NEWS FROM HALF ACRE STUDIOS:
Booking is now open for all courses in 2022, including adult Printmaking courses, Saturday Art Club, Summer School and Family Summer Art Workshops.
In Autumn 2022 we hosted our first Adult Printmaking Course at Half Acre. A successful week exploring the Monotype and chine colle. It was really exciting to see our press working hard and the varied work made over the week. Bookings are now open for Printmakimg: Exploring the Monotype on the 9th-11th of May.
Due to growing demand we expanded our Saturday Clubs into two groups, a younger age group (7-11) in the morning and an older group (12-16) in the afternoon. This means more time for individual tuition and the ability to see even more children at Half Acre.

PRINTMAKING AT HALF ACRE STUDIOS 2022:
We have a mixture of 4 day courses and 1 day courses planned for over the year, offering Drypoint, Monoprinting and Collagraphs.  Click on the links below to see full details on the website:
9th - 12th May: Exploring the Monotype             
10th - 13th October: Experimental Collagraph
11th August & 5th September: Introduction to Drypoint

YOUNG ARTISTS AT HALF ACRE STUDIOS:

SATURDAY ART CLUB dates for 2022 are on the website, running throughout the academic terms:
SPRING: 8th January - 18th February & 5th March - 9th April
SUMMER: 30th May - 11th June & 25th June - 30th July
AUTUMN: 10th September - 22nd October & 5th November - 17th December
We now run two clubs, morning sessions (10-12am) for 7-11 year olds and afternoon sessions (1-4pm) for 12-16 year olds.
Our popular SUMMER SCHOOL will also be back, this year running from the 2nd-4th of August. Aimed at 9-16 year olds, this course offers 3 days of summer art workshops, covering drawing, painting, print and sculpture.

FAMILY ART WORKSHOPS, AUGUST 2022:
We are excited to open our door once again, during the summer holidays, to families, running a series of family workshops, working in the studio and sculpture garden, these are a chance to have a fun and creative morning,  drawing, printing and sculpting together.
1st, 8th, 9th, 10th, 15th, 22nd August: FAMILY ART WORKSHOPS

BUILD YOUR OWN COURSE!
Fancy a week in North Cornwall doing printmaking or sculpture in a working artists studio? Are you a group of friends who want a creative holiday together? On a family holiday and want the cousins to have a fun day out together?
Is there a course that interests you but you can't make the dates? We are always open to suggestions! Get in contact if you would like to talk about organising a bespoke course at a time that suits you!
To make it cost effective we suggest coming as a group of 4+. We will limit numbers to a maximum of 6 students for printmaking and 10 for sculpture to allow lots of space and individual tuition. Materials and tuition included in the cost.

We've had very impressive results from our first Summer Art School (10-16yrs) drawing down by the harbour and from a clothed model in the studio. Students used these drawings to explore monoprinting and plaster sculptures.

Saturday Art Clubs are returning and expanding, beginning on the 11th September. Morning session 10am-12pm for younger students (age 9-11). We are also introducing an advanced class from 1pm-4pm (age 12-16).

Phoebe Stannard will be teaching 2 days of Printmaking courses for Adults in September.

13th September:             
Introduction to Monotype
Exploring this experimental print technique, several methods will be demonstrated and explained allowing you to work confidently in monotype.

14th September:            
Introduction to Drypoint
Drypoint is the most direct form of intaglio printmaking, allowing you to scribe directly onto the plate, you will be taught inking up and how to pull a print and use the press.
Both these courses will familiarise you with our print studio leading to more sessions in the future.

Sam Halstead will be teaching several 2 day sculpture workshops:

4th and 11th October:        
The Expressive figure in Wax
Inspired by movement and dance, how do we show movement in a static medium. We will create small figures in modelling wax using an armature and direct modelling techniques.

18th and 25th October:
Sculpting a Clay Head          
How do we achieve a likeness in clay? Working at half to three quarter scales, measuring and modelling skills will be explored.

1st and 8th November:
Gargoyle Heads: Man, myth and monsters.
Inspired by gargoyles and medieval sculpture we will examine the relationship between observation and imagination. We will work in clay and plaster.

We are looking forward to re-commencing art courses at Half Acre Studios in the coming months as lockdown eases again. Starting by welcoming back our Young Artist for their regular Saturday Art Club in April and introducing adult courses from June. We have programmed four week-long, printmaking and sculpture courses in June and August. During August we will be offering three-day courses for Young Artists and one-day Family Workshops. We can't wait and look forward to seeing you!

Sam Halstead will be teaching two week-long Sculpture courses for Adults over the summer period. Click on the links below to see full details on the website:

14th - 18th June: The Expressive Figure in Wax and Ciment Fondu

13th - 17th September: Relief Sculpture

Phoebe Stannard will be teaching
two week-long Printmaking courses for Adults in the summer period. Click on the links below to see full details on the website:

7th - 11th June:
Exploring the Monotype

6th - 10th September:
Experimental Collagraphs

Our regular Saturday Art Club restarts on the 17th of April, Aimed at young artists, aged 10-16.

These are bookable as two groups of seven classes:

17th April - 29th May

12th June- 24th July

Over the School Summer Holidays we will be running a series of short courses for Young Artists and one-day Family Workshops:

2nd - 4th August: Summer Art School for 10-18 year olds.
9th - 11th August: Portfolio Development Workshop for ​16-19 years.

Family Art Workshops:

23rd August: Drawing and collage in the Sculpture Garden at Half Acre Studios.
24th August: Mono-printing workshop.
25th August: Botanical plaster relief plaque.

Half Acre Studios will be holding a pop-up exhibition to celebrate our Grandmother, Joan Cork, on her 90th birthday. We are opening on Friday 23rd October - Sunday 25th October, 1pm - 7pm.
The exhibition will showcase a selection of Joan's paintings and graphic works together with one work by other artists in her family. Her eldest daughter, Harriet Halstead and husband Philip Halstead, her youngest daughter Jessica Slater and partner Jon Prior. And a handful of her grandchildren Marie Slater, Sam Halstead, Francis Slater and Phoebe Halstead and their partners Tim Meyer, Phoebe Stannard and Sam Hanner.
Joan nurtured creativity in her own children and grandchildren, and in doing so must have taught them the importance of recognising and appreciating creativity in others, with many of her children and grandchildren choosing partners who are gifted fine-artists and craftsmen themselves. Building a family around her of fine artists, master craftsmen, furniture designers and animators to name but a few. Come and visit the exhibition, a celebration of Joan's art and see how this creativity continues down the generations. Half Acre is a fitting location as Carole, its founder, was a close friend of Joan's and a teacher to several generations of Corks.

This month, October 2020, our mum, grandmother and great grandmother Joan Cork celebrated her 90th birthday. Joan has lived in Boscastle since 1964 apart from a brief spell in Leicester.  She trained as an artist at Cheltenham College and The Royal College of Art but devoted most of her time to family matters until her four children were older, when she resumed drawing and painting. Her artwork will look familiar to many in Boscastle as her drawing of the harbour heads the village newsletter, the Blowhole, painted the Dove in Forrabury Church and the village school sign.

To ensure our compliance with the rule of  6, please book a time-slot in advance. Ring Harriet on 07717756816 or email [email protected]
While visiting please maintain appropriate social distancing and precautions. Hand sanitiser will be available.
We hope Joan will be at Half Acre for some of the time to catch up with her friends as they visit.
Light Refreshments provided , with any donations to go to the church.

Where has time flown? It feels like only yesterday we visited Carole at Half Acre and spend an afternoon drinking sherry/tea and watching her catalogue the flowering plants in Half Acre's garden. And yet it’s been over a year since we have called Half Acre home. Although 2020 has been much quieter than expected we have been busy, and suddenly we have lots of news. So without further ado....

Half Acre Studios and garden will be welcoming visitors for Open Studios Cornwall at the end of August and start of September, assuming Covid 19 regulations allow. We will be open on the 29th, 30th and 31st of August and 5th & 6th of September from 11am to 5pm and would love to see as many of you as possible.
On display, both in the studio and garden, will be be prints, drawings and sculpture by Sam Halstead and Phoebe Stannard. This isn't a formal exhibition but rather a chance to see some new and well-known faces, wander around the studios and garden, have a look at what we make and watch us working in the studios. If you can't make those dates we can open by appointment, please do get in touch.

We are opening bookings for our Saturday Drawing Club. Aimed at young artists, aged 10-16 during Autumn Term. We will cover a range of drawing activities, painting, sculpture and print. Working from observation and imagination. Materials are included. Classes run 10am-1pm, September 19th-December 5th. No class over half term (24&31st October). Fee is £150 per student for 10 sessions. Free scholarship places will be offered in collaboration with local schools to aim at widening participation.We will limit numbers to a maximum of 12 students to allow lots of space and individual tuition. We will be working as safely as possible with hand wash stations and sanitiser following government advice.

Last month Half Acre Studios welcomed a very special new addition. Our No3 Gunnings printing press has arrived in our studio. We chose this direct drive, British made, etching press with a larger than A1 bed for its amazing flexibility- allowing us to print both intaglio and relief- from monoprints, etchings, dry-points, collagraph’s, lino’s, woodblocks and letterpress. We have been enjoying getting to know it and we are hoping we will soon be able to  welcome students and artist in to come and print!

We were getting ready for Cornwall Open Studios at the end of May and the launch of art courses at Half Acre when things have suddenly come to a grinding halt, like many, we have decided that for now Half Acre Studios is suspending all Group Activities. At the start of the month we usually open our doors to the Half Acre Painters, a day where old friends of Half Acre come and discuss ongoing work and learn from each other, this day will be sadly missed next month.
But Half Acre studios is a living artist studio and allthough we were looking forward to opening our doors, we are very much hoping the next few months of quiet will be industrious for us. I have been thinking the last few days, how fortunate we are to be creative. I truly believe it is the balm for all boredom, Sam and I never have "nothing" to do. In-fact, we are still hoping that in the coming months a beautiful printing press will arrive (it's currently being built) and be installed, I'm very much looking forward to bringing a new facet to the work created at Half Acre, with the hope that I will be able to offer a space for print-makers to come and work, as well as teach printmaking.
Covid-19 sets out time scale back a bit, but it also allows us to catch our breath, to create new work, and hopefully we will be back, with Open Studios at the end of the summer and ready for the start of the new academic year! We are very much hoping to hear the pitter-patter of children coming, once again, to create at Half Acre, with the start of a Saturday Art Club.

We are excited to open booking for our taster workshops in August! Based around the sculpture garden surrounding Half Acre Studios, we will be running afternoon workshops for families (adults and children age 7-13) and day workshops for adults. These include drawing, collage, monoprinting, relief and 3-dimensional sculpture. Why not come along, see the garden and enjoy a day of creativity at a discounted price!
For more information and to book follow this link: Workshops and Courses