Courses in Painting, Printmaking, Drawing and Ceramics tutored by professional artists.
Weekly Courses
A few hours at at time, each week, throughout the year, predominately in ceramics. See Pottery Hub for details
Immersive Courses.
A full day, three days or five days. These courses offer immersive time to get inspired, get connected and deepen your knowledge. Stay on site in our residential accommodation, or travel to and from Coombe each day (if you live locally, or prefer to stay in accommodation off site).
Pottery - 5 Day Handbuilding course with Laurel Keeley - SOLD OUT.
This is an immersive five day intensive pottery residential with the internationally recognised potter Laurel Keeley. Laurel works with coloured slips and drawn line in stoneware and porcelain clays, with glazes and oxides applied, often enhanced with Gold Lustre.
The slab bowls, plates and pots are vehicles for figurative designs of fish and fields, rivers, canals and glimpses of the world through windows. More recently she has been working with images of gardens and landscape, her method informed by painting.
Ceramics - Dylan Bowen - Making and decorating dynamic slip decorated earthenware - 1 place released.
Dylan Bowen. Making and decorating dynamic slip decorated earthenware - During this course Dylan will demonstrate and teach various techniques based on his own work.
Experimental Drawing - 3 Day course with Helen Jones.
An experimental immersive three day drawing course, great for anyone starting out drawing or for those that want to free up their mark making and experiment with new techniques and materials. Residential and non-residential places available for those living or staying near to Coombe.
Water-based woodblock printmaking - Mokuhanga - 3 day Workshop with Lucy May Schofield.
During this immersive workshop, you will be introduced to the traditional Japanese art of water-based woodblock printmaking.
Mokuhanga is perfect for anyone interested in a non-toxic, water-based, table-top printmaking technique.
Introduction to Pottery Weekend - Beginners Pottery.
A three day course designed specifically for anyone wanting to work with clay for the first time. This course led by our regular class pottery tutor Verran Townsend and you will have a chance to both handbill and throw on the wheel.
Pottery - Exploring slips with Laurel Keeley.
In this immersive weekend pottery course you will work in stoneware and focus on simple forms thrown on the wheel or made from slabs, moulds and coils. You’ll then spend time decorating using coloured slips and drawn lines. This is an ideal course if you want to slow down and pay attention to the forms you are making, and to be introduced to, or develop, your skills in applying and experimenting with coloured slips and the use of oxides.
PRINTMAKING // JOURNEYS: A creative exploration into print and the landscape.
Join artist printmaker Mary Bowen on an exciting journey into creative printmaking, responding to our sense of place in the landscape. For those who are curious about the process of printmaking, this course will guide you through how it can be used as a vehicle for expanding your creative practice, using many techniques that can be recreated at home.
Pottery - How to Set Up Your Pottery Studio - 1 day course with Lara Lloyd.
A one-day course designed for anyone setting up their own pottery studio and looking for practical hands-on advice and guidance.
What’s the best system for recycling clay? How much shelving will I need? What goes in a studio risk assessment? Who are good UK suppliers? What size kiln do I need? Do I need three phase electric supply…A pugmill…a slab roller…a spray booth? Where can I get the best buckets?
Painting - DAVID MANKIN Remembering in Paint - 3 day course, Abstract Landscape Painting in Acrylic + Mixed Media - SOLD OUT
Join David on an exciting voyage through the expressive handling of paint and materials, mark making and collage.
He will guide you through the process of translating the shapes, textures, feelings and moods of the landscape in paint.
DRAWING INTO COLOUR with CHRISTABEL FORBES.
Aimed at beginners yet flexible for all levels of ability, this course introduces and guides you into different ways of seeing by exploring drawing techniques and mixed materials before diving into the world of colour.
Pottery - Intermediate Throwing 3 day course with Rapaela Seck.
Boost your throwing skills wtih an immersive course. This three day course is a chance to spend a long weekend dedicated to the wheel, supported by a professional potter with production throwing expense who will demo and actively teach you throughout the weekend. teaching time totals 16.5 hours, comparable to a 7 week 2 hr evening class crammed into one glorious weekend.
Painting - Watercolour 3 day course with Paul Riley. Trees for all Seasons.
Trees for all seasons is a new watercolour painting course led by Coombe lead artist and founder Paul Riley. During the five days you will explore trees in depth and learn techniques for painting them in detail and how to abstract trees in the landscape.
Painting - DAVID MANKIN Remembering in Paint - 3 day course, Abstract Landscape Painting in Acrylic + Mixed Media - SOLD OUT.
Join David on an exciting voyage through the expressive handling of paint and materials, mark making and collage.
He will guide you through the process of translating the shapes, textures, feelings and moods of the landscape in paint.
Painting - 5 day course, Intuitive Abstract Painting in Acrylic + Mixed Media with Kate Trafeli.
An experimental intuitive painting course working with acrylics and mixed media, this course is suitable for painters of all abilities. It will be particularly useful if you have some painting experience and want to experiment with abstraction and how you use colour, or if you have a more experience but you want to free up from your current style and spend some time experimenting with a different approach.
Ceramics - Platters and Place: an introduction to painting and mark-making with slips- 3 Day course with Anna Lambert.
This is a three day course with internationally recognised and celebrated professional potter Anna Lambert. Learn how to develop designs for simple slab built ceramic platters and tiles. You will discover ways to build complex and layered surfaces with tonal and coloured slips, using combinations of surface pattern techniques.
You'll start with the rolling of slabs for plates and test pieces. We will then spend time around Coombe Farm, drawing and gathering ideas for the workshop.
DISCOVER COLOUR IN THE LANDSCAPE – Soft Pastel and Mixed Media with Sarah Bee.
Join Sarah on this course and have guidance to the limitless and varied mark making opportunities possible within her methods.
Achieve energetic work in the studio as an interpretation of sketches, words and information gathered outside in the stunning South Devon landscape. Sarah will demonstrate regularly, and offer frequent individual tuition
Painting - 3 day course - Natures Patterns with Rosie Harbottle - SOLD OUT.
This 3 day course will begin by drawing from a still life looking at colour and composition, drawing upon the plants and flowers that surround Coombe. Through a series of exercises, you will build on experimentation and observation before planning and painting a diptych on canvas, capturing the personality of your chosen flower(s). This course is ideal if you are looking to build on your colour theory and immerse yourself in the intimate world of flowers and the myriad of patterns and colours in the natural world.
Painting - A bold approach with Tessa Pearson.
A bold approach to sketchbook painting is a fresh and vibrant course with accomplished painter and printmaker Tessa Pearson. You will spend time drawing the surrounding gardens and hedgerows using a variety of mixed media including resists, pastels, watercolour, inks and crayons to create lively spontaneous sketchbook studies which we will then translate into more considered paintings in the studio, capturing the energy and characteristics of the direct observation.
PASTEL WITHOUT BOUNDARIES – A Mixed Media Process with Sarah Bee - places available.
This 4 day course will focus on methods to achieve vibrant and expressive mark making in the landscape using soft pastel as the primary medium in a mixed media process. Sarah Bee PS has been a member of The Pastel Society, and part of the Federation of British Artists, for almost 20 years.
During this time she has made it her mission to lift pastel painting from the doldrums of a long held dull and traditional reputation into the deserved spotlight of inspiring contemporary art.
Painting - 5 day course, Intuitive Abstract Painting in Acrylic + Mixed Media with Kate Trafeli.
An experimental intuitive painting course working with acrylics and mixed media, this course is suitable for painters of all abilities. It will be particularly useful if you have some painting experience and want to experiment with abstraction and how you use colour, or if you have a more experience but you want to free up from your current style and spend some time experimenting with a different approach.
Ceramics - Slab built and Slip-painted Ceramics – Responding to Place - 5 Day course with Anna Lambert.
This is an immersive five day intensive pottery residential with the internationally recognised potter Anna Lambert. Anna builds her work from a white earthenware mixed clay, using a variety of handbuilding techniques.
Painting - A bold approach with Tessa Pearson.
In this course Tessa will introduce you to the fabulous techniques for making monoprints using a silkscreen. This very experimental and unpredictable printmaking method uses no prepared matrix and each print is basically a one off painting created from layers of handpainted and drawn imagery pulled through a screen . Tessa will share her own techniques and we will also explore additional elements of drawn marks and collage with cut stencils. Imagery will be drawn from sketchbook explorations , and time will be spent considering colour and composition. This course is suitable for all abilities with a sense of adventure, prepared to embrace the unexpected!
Painting - DAVID MANKIN Remembering in Paint - 5 day course, Abstract Landscape Painting in Acrylic + Mixed Media - SOLD OUT.
Join David on an exciting voyage through the expressive handling of paint and materials, mark making and collage.
He will guide you through the process of translating the shapes, textures, feelings and moods of the landscape in paint.
Pottery - 5 Day Teapot Throwing Course with Tim Andrews - SOLD OUT
An intermediate pottery throwing course focusing on all the elements of making a teapot and cups. Tim has taught around the world for over thirty years - workshops, lecturing, FE & HE.
He trained originally with David Leach and at Dartington. Tim exhibits internationally - most recently in Japan, China and Australia.
Painting - 5 Day course, Watercolour Abstract Landscapes with Paul Riley.
This course is designed to explore the process of abstracting from the figurative world of nature and to careful editing and composition to leave space for your watercolours to ‘breathe’.
The landscape tradition in watercolour has been long established.
Pottery - 5 Day course with Laurel Keeley - SOLD OUT.
This is an immersive five day intensive pottery residential for intermediate potters focusing on handbuilding with the internationally recognised potter Laurel Keeley.
Laurel works with coloured slips and drawn line in stoneware and porcelain clays, with glazes and oxides applied.
FAQs
What is your cancellation policy?
A deposit of £150 is required at the time of booking, this is to secure your place on the course and is non-refundable and non transferrable unless we are cancelling the course in which case you will be refunded. The balance of course fees are required three weeks before your course starts. They are also non-refundable and non transferable, therefore we suggest you take out adequate travel insurance at the time of booking to ensure you are covered in the event that you are unable to attend your course. Download our full Terms & Conditions for courses here
Is there availability on the course I want?
SOLD OUT courses will be marked as 'Sold Out', and there will not be an option to ‘add to cart’ other courses will have availability.
I can only eat certain things, will this be a problem?
Not at all, when you book your place the booking form will ask you for our dietary and/or access requirements so just let us know and we’ll cater for you accordingly.
Can I bring my dog?
Coombe is home to chickens who supply our eggs, as well as wide variety of people, some of whom have canine allergies. Therefore we don’t support owners bringing their dogs with them/dogs on site. Our neighbours next door at Fingals do accept dogs therefore you have the option of booking with us as non resident and staying next door with your dog.
Do I have to have lots of experience?
No, all our courses are suitable for all abilities except where expressly described i.e. painting for beginners. The rest of the courses are suitable for all, from artists making a living from their work, to complete beginners and we welcome this mix.
What is the cost of a course?
Course prices range from £370 + VAT for a long-weekend to £815 + VAT for a 5-day residential course full board - see each specific course for exact prices.
Do you take waiting lists?
Yes, please email us to join a waiting list for a specific course or tutor or email us here.
How do I get from Totnes train station to Coombe?
Recommended taxi companies from Totnes are Badger Cabs or And Some Cabs. If you let us know when your train time we can see if others would like to share a taxi with you. Sometimes we are also able to pick you up depending on arrival times so do check with us. At the end of the course, we can give you a lift back to Totnes train station.
If I book as a resident, will I have to share a bedroom?
No all our rooms are for single occupancy unless you expressly wish to share a double room with a partner, in which case just let us know at the time of booking, for everyone else all rooms are for single occupancy.
How do I book on to a course?
Click onto the course for more information and online booking OR call us and we can either book you in over the phone or send you a booking form in the post 01803 722 352.
I’m not sure which course is best for me, can someone advise me?
Yes of course, give us a ring to discuss your interests and level of experience and we can advise you on different options and answer any other queries you may have 01803 722352.
Question not answered?
If your question isn’t answered here, please do get in contact with us