with Lisa Hawkins

This six-week, part-time course has been designed for students looking to expand their knowledge and skills in painting. 

Focusing on technical areas such as gesture, contour, observation and imaginative drawing, this course will allow students to extend their understanding of a new medium or increase their mastery of an existing painting skill. By the end of the course, students will have produced a portfolio of experimental, exploratory work and a final piece showcasing their new skills.

With a focus on imaginative skills and techniques, students can choose to specialise in oils, acrylic or watercolour, or work in mixed media.

who is it for?

This course is for painters who have gained an understanding of the basics and want to increase their knowledge and skills, and develop their personal style through flexible exercises.

what should I bring?

Paper, easels and drawing boards and drawing materials will be provided. Bring your chosen paint medium, brushes, palettes etc. A suggested materials list will be sent before the course.

when is it?

Saturdays 10am to 1pm, 3 October to 7 November 2026.

where is it?

This course takes place on the second floor of our building. We unfortunately do not currently have lift access to these floors, and students will need to take 2 flights of stairs to attend the course.

Lisa Hawkins is a painter whose work explores place, memory and colour. She holds a BA (Hons) and MA in Fine Art from Canterbury Christ Church University, where she won the Sidney Cooper Painting Prize, as well as an MA in Mysticism, Cosmology and the Sacred. She has exhibited at the Sydney Cooper Gallery, Pie Factory, Lilford Gallery and TMS. As well as teaching at TMS, she has taught at Kent Adult Education and The Garden Gate Project in Broadstairs.

with Sara Trillo

In this eight-week course, you will explore using plaster, fabric, clay and found and foraged objects and materials to build sculptures. Whether a beginner or developing your practice, you will explore sculpture techniques and learn how to use the local environment to develop your sculpture making through a mixture of taught exercises, tailored feedback and independent practice. You will develop a personal project culminating in a private showcase of work in the Mast gallery.

This course is for anyone interested in beginning or developing their sculpture practice. By working with easily (and often freely) available materials such as found clay and dyes made from plants, this course could help you engage in new ways with the area you live in, and see the possibilities for creating objects and sculptures alongside the world around you.

Students will develop skills in building using clay, plaster, fabrics and found materials, in casting, in creating dyes and inks, and experience in taking readily available materials and using them to create a sculpture project. There will also be opportunities to learn more about the historical, archeological and natural environment in Thanet and beyond.

who is it for?

This course is for anyone with an interest in sculpture, either beginners or those wanting to develop their practice. This course would suit students interested in environmentally engaged practices, but it is open to anyone who wants to learn new skills and put them to use in an individual project.

what should I bring?

All materials will be provided. Over the course, students will be encouraged to bring additional materials they may want to use in their final projects.

when is it?

This course takes place across six Saturday mornings (10.30am to 1.30pm), and includes a ‘reading week’. Please see the course dates below:

24 October, 31 October and 7 November; 21 November, 28 November and 5 December

where is it?

This course takes place in our Fab Lab. This is on the first floor of the building, and is only accessible by one flight of stairs.

Sara Trillo studied Fine Art at Norwich University of the Arts, and is an Associate of Open School East. Recent commissions include “Urn Field” for “How Lies the Land?” Folkestone Triennial 2025 : Ac-Efer for “Gathering the Commons”, West Norwood Cemetery, 2025; Mouldiwarp for “Ground Up”, GroundWork Gallery, King’s Lynn, 2024; “Alleycumfee”, Daphne Oram Gallery, Canterbury Christ Church University, 2024; and “Holes in the Landscape” for "Chaleur Humane”, the 2023 Dunkerque Triennale Art et Industrie. Sara has taught at HE institutions including RCA, University of Kent, and U.C.A.

Examples of her work can be seen at www.saratrillo.co.uk and instagram:saratrillo 

Recent commissioned performative walks include “Walking the Deer Line” for Open School East 2025; “Swept Away” for Cement Fields/Whitstable Biennale, 2024; “Holloways and Hideaways” for Od Festival, Somerset, 2023;  and “Sel-sable-craie” for Dunkerque Triennale, 2023.

with Roy Eastland

Drawing is the art of making meaningful traces. In this course, students will progress through drawing exercises, demonstrations and individual feedback, developing new skills in observation, imagination and drawing.

This course is structured around short drawing exercises, demonstrations of technique and individual and group tuition. Over eight weeks, students will be exposed to new techniques, develop new skills, and come to understand their own ways of drawing and how these drawings can become art. 

By the end, students will have created a body of drawings, gained greater understanding of observational and drawing techniques, and deepened their own artistic voice.

who is it for?

This course is for anyone with an interest in beginners who find this subject difficult but want more than just a how-to guide; artists using other mediums who want to explore drawing more deeply.

what should I bring?

Charcoal, paper, drawing boards and easels will be provided.

when is it?

6 October - 24 November 2027, Tuesdays 6pm to 8pm.

where is it?

This course takes place on the second floor of our building. We unfortunately do not currently have lift access to these floors, and students will need to take 2 flights of stairs to attend the course.

Roy Eastland is an artist and drawing teacher whose work explores themes of human presence, memory and trace. A graduate of Edinburgh College of Art (1996), he is the winner of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Portrait Prize and the SGFA Small Works Award. He has exhibited extensively in solo and group shows, including the BP Portrait Award, Jerwood Drawing Prize, Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize and Turner Contemporary. His professional practice includes teaching engagements at the V&A and UCA Rochester, with work held in public collections such as The Young Gallery Salisbury and Edinburgh College of Art.

with Roy Eastland

Drawing is the art of making meaningful traces. In this course, students will progress through drawing exercises, demonstrations and individual feedback, developing new skills in observation, imagination and drawing.

This course is structured around short drawing exercises, demonstrations of technique and individual and group tuition. Over eight weeks, students will be exposed to new techniques, develop new skills, and come to understand their own ways of drawing and how these drawings can become art. 

By the end, students will have created a body of drawings, gained greater understanding of observational and drawing techniques, and deepened their own artistic voice.

who is it for?

This course is for anyone with an interest in beginners who find this subject difficult but want more than just a how-to guide; artists using other mediums who want to explore drawing more deeply.

what should I bring?

Charcoal, paper, drawing boards and easels will be provided.

when is it?

6 October - 24 November 2026, Tuesdays 10pm to 1pm.

where is it?

This course takes place on the second floor of our building. We unfortunately do not currently have lift access to these floors, and students will need to take 2 flights of stairs to attend the course.

Roy Eastland is an artist and drawing teacher whose work explores themes of human presence, memory and trace. A graduate of Edinburgh College of Art (1996), he is the winner of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Portrait Prize and the SGFA Small Works Award. He has exhibited extensively in solo and group shows, including the BP Portrait Award, Jerwood Drawing Prize, Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize and Turner Contemporary. His professional practice includes teaching engagements at the V&A and UCA Rochester, with work held in public collections such as The Young Gallery Salisbury and Edinburgh College of Art.

with Brogan Bertie

Find your voice and build your confidence in this six-week painting course. Through examples, exercises and feedback, you will develop new skills and explore new mediums in an open, flexible environment.

Students will be guided through different techniques and the work of a variety of artists working in painting, trying different styles and broadening their awareness of the possibilities of the medium. You will be encouraged to experiment and develop your own painting through feedback from Brogan, developing your own artistic voice with exercises and a final project.

who is it for?

This course is for those starting their painting journey, who want to pick up a paintbrush for the first time or have done a little on their own and feel they would benefit from tuition; or those who want to shake up their painting practice, develop their own voice or gain some confidence.

what should I bring?

You should bring any medium you want to focus on or try: watercolour, gouache, acrylic, oil - whatever you’re interested in working with. Paper and drawing materials will be provided, but if you want to give something like canvas a go, bring that too. There will be opportunities to experiment with other media if you wish, but teaching will be focussed on painting.

when is it?

1 November to 6 December: Sundays, 10am to 1pm

where is it?

This course takes place in our library. This is on the second floor of the building, and is only accessible by two flights of stairs.

Brogan Bertie (b. 1995, South London) is a painter and artist working from his studio at TKE in Margate. 

Bertie’s art is about people, painting from life in order to offer an intimate and energetic insight into the sitters. Using the physicality of oil paint, Bertie creates rich and textural works that construct an honest and tender portrait of human connection and its complexity. There is no closure, no resolution, no feeling of having gotten to the bottom of something - the hunger for other people stretches before and after any one moment in time. There is a desperation to see people, to know them, to try to grab at their specificities. Bertie’s work speaks to an appetite for connection.

with Lisa Hawkins

This six-week, part-time course has been designed for students looking to expand their knowledge and skills in painting. 

Focusing on technical areas such as gesture, contour, observation and imaginative drawing, this course will allow students to extend their understanding of a new medium or increase their mastery of an existing painting skill. By the end of the course, students will have produced a portfolio of experimental, exploratory work and a final piece showcasing their new skills.

With a focus on imaginative skills and techniques, students can choose to specialise in oils, acrylic or watercolour, or work in mixed media.

who is it for?

This course is for painters who have gained an understanding of the basics and want to increase their knowledge and skills, and develop their personal style through flexible exercises.

what should I bring?

Paper, easels and drawing boards and drawing materials will be provided. Bring your chosen paint medium, brushes, palettes etc. A suggested materials list will be sent before the course.

when is it?

Saturdays 10am to 1pm, 3 October to 7 November 2026.

where is it?

This course takes place on the second floor of our building. We unfortunately do not currently have lift access to these floors, and students will need to take 2 flights of stairs to attend the course.

Lisa Hawkins is a painter whose work explores place, memory and colour. She holds a BA (Hons) and MA in Fine Art from Canterbury Christ Church University, where she won the Sidney Cooper Painting Prize, as well as an MA in Mysticism, Cosmology and the Sacred. She has exhibited at the Sydney Cooper Gallery, Pie Factory, Lilford Gallery and TMS. As well as teaching at TMS, she has taught at Kent Adult Education and The Garden Gate Project in Broadstairs.