starting a miniature painting, including: how to burnish paper, ink the design, and transfer the design to prepared paper. The next phase of the course focuses on materials and tools for painting, and how they are used. There will be specific practise exercises to develop brush handling and techniques. Students will then move on to painting their own miniature clouds and using colour combinations.    By the end of this course, you'll have your own miniature painting and knowledge of key techniques.