Art Classes in Didsbury

Karen earned her degree in Art from Florida State University on an art scholarship she was awarded from a contest through the state of Florida by designing the Florida Bicentennial Medallion. There she majored in Art and Design with additional Business Curriculum. Karen raised two daughters, owned a bridal business, taught K-12 art classes, worked in sales, management, and visual merchandising. Karen loves creating portraits…especially custom pet portraits! She enjoys working in Pencil, Pen, Ink, Pastels, and Acrylics! Her focus now is to give back to others while sharing her passion and love of art. Karen can’t wait to guide you step-by-step through every fun and creative art project!

Asia enjoyed teaching adults and children for 20 years, self publishing a book, and being a small business owner in the personal development industry. Asia loves playing with watercolor, working in her herb garden, and creating jewelry with precious metals. She is passionate about exploring a variety of mediums which attracted her to ColourWheel. Asia and her husband, James, have two grown sons. She lives near the North Carolina Coast, loves the outdoors, and enjoys visiting the beach every chance she gets. Asia loves meeting new people and creating a community space for people to get messy, make mistakes, and shine. She looks forward to welcoming you, supporting you and cheering you on in art class.

Libby is a designer-maker, artist teacher living with her son in the Malvern Hills area. She has always worked within Art and Design, which has allowed her to create, build and develop with a broad variety of materials, techniques and processes. Libby completed my BA(Hons) degree in Design Crafts at Hereford College of Art and Design and found her passion for making contemporary antique furniture and constructed textiles based on a theme she called “working the magic”.
After her degree Libby completed a PGCE with Marches Consortium specializing in Design and Technology and taught Resistant Materials, Textiles, Graphics and Art and Design to a GCSE and A-level standard. She currently works in the busy Art and Design department of a local college as a Demonstrating Technician and covering Lecturer. Libby enjoys supporting others to achieve their outcomes and working within a variety of arts including Photography, Textiles, Fashion, Print, 3D and Fine Art.
In her spare time Libby enjoys spending it in the countryside, traveling, motorcycle touring with her partner and developing new ranges for her crafts business.

Linzi trained at Bradford Art College gaining her B.A. in Art & Design. She went on to become a named designer at Liberty’s and sold her hand-printed silks exclusively in Liberty’s of London. Linzi had always written and performed her own songs and she signed to Warner Chappell’s as a songwriter having won the Nordoff Robins singer songwriter award through Radio 1. She gained her teacher training and PG Cert in Fine Art & Professional Practice and went on to become Head of Art/Textiles in London. Linzi became Assistant Director for KW4K’s which culminated in a charity performance in aid of Anti-Slavery International at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House called ‘Break the Chains’. Her interest in art, theatre, set design and music has been a constant thread throughout her life. From set designing on London fringe productions to set design for a production at The Traverse, Edinburgh Festival she has facilitated community music and art projects both in the UK and abroad. In 2007 Linzi devised and led an Arts initiative in Banda Ache, Sumatra, following the tsunami. She worked with over 100 students who had been directly affected by the tsunami, creating artworks with the children to raise money for the Sukma Banska schools. Linzi worked at Compton Verney Art Gallery in the Learning Department, before becoming Head of Art at The Croft School for five years. She continues to work with ‘Stratford Youth Theatre’ making and designing sets and props for their productions.
Presently, working as a freelance Artist/Teacher she continues to make and exhibit her ceramic sculptures and prints. She is particularly drawn to textiles and drawing, selling her work at Narberth Pottery in Pembrokeshire. Linzi hosts and produces The Art Show on Welcombe Radio, Stratford upon Avon, a community radio station. The Art Show showcases and celebrates all art forms made in the community, and is an online space that enables creative people to share their work.

Rav is our partner in the beautiful, rural region of Malvern in Worcestershire located at one the most iconic and characterful Abbeys, The Abbey Hotel. She grew up in the midlands and studied finance and management. She has spent most of her career in sales and marketing working nationwide. She enjoys travelling with her husband and taking advantage of Worcester’s many walking trails. She has a very philosophical view to life and thrives on encouraging others to realise their true potential. She believes that through art people can express themselves in ways that they didn’t think was possible.

Emily is our Partner in Guildford, she is married with three children, all girls! Emily started her career as a dancer before studying for and gaining a qualification in interior design. Emily is highly creative but has an innate sense of customer service, she runs lovely daytime and evening classes at her beautiful venues in Godalming and Guildford.

Nathalie has always had a passion for drawing and she specialised in Art and Art History whilst studying in France. She did her Foundation course at Atelier de Sèvres Babylone in Paris and then attended the Olivier de Serres Art School. Moving to England at 23 she specialised in murals, taking commissions from schools, restaurants and also for homes. Nathalie developed a strong interest in portraiture exhibiting four times at the National Portrait Gallery as part of the BP Portrait Award. Recent commissions include Sir Christopher Snowdon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Surrey and Dame Helen Alexander, Chancellor of the University of Southampton. Nathalie has been teaching for a number of years and enjoys encouraging her students to explore their artistic side and develop their skills.

Angeli is a Partner covering the beautiful villages in Runnymede and Surrey Heath. Born in Hampstead, London, Angeli grew up in Old Windsor on the Berkshire/Surrey borders and has lived, worked and studied across London. Initially a business graduate, her career followed various roles in buying, sales and marketing, mainly in the IT software industry, providing a rich source of skills for business support. Whilst working and looking after her family Angeli pursued her interest in developing her creative skills through part-time college courses, subsequently graduating with her BA (Hons) Fine Art from the Buckingham Chilterns University College. She enjoys country walks, pottery and DIY, including a project to set up a garden art studio.

Rebecca has always had a love of art, from drawing colourful characters to ceramics. Because of this, she studied Art and Design before going to the University of Wales, Newport to do a degree in Animation, her favourite part was learning from the teachers of the Disney animators. Rebecca has worked in education for nearly ten years, from teaching art to children and young people that didn’t fit into mainstream education to traditional crafts and archery in an Iron Age village. She currently works in a museum and gallery organising events and hands-on activities for the visitors, alongside finding any excuse to be creative.

Jacquie has spent the last 20 years of her career in corporate logistics working for some of the industry leaders. Having always had a passion for art and regularly attending part-time courses she wanted to move out of the corporate environment to allow her creative side to flourish. Born in Scotland and moving to Sheffield for work before moving yet further south eventually settling in Hertfordshire she is thrilled to be doing something she is passionate about. Jacquie loves to read, paint, draw and cook, she restores furniture and lives with her beloved rescue cat Obi.

Natalija is our teacher in Romiley. She is currently studying for her Masters at the Manchester Metropolitan University where she also gained her BA Hons in Art and Illustration. A freelance illustrator and designer, Natalija has been teaching art for several years. She has a broad knowledge of a variety of art techniques and loves helping people explore art and expand their creativity. She runs a number of workshops and classes and has a love of animation. She is enthusiastic and a wonderful communicator and her enthusiasm in class is infectious.

Kathy is our ColourWheel Partner in Stockport. Kathy lives in Stockport with her partner and son. She has spent 10 years working for local charities involved in health and dementia, supporting and managing volunteers. Kathy is also a trained English teacher, and enjoys working with people to help them achieve their best. She loves being creative, cooking and being outdoors and travels around the country in her campervan whenever she can. She welcomes everyone to her friendly, supportive art classes.

Coming from a family of actors and singers, Jane originally trained at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London as a scenic artist going on to work in professional theatre for many years. After finding having small children and the theatre didn’t mix, she later studied Figurative Sculpture at Stafford Art College and went on to set up her own professional art studio based in Cheshire where she now creates both commissioned sculptures and paintings. Jane has taught art within schools and community settings for over twenty years and has been “artist in residence” in both the UK and Europe for both charities and corporations. She lives with her husband Steve in Bollington in the beautiful hills of the Peak District and has four grown up children. Her sculpture can be seen at www.janerobbinssculpture.co.uk

Rania lives in Didsbury since she came to England in 2006 and she is married with three children. Rania trained in design and art direction and studied for her Masters degree at Manchester Metropolitan University. Rania has since worked as graphic designer and also a teaching assistant. Rania loves art in all its forms, she loves to draw and graphic design is her passion. With three children she does not have much time for hobbies but when she does likes to swim, go the gym, read and travelling. Rania is delighted to be working with students to develop their skills and interest in art, it’s a passion she shares.

Sally is our Partner in Cheltenham. Sally’s background, before leaving to look after her growing boys was hospitality, she lived in Bahrain working with the airlines, followed by arranging and wedding planning; she has also spent time as a teaching assistant. Sally now looks after her family, she loves keeping active and spending time with her beloved chihauhuas, Saphire and LouLou. Sally loves design and has a special interest in art therapy, particularly in the area of mental health.

Chloe was born in Harrow and grew up in Buckinghamshire. She gained a BA (Hons) in Illustration from Brighton University and went on to complete a PGCE in Secondary Art and Design at Roehampton University, Surrey. Chloe has worked in the Education Department at Tate Britain where she supported learning programmes for school students, teachers and adults. She enjoys drawing on location, visiting museums, craft centres and art galleries. Chloe also likes to take inspiration from travelling overseas. These adventures include three days trekking along an ancient oxen trail with women from the red Hmong in Sapa, Vietnam. Chloe left her teaching job at Camden School for Girls, after eleven years to relocate to Exeter. Here, she is combining teaching workshops and continuing with her own art practice.

Joanne is our ColourWheel Partner in Exeter, Devon. She spent most of her adult life living and working in Madrid, Spain. Whilst bringing up her two sons she continued her career in education as a primary school teacher ending up as a head teacher of a British school in Madrid. She recently returned to the UK with her husband, took some time out and signed up for ColourWheel classes in Windsor. She has recently moved to Exeter and ColourWheel presented an ideal opportunity for her. She enjoys all forms of art with music being one of her main passions. She enjoys living an outdoor lifestyle and is never happier than being at one with nature in Devon’s beautiful countryside.

Jayne went to Cleveland College of Art and Design, then went onto Manchester Metropolitan University where she did her BA Hons in fashion. Moving to London following her graduation she worked in design for 4 years before having a ‘Damascus’ moment and completely changing direction in her career. Wanting to do something much more fulfilling Jayne retrained as a teacher passing her PGCE at Greenwich University. Jayne has taught art for many years, she is extremely active in her community and has a passion for the art and culture of the North East, particularly wanting to bring the heritage of her area to the local children. She has produced murals for the local area and also directed the Durham Ensemble’s performance in Stratford for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Associate Schools Playmaking Festival. Jayne is currently fascinated by trees and her work is focusing on pen and ink but experimenting with watercolours. She is also planning to get back to life drawing.

When she is not teaching, working on her art or looking after her family Jayne loves to work on her allotment growing her own fruit and vegetables. She loves cycling, yoga and travelling in Northern Europe and Scotland where the landscape gives her inspiration. Jayne is married with a daughter and lives just moments from our Durham venue at Ushaw College.

Michael is our Partner in Durham, he is hosting art classes in the City and surrounding areas. Michael grew up and has lived in the Durham area all his life, he is a husband and a father of two. He has spent a large part of his working life with the Royal Mail and is very much looking forward to a role where he works with people as they learn and grow their artistic skills. He is a natural people person and facilitator who will make sure the students have a wonderful class experience. Michael loves the surrounding area, he likes being outdoors and is a very keen sportsman, he loves running, cycling, fell-walking and is often accompanied by his faithful companion, a black lab named Dodge.

Over the last three years Michael has gained excellent knowledge and hands on experience of running classes. Has grown his business significantly, now running four classes from the same location. In addition, he has demonstrated agility, responding quickly to the changes needed during lockdown and ran two fully subscribed zoom classes. He has maximised earnings by tailoring his classes to suit the climate of uncertainty. Michael has managed and marketed his area with huge success and his classes are always fully booked with a returners rate of over 80%.

Ewa is an enthusiastic, warm and encouraging teacher and is extremely popular with our students. Ewa studied Applied Art at Hertfordshire University. She is a talented artist and sculptress and her work promotes British culture and history. Ewa works with English Heritage designing costume and scenery for events. Her work is exceptionally detailed and is shown around the UK. As well as teaching art Ewa is a talented horsewoman and teaches jousting along with other equine combat techniques.

Steve is our Partner for the Butlers Cross daytime and evening class, he has a wealth of experience managing the teams delivering a first class customer service experience in often difficult situations. The move to ColourWheel is a breath of fresh air for him and allows him to work with his passion for art. As well as art, Steve has many hobbies and interests and he has recently completed an Open University degree in Humanities. He is a father of two and is very involved in the local community, serving on several committees that serve the local youth groups.

Shelagh is a painter, printmaker and teacher. After years spent working in the world of publishing, she went back to university again, gaining a degree in Fine Art from the University of Reading, followed by a PGCE in Art Education. She has taught in schools and in adult education, and strongly believes that everyone can reap the rewards of exploring their creative potential. Shelagh exhibits regularly in group exhibitions and attends as many workshops as time allows – she loves learning new skills and finding different ways to be creative.
Visit www.shelaghcasebourne.com to see Shelagh’s work.

Antoinette is a talented, fun and lively teacher. She is a freelance artist, fine art restorer, and visual arts tutor. She graduated from Wimbledon School of Art with a BA (hons) degree in Technical Arts followed shortly after, by her training as a conservator of easel paintings. She works mainly in the medium of painting both in her art and restoration practice, but has worked on large scale installations and sculptural pieces for commissioned projects as well as film and theatre.
Antoinette enjoys the process of teaching art, sharing her creative knowledge and skills, and seeing her students progress. Over the years she has worked with a wide range of young people and adults through organisations such as South Hill Park, the Tate Galleries and Woking College.
www.abpaintingrestoration.co.uk

Vivienne is our ColourWheel partner in the Reading area. Vivienne was born in Reading, returning there to study Mechanical Engineering at Reading University. She then spent most of her working life in Africa, most recently in Tanzania, where she was coordinating projects to provide clean water and sanitation to some of the poorest communities. She returned to the UK in 2016 and decided to take some time out to do something for her own personal development – she signed up for ColourWheel classes in Windsor. She was so enthralled with the classes and amazed at what she had gained from the experience, that she signed up for a second term and started to enquire about the franchise opportunity. The rest is history, as they say! Vivienne is a keen environmentalist and loves nature and animals, which are her main inspiration when drawing and painting. She believes that art is one of the best therapies for life and wellbeing.

Inge is a professional painter and enthusiastic teacher with 15 years teaching experience, including painting, life drawing, illustration for fashion design as well as art and design history.
She completed her B.A. Hons. Degree in Fine Art and History of Art in Cape Town, after which she changed direction and became a qualified cabinet-maker, eventually starting her own furniture design business.
Painting called her back however, and she has been painting and teaching art full time since 1999 working with people of all ages and abilities.
In 2016 she was chosen to participate in Sky Portrait Artist of the Year, which aired in spring 2017 on Sky Arts.
She entered again in 2019 and made it through to the Finals of Portrait Artist of the Year 2020 on Sky and Channel 4.
Inge continues to exhibit in Open Studio events, as well as group shows. Inge specialises in figurative, narrative oil painting.
Some works play with the characteristics of portraiture – her figures are characters in a suggested narrative – akin to a film still. The paintings invite the viewer to participate, to inquire.
A recurring theme in her work over the last 19 years has been light within darkness. The light is the source that drives her, the faith, even embodied in the work she produces. It is all about the mystery and beauty of the unseen and unknown.
Inge has been teaching our Maidenhead students since 2017. She is an absolute gem, with lots of patience, experience & a heart of absolute gold. www.ingeduplessis.com

Erica is a freelance illustrator, designer, artist and teacher. Erica is passionate about art, jewellery design, and visual communication. She has a PGCE in Art Education from Goldsmiths College and a BA (Hons) Illustration from Southampton Solent University. She has taught art in local schools for many years as well as teaching art to adults in various settings. Erica also facilitates workshops for clients such as The Tate and The Wellcome Trust. She is an author, her book Cutting Edge Fashion Illustration has been published both is the UK and US. Erica lives locally with her husband and pug Pedro. When not teaching in class, she works from her home studio creating illustrations and jewellery designs. Erica has been teaching with ColourWheel since January 2017.
www.ericajewellery.com