Scratching the Surface – Online Studio Workshop

Description

What to Expect
This is a pre-recorded, self-paced workshop just over 90 minutes long. Hopefully you’ll feel as if you’re sitting next to me in the studio.
You’ll see natural pause points throughout the video so you can stop, take a break, experiment, and come back whenever you’re ready. There’s no rush — you can move through the material at the pace that feels right for you.

What You’ll Need to Get Started
All you truly need are a few simple materials you may already have in your studio:
Black polymer clay (I recommend Sculpey Premo)
Acrylic paint in a small, limited palette — any colours you love and already have
A bakeable adhesive such as Liquid Sculpey or Bake & Bond
Wood blanks in a few sizes and shapes
Basic tools for making marks in both baked and unbaked clay (I demonstrate several options throughout the workshop)
The only tool you may need to purchase, if you don’t already have one, is a lino tool (lino cutter) — it’s incredibly helpful for creating bold carved lines.
Everything else is flexible. Use what you have, improvise where needed, and let your materials guide the exploration.

About this Workshop :
Scratching the Surface isn’t about copying a project or following rigid steps. It’s a studio-style experience designed to loosen you up, spark ideas, and give you a whole new way of thinking about colour, mark-making, and surface play.

You’ll work with simple tools, polymer clay, paint, and wood blanks to explore painterly techniques that feel expressive rather than precise. Each approach is meant to build confidence, open creative doors, and help you develop surfaces that feel alive — full of movement, gesture, and curiosity.

This workshop is designed for makers who crave process over perfection, who love experimenting with colour, and who enjoy discovering unexpected marks along the way. When you’re finished, you’ll have a beautifully varied collection of pieces — not a prescribed project, but a set of expressive elements you can turn into jewelry, small artworks, or anything your imagination wants next.

We are proud to represent vendors of quality tools and supplies. Occasionally there may be a defective item and should this happen we will gladly issue a replacement or refund. Other items may also be returned if they are unused and in their original packaging and may be subject to a restocking charge. Please contact us with any questions and before returning merchandise.