My book on 'Teaching Creative Workshops in Person & Online' was published in February 2025.
After years of teaching creative professionals, makers, artists and designer makers on business & professional development skills, as well as how to teach online, I was commissioned by @herbert.press to write 'the ultimate handbook for teaching creative workshops'.
This book is practical, hones, encouraging and full of real-life advice for creatives who want to tech in a way that is more meaningful, professional and profitable.
Whether you are thinking about teaching or have been teaching for many years, this book covers all the practical aspects of turning your training into something better!
With advice from planning + designing workshops, becoming a more confident teacher, to all aspects of marketing your creative workshops, and costing and pricing too.
With 16 in depth case studies of creative teachers who have made teaching a big part of their creative practice too. @raunihigson@lucktaylorceramics@ekta_kaul@hannynewton
Available from all good bookshops and Amazon too.
#teachingcreativeworkshops #teachonline #craftworkshop #workshopteacher #patriciavandenakker
Creative teachers - this is a day for YOU!
Our Fire Starter Camp in London on Monday 1 June.
Swipe ⬅️ to hear just a few comments from our fantastic participants in 2025.
It was a magical day! Come and be a part of it.
All the details via our bio or on our website .
What a day at @hutonthegreen 🔥
Hosted by @thedesigntrust , the FIRESTARTER event brought together creatives who teach — diving into why we teach and who we’re here for.
A day full of big ideas, honest conversations, and exciting plans for what’s next!
We’ve got a lot in the works… watch this space!
Thanks so much to Patricia for venturing up North to bring the spark to light our fires! 🔥 (she certainly did that!)
#CreativeCommunity #necreatives #CreativeBusiness #TeachWhatYouLove #CreativeEntrepreneur
We love hearing how our memberships and workshops positively impact creative business owners. Emails and messages letting us know what our community are achieving because of their learning with us, always make us smile!
Artist and printmaker Claire Rumbsy, sent us the following…
"During one of the Dream Plan Do sessions in January, I realised that following a relocation I had become so insular and lonely, I feared going out. The move had been so isolating I didn't want to step outside my front door, which was shocking.
The realisation resonated so strongly with me that connection became my main focus for the start of 2026.
As a direct result of that DPD session, I organised meeting up with a fellow printmaker who took me to an open exhibition in Leicester. I saw a stitched paper artwork that really spoke to me. Buoyed by my rediscovered confidence, I messaged the artist - Amy Bonsor.
A few messages, a meet up, and a cuppa later and we have collaborated with her re-imagining some of my prints.
Alongside this I messaged a local gallery that I noticed ran workshops. This has turned out to be such a fantastic working partnership that not only do they stock my work, but I run workshops there AND they offered to host Amy and my collaborative exhibition which runs in a couple of weeks for 2 weeks2.
Brilliant news, Claire. Be proud of taking all that action!
'In A New Light' takes place at Lilypad Fine Art Gallery in Lutterworth from 22 May - 5 June.
@lilypadfinearts@claire.rumsby@amybonsorart
Craft Festival Bovey Tracey 2026
12 - 14 June 2026
Craft Festival Bovey Tracey is celebrating 22 years this June. Are you going?
Enjoy a day or a weekend in the beautiful Devon countryside, celebrating craft, creativity and community. Over 200 of the finest makers have been carefully selected to exhibit at Craft Festival Bovey for one of the largest and most exciting gatherings of makers in the UK.
Visitors can experience workshops, over 20 demonstrators, talks, the world's smallest solar powered cinema, yoga, free children's activities, live music, theatre, storytelling, and lots of fantastic food.
The workshop programme is open for bookings and includes wood carving, broom making, stitching, natural dyeing, marbling, wood working, and stone carving. Enjoying 2 hours of making and learning a new skill is an important part of the Craft Festival experience.
Tickets for each day or for the full weekend (one day isn't really enough!) are now available.
/BoveyTracey or via @craftfestival
Member Monday - Anne Barrell
If you had to tell someone what you did in one sentence, what would you say?
I make painterly ceramic pieces with a maritime narrative. People connect with the stories of travel, safe harbours and stormy seas.
What one part of what you do as a creative gives you goosebumps?
It’s the making process, when I’m immersed in the work and in a flow state and the piece I’m working on is coming together. They are really paintings in a ceramic form.
What are you working on in your business right now?
So much! I have had a really exciting commission making prizes for a yacht regatta in July. I’m also working with a designer on a new swish website which will be launched just before I go to Craft Festival Bovey Tracey in June. I’m making new work for that and also I’m working on special collections for Baxters Gallery in Dartmouth (May) and Porthminster Gallery in St Ives (August). I’m currently Guest Artist for May at Shoreham Gallery and I’ve got a pop up at Batemans, the home of Rudyard Kipling, until 17th May
with three other members of the Sussex Guild.
Is there any one workshop / learning session from The Design Trust that stands out for you?
Doing ‘Dream Plan Do’ really helps to keep me on track. There’s been more emphasis on looking after yourself recently and it’s so important to look after yourself first. When I get stressed I just say ‘It’s only pottery!’ I love being my own boss.
What is the best piece of business / life advice you have ever been given?
Life’s not a rehearsal, so take some risks, do what you really want to do and enjoy the journey. Also, sorry this is another one! Don’t dilute your work to make it ‘affordable’- it never works.
@anne.barrell #tdtmembermonday
The teaching guests in our Business Club just keep on delivering pure actionable quality!
Thank you Aime from @studio.cotton for a brilliant session around optimising websites. Our members left the workshop with lists of to dos.
If you don’t already follow Studio Cotton, please do. Aime and team are always so generous with their knowledge and experience.
Photos by @georgiadelotz
LONDON CRAFT WEEK is coming up next week (11 - 17 May) and there's SO much going on we can't possibly mention it all.
We have chosen just three events which we love the sound of. And big up Sothebys for being so involved!
SECRET CERAMICS at Sothebys
London Craft Week and FiredUp4 present the third edition of Secret Ceramics held at Sotheby’s London. 100 donated ceramics by leading and emerging artists are presented for sale anonymously, supporting the running of FiredUp4 Clay Clubs to enable young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to experience the power of creating with clay.
The Secret Ceramics fixed-price (£650 per piece) sale is a chance to guess your favourite artist or just buy with your heart from a room full of ceramic talent, including donations from Ebony Russell, Freya Bramble Carter, Jacques Monneraud and Michel Francois. Sales are in person at Sotheby’s only, with artists revealed on purchase.
INTOART at Sothebys
Tékhnē, Craft Skill Knowledge is an exhibition that brings together eight artists exploring the intersection of craft, skill, and knowledge to bring creative visions to life. The word, derived from Greek, describes the combination of specialised technical, creative and conceptual knowledge with its application. Intoart is a pioneering visual arts organisation championing learning disabled and autistic people as visible, equal & established artists and designers.
GUIDED WORKSHOP VISIT: A DIALOGUE WITH MATERIALS at COCKPIT DEPTFORD
Step inside the workshops of glassblower Theo Brooks, ceramicist Sara Dodd and wood sculptor Eleanor Lakelin on this tour at Cockpit Deptford, guided by an expert from Homo Faber. Together, these master artisans reveal how form emerges through dialogue with material rather than control over it. Working with glass, clay and wood, each artisan embraces elemental forces – heat, gravity, time and pressure – allowing process to shape the final object. An exciting opportunity to meet the artisans, visit their studios and discover their working processes and inspirations.
Full information and tickets via @londoncraftweek
Image 1: Secret Ceramics
Image 2: IntoArt
Image 3: Eleanor Lakelin
A new month means a new topic in the Business Club and in May we are focusing on 'IMPROVING YOUR WEBSITE & GETTING ONLINE SALES' and we are thrilled to be kicking off with a learning session this Wednesday with Aime Cox from Studio Cotton.
Studio Cotton is a Bristol-based website design company working exclusively with small and independent businesses and podcasts. With nearly two decades in digital marketing, Aime is a go-to expert for small business websites, SEO, UX, and web accessibility.
Your website is monumentally important. It’s the one place where pretty much every single one of your customers will interact with your brand - and it’s how many people will find you in the first place.
So instead of just having a website for your design business, make sure you have a great website.
In this session, Aime will take our Business Club members through the qualities of a successful small business website, so they can better understand the why behind search, shopping, and sales.
She'll touch on areas like SEO, user experience, content, web accessibility, ecommerce, and ongoing management, so that members will come away with a nice to-do list filled with clear actions to start building, growing, and optimising their websites.
It's gonna be great!
@studio.cotton #creativebusinesstraining #onlinebusinessschool #thedesigntrust
Have you got your ticket yet for our Fire Starter event in London (near Kings Cross) on Monday 1 June from 10.30am - 4pm for professional creatives who teach!
We are really excited to bring together creative professionals who teach for an inspiring day to reflect, plan and connect with fellow creatives. Last year our inaugural Fire Starter event was full of energy, ideas, smiles, tears, incredible conversations, laughs, and goosebumps. We ALL had the best time!
This year there will be extra focus on creating deeper, and even transformational experiences: What difference and impact do you want to make with your 'teaching'?
The price of £170 -incl VAT includes refreshments and a delicious lunch!
📍Lumen, Kings Cross, London
🗓 Monday 1 June
🕰 10:30am - 4pm
🍞 Lunch included
Full details and booking here....
🔗 /online-course/fire-starter-london-2026/
or head to the 🔗 in our bio.
Exciting Announcement 📢
We have come together with the brilliant Patricia van den Akker of @thedesigntrust and photographer and Squarespace expert Yeshen Venema @yeshen.uk to invite you to host a storytelling workshop designed for creative businesses.
Creatives from across North London and beyond are warmly invited to join this session to gain inspiration and connect with other creative professionals, freelancers and small business owners.
📅 10.30am-12.30pm Tuesday 9 June
📍 The Council Chamber in the iconic and newly restored Hornsey Town Hall, Crouch End, North London
Many creatives create beautiful work and share great images, but struggle to express what makes them unique. Without a clear story, it’s hard to stand out, attract the right clients, or build a recognisable presence.
⭐️Creative business adviser & trainer Patricia will lead a practical one hour workshop where you will discover how to communicate the story at the heart of your creative practice, so your audience understands not just what you do, but why it matters. Through a mix of short teaching, reflection, and simple exercises, you’ll explore how to clarify your message, connect with your ideal audience, and bring more personality and meaning into your work. You will be working on your own creative business and work with other creatives too.
⭐️This workshop will be followed by a 30mins presentation by photographer and Square Space expert Yeshen Venema on how to use images to communicate your brand values and tell your story visually.
There will also be time for questions and to network with other creatives.
Followed by an optional tour of the Hornsey Town Hall.
🎟️TICKET PRICE: £29 per person
With special thanks to the @hornseytownhall_ for sponsoring this event as part of the Hall for All initiative.
We hope you can join us for what promises to be an inspiring morning where you’ll make meaningful connections.
➡️Book your tickets the LINK in our BIO
#creativebusinessworkshop #storytellingworkshop #crouchend #northlondoncreatives #creativeworkshop
📆 Join Patricia on Wednesday 13 May at 11am for a FREE online session around ‘Teaching Creative Workshops’.
Patricia is very excited to work with both Craft NI and Design & Crafts Council Ireland and inspire makers across Ireland to design & deliver more INSPIRING & special events as part of August Craft Month.
Are you based in NI or Ireland and want to get involved with #AugustCraftMonth? Are you a maker, confident in your making skills and wanting to pass these on or grow your income through workshops and classes? Or maybe you are already teaching your craft, but want to connect in with other makers who teach? Are you planning to host an event during this year’s August Craft Month and want some support?
Learn from and be inspired by Patricia in a short, tip-filled webinar, based on her 2025 book ‘Teaching Creative Workshops’.
Patricia will cover:
👉 Choosing the right type of event: Helping you consider what you could offer, who it’s for, space & practical constraints, and the realities of your time, energy and budget;
👉 An overview of potential event formats: incl. open studios, demonstrations, workshops, exhibitions, talks and tours. Patricia will share the pros and cons of each, alongside simple ways to enhance and elevate them to make it more engaging or special.
👉 Building memorable experiences: Patricia’s knowledge of destination marketing will help turn even a simple event into a memorable experience, through storytelling, small moments of participation, and creating reasons for visitors to come to your event and even linger.
👉 Simple event marketing tips: Focusing on clarity, invitations, and making the most of your existing platforms and networks.
👉 The importance of audience surveys, how you can help us in reaching your visitors and how you can share your experience of taking part in August Craft Month 2026.
👉The workshop will conclude with an optional practical session for those who want to go further and develop their own event idea.
Don’t miss this opportunity to make the most of your participation in Craft NI’s August Craft Month @craft.ni@dccireland
