Workshops & Courses

Workshops will run in Autumn & Spring/Early Summer each year, Black Water Print Studio has been recently created to provide a print studio where I produce my own work in the form of prints but also to allow me as a tutor to pass on my skills, ensuring learners work at their preferred pace through "Private Booking" or through Workshops which are delivered in the studio, this is a cosy space, with a limit of 3 learners.

The studio is well equipped housing two Etching presses, an Inking area & drying rack, learners have a space to design, plan, drink hot beverages & munch on cakes & biscuits.

The studio is situated in the basement of our home, with its own entrance it faces Ben Wyvis & the ever-changing scenery, skies and weather we have here in Garve, with occasional Buzzards & Red Kites.

The studio is part of Myrtle Cottage which is over150 years old, stone built sitting at the base of the Ben Wyvis Mountain Range in Garve, Western Ross in the centre of the Scottish Highlands.

*Bookings are currently being taken for half day/ full day & 2/3 day workshops for individual or group learners : Please Make Contact to discuss/make a booking.

The Studio

Printmaking/Art Based Holidays - will be offered from 2023, to provide tuition in various different Printmaking processes incorporating a wide range of techniques, engaging new learners, Intermediate Learners and those who simply need to let of some artistic steam, to explore combined media. Residential courses accommodate 1-2 learners & will be offerred to those attending these courses.

Introduction courses - over 2 days - Introductory courses in lino, Drypoint, Collagraph, exploring Inking techniques to include chine colle.
Intermediate courses - are designed to provide explorative printmaking processes & techniques - over 2-3 days, all of which can be adapted to suit specific requirements of individual artist/printmakers/learners.
Photography and Print courses - 2-4 days - The Studio is situated in a stunning spot, a real gem in terms of natural beauty, this mini print course takes a wee wander locally with cameras with editing which inspire the consequent prints in Lino, Drypoint or Collagraph processes.

Reviews

Sun Pier House, Kent - 2 Day Lino Introduction Course, with explored inking -

Students were 10 in number and a very successful min course was enjoyed by all, learners stated "They found the course to be informative & that the tuition was very clear, that they would happily take a follow up course and were happy and excited with their outcomes" - this came from their course planner.

Sun Pier House, Kent - 2 Day Lino Introduction Course, with explored inking -

Dingwall Art Group - 2 Weeks course x 4 hrs - Lino printmaking - Introductory course.

“Excellent planning & organizational skills, Great Interpersonal Skill, Fenella is Dynamic, Passionate & Quirky.”

“Definitely like to attend more of your classes, Highly Recommended! Keep up the good work.”

“The course was well paced, provided a good understanding and was so well organised”

“I am much more confident in my understanding of the subject and printmaking and eally enjoyed these sessions, Fenella is an excellent teacher.”

“You exude enthusiasm and it's contagious.” “Thank You”

“Really enjoyed the course, learned a massive amount, Fenella always brings such enthusiasm to her classes, A Joy.”

“Most Enjoyable, with plenty of help.”

Dingwall Art Group - 3 week course x 6 hrs - Lino Mono Combined Printmaking

“The whole process was explained in written outlines and in person, all stages were well explained & encouragement to be brave, excellent, loved it, Thank You”

“Loved it all, FREEDOM”

“Fenella was so organised & really fun, come back soon”

“Very Inspirational.”

“Lovely Course, Great Tutor, Very Helpful & Informative”

Created in a 5 week course, to suit the clients needs - A memory print - Collagraph 1:1 Tuition 50x50cm.

“I’d like to say how much I enjoyed all our sessions and really appreciated being able to experience each of the stages in creating my "work of art". I was very much a beginner so your input throughout was vital. Being able to get to you by train made the experience more meaningful for me, and you kindly picking me up each time was so kind.

The bits I enjoyed the most were selecting the ideas/memories for inclusion in the collagraph, using the press and watching your passion for what you do.

Once again, many thanks and I wish you well in your artistic life.”

East Sutherland Art Society - 2 day Workshop - Creative printmaking, Gathering colour, Lino/Mono Combination Printing.

“Fabby Workshop! I will definitely attend more classes”

“Friendly, relaxed, fun”

“ Appreciated the pace, flexibility of technique & individual pace for each of us, approachable course leader”

“Excellent, thank you for supporting our different approaches and giving your knowledge”

“ Really interesting, enjoyed the two days so much.”

“ Lovely atmosphere in the workshop, Very Creative, Thank You”

“ Thoroughly enjoyed the 2 days,I learned such a lot, going home with some lovely prints, Thank You so much.”

Collagraph Workshop - Portmahomack - x2 Days ESAS.

Information

good and informative information ahead of the workshop
This was very thorough, I was a bit overwhelmed reading it all actually, part of this was I had no clue about collagraph though.

Tuition
Tutoring was very good, having known almost nothing about collagraph found this was very good and there was a lot to cram in and Fenella had good structure and plan to the workshop. Also it was great the examples of her prints she took along to give us ideas on what to use.
I very much enjoyed it as I'd got a bit disillusioned with linoprinting and the restrictions with colour, but this was better.
great workshop and I really enjoyed it
thought this workshop scored high! A lot of information to take in and I was pretty tired by the end (and the next day!), but really worthwhile. Fenella works so hard!
Fenella was very thorough, her knowledge and enthusiasm were excellent, good instruction, yes it was clear workshop was all I expected and I really enjoyed it.
Duration was about right, for being new to it.
The pace to complete some things was quite fast but good; had it had more time probably I would have tried to overcomplicate my plate and probably would not have been as enjoyable. Two days was about correct length overall for this intro to collagraph.
good materials were provided.
I thought Fenella was excellent. She was well organised. She was very generous of her time and the resources she provided.
I've just cleaned the plate and it looks lovely so I'm framing that
Did not know what to expect; I learned a lot and found it very interesting and engaging. It was never boring or too taxing so it was successful.
Fenella was a fantastic tutor, incredibly patient and helpful with everything.
I am looking forward to the next one
I loved it and was inspired to learn more about printmaking and do more.

Private 2x Learners - Black Water Print Studio - Garve

From booking to completed article, the whole experience was exciting and inspiring. We now look at items in a different light and as potential items to print! After receiving a warm welcome at her lovely studio in Garve, we were shown some examples of collagraph plates and prints. To get us to further understand the ‘how’, we made our own mini plates using a selection of wallpaper, string and other interesting textured items, and got to print these as a monoprint. We then started designing our final picture which we got to print on the second day in mono and colour. Creating the first mini plate was a huge help in the understanding of the process and Fenella provided constant guidance and helped avoid any disasters, e.g. too much ink! Looking forward to booking our next workshop soon! Val Sweeney & Kira Brown, Beauly