Five Reasons why I created the Explore Abstracts course
October's here, the days are getting cooler, it's a perfect time to get cosy and make space for creativity and art. Explore Abstracts I begins on Monday 6 October and runs through 16 November 2025. This is the final time that this transformative six-week course is released in a scheduled, "live" course format.
I've listed five reasons why I chose the theme of abstraction for this intensive, deep dive course.
1. Playful Creativity
The concept of playing is intrinsically linked to creativity. Since 2015, when I started to teaching online courses, I've developed a variety of programs to encourage intuitive mark making and playfulness as part of creating processes. It is a great way to loosen up and an effective way to tune into your own way of making art. The natural progression over time was to develop a course where the focus shifted from representative to abstraction
2. Explore Colour and Mixed Media techniques
Making time to experiment with colour mixes to create interesting combinations, and using them for painting techniques in acrylics with mixed media is the central element of this course. In the course's lessons you will learn how to combine colours without making mud and experiment with paint techniques and layering. In the modules' projects you'll learn how to incorporate translucence for added depth and richness and use neutrals, colour values and contrasts to create in new ways. There is a different colour mood for each module of the six-week course has a- I love to share with students what I've learnt about colour over decades as an artist and textile designer.
3. Drawing and Mark Making
Drawing is a direct way to envision ideas and concepts in our heads, and has been incorporated as part of the creative process in all of my courses since 2015. It is not only about observation, there's so much more to discover when you approach drawing from different angles and use different materials .
As an artist and designer, I think drawing can be viewed a bit like note taking could be for an author. The simple act of making visible what you observe and think is a powerful one and a sketchbook is perfect for making thumbnail sketches from which ideas will grow. The *ability* to draw isn't of importance—engaging fully is. Drawing is also also about mark making and exploring your visual language in different materials, and is embraced in this painting focussed course.
4. The Creative Leap Method™
In 2016 I started to introduce my drawing concept, the Creative Leap Method™, in all my online courses. I developed this process whereby handwriting is incorporated for the purpose of drawing, using letters and numbers as anchor points for all kinds of drawings that enable you to engage with your own imagination in a free flowing and natural way. I have seen how effective this method is to get students to 'hoodwink' the inner critic and engage their brains creatively, surprising themselves time and again.
5. Explore Possibilities & Transform Your Art Practice
Explore Abstracts I is a course that will push creative boundaries, enhance colour confidence, and make your unique creative style bolder and stronger. You'll:
Develop your unique artistic voice through the Creative Leap Method™
Master professional colour mixing and layering techniques
Learn innovative painting methods with a wide range of materials
Create a complete vocabulary of expressive marks and forms
Whether you're new to abstracts or looking to deepen your practice, this course offers a structured yet playful approach to discovering new creative possibilities to be applied in any way you choose, not just abstracts.
What You Get?
Lessons will be released daily from Monday to Thursday, with a larger weekend assignment every Saturday. That's thirty inspiring projects in total with seventeen hours of recorded and edited demo videos + additional bonus content.
Explore Abstracts I consists of six modules with five projects in each one. The wide selection of processes covered in this course will nudge you to expand your creative practice regardless of prior experience.
This is a course where I've put together the widest selection of acrylic paint and mixed materials to be used in layered paintings. You'll create a total of sixteen paintings, in addition to various experimental artworks on paper.
The course can be completed during the six weeks, or you can work at your own pace with access to all course projects until end of 2026..
An exclusive class group on Facebook will be available as a space to share your work, ask questions, and see what others create. This is optional, but it's a wonderful way to enhance your learning experience.
Join Us
Registration is now open at £587 with the option to split payments over two months. Click here for more information.