Embrace Autumn at West Dean

West Dean College of Arts and Conservation, Nr Chichester, has just launched 300+ short courses including many that are inspired by West Dean’s wonderful surroundings and their award-winning gardens.

Full details of all the courses are on the College website at www.westdean.ac.uk and include a wide variety from Digital Landscape Photography, Creating your own Planting Plan and Creating a sense of place in your garden to Wild Textiles – foraging and natural dyeing and Painting Autumn Landscapes.

For the gardening enthusiast there are courses on Botanical Painting; Growing Apples, pears, plums and cherries, with John Nash (7th November) and Simplifying the rules – easier ways to a successful vegetable and fruit garden with Charles Dowding (January 23rd 2021),(pictured banner above)

Henry Macaulay and Max Crisfield will be running Working with Colour in your Garden on 10th October, 2020 (see picture right); Annie Guilfoyle will be running a workshop on Contemporary Christmas decorations (pictured below left) from foraged materials on 18th December 2020 and also Designing your own garden, from 7th to 10th January 2021.

February 2021 sees a week devoted to sustainability titled RE-SEEN – Make more, waste less – encouraging students to reclaim or reinvent through courses including Ceramics with found objects and natural materials with Elaine Bolt.

To ensure a safe and welcoming campus, the College has put in place measures operating on a principle of the same as, or better than, national guidelines and includes social distancing, self-opening doors, less students in workshops and extensive cleaning protocols.

The College offers the perfect opportunity to escape and recharge and get hands on with arts and craft skills as well as boosting your own wellbeing in the process. Set in the South Downs National Park, the College’s rural location makes it particularly attractive as more of us take the opportunity to reconnect with and discover the restorative power of the natural environment.

Full details of courses, booking arrangements, cost etc can be found at: www.westdean.ac.uk

Photo credits: Banner, Charles Dowding; middle right, Henry Macaulay and bottom left Annie Guilfoyle.