Workshops

I offer a range of online and studio classes, workshops and retreats.

Online
These classes are generally held weekly, at an agreed upon time and are conducted via Zoom

The Studio
My Midlands studio is situated on a hillside overlooking the Karkloof Valley. Although only 13kms from Howick, with easy access along the Curry’s Post Rd, the peaceful country atmosphere provides one with the perfect place to relax, unwind and leave those worries behind.

For those who join me for longer creative retreats, there will be lots to do in the area besides the activities you will have in the studio, with a country inn close by and good restaurants within walking distance. If you enjoy exercise, there are plenty of beautiful walks through the adjoining nature conservancy and there are an abundance of cycle trails throughout the region. Most importantly, the area is home to the well-known Midlands Meander, an art route that takes one to places of creative interest, including lots of great cuisine and artists’ studios.

If you’re excited to dedicate time to your creative growth, please take a look through the drop-downs below for details of what’s currently on offer.

Weekly Beginners Drawing Classes

I offer both a studio and online option

Drawing is a natural, basic form of expression that most people, with a little guidance from a tutor, can learn to do with confidence. If you are one of the many people who has the desire to learn, but fearful that you don’t have the talent, I am here to prove you wrong.

This course is designed with the beginner in mind; for those who lack confidence in their ability to draw and whose knowledge of materials and techniques may be limited.

It will teach you to be observant, and stimulate you to explore the many ways of using the drawing mediums to express yourself. The course is well structured, and there is always space to play and explore within the layers of learning. You will notice that each session is built upon the foundation of the one before it, so before you know it, you will be up and away, producing beautiful drawings with confidence.

My aim is for you to have fun while you learn and that hopefully by the end of this course, your eyes will have been opened to a much richer world than the one you were in when you started.

Topics covered:
Learning to see. Co-ordination. Line. Shape. Tone. Form. Texture. Colour. We will work with a range of materials and techniques; pencil, pen, charcoal, ink wash, resist, pencil crayons, aquarelle, chalk pastels, collage, frottage and mixed media. We also touch on a range of themes such as still-life, interiors, landscape, cityscape, animals, reptiles and birds.

Weekly Studio Drawing Classes

These classes are held each week in my art studio at Halliwell Park in Curry’s Post, KZN. 

These classes will not only teach you valuable drawing skills, they will bring you into contact with other interesting people who share a passion for creativity. These stimulating sessions are always inspiring and uplifting. They are suitable for both beginner and intermediate level, so no previous drawing experience is necessary.

Cost: R240 for 2 hour session

If you would like to join us, please contact me for further information.

Weekly Beginner’s Online Drawing Classes

These weekly beginner’s online drawing classes are very well structured and a lot of fun.

They will take you through all the basics of drawing, at a pace that is set by the needs of the group. As skills develop and confidence grows, the challenges will be set accordingly. This course will open your eyes to a whole new world that you may not have been aware existed and it will give you skills that can be taken with you wherever your path may take you.

We meet for a one-hour session each week via Zoom at a pre-arranged time that suits everyone and we communicate privately as a group between sessions via WhatsApp.

Cost: R960 per month (a min of 4 sessions)

If you would like to join us, please contact me for further information.

Fibre Art Workshops

I will be offering a range of creative fibre art workshops in early 2024, so if you’re interested to join us, please sign up for my newsletter to receive up-to-date information.

 

Travel Pouch Workshop

A very special workshop, where we make precious little pouches into which we place good wishes and the secrets of our hearts. Stay tuned for this one by signing up for my newsletter, where I will keep you updated with workshop dates and times.

Art Journaling is a creative, therapeutic way of capturing memories, telling stories and making your thoughts visible. It provides one with a space to express feelings that may be difficult to articulate with words alone.

The joy of creating an art journal comes through being able to use a mixture of photography, stitch, paint, drawing, collage, as well as the written word, creating a visual feast that tells a story, uplifts the spirits and heals in the process. 

Monthly, Saturday morning sessions will be opening up soon and shortly thereafter, I will be bringing you focused, theme-based workshops where you can take a deep-dive into what really interests you. A perfect way to write your life story and leave a record for generations to follow.

If these workshops interest you, please sign up for my newsletter to receive updates and information.

Monthly Art Journaling Sessions

Once a month, on a Saturday morning, a group of us meets in my studio to work in our art journals. 

The program is flexible, depending upon the needs of the group, but it covers all the basics of creative art journaling, and will guide you through the process of making something truly unique to you. There will be prompts and challenges from me, together with short demonstrations of techniques, and for those who feel they need additional guidance, I am always on hand to assist. After 40 years of working in a variety of genres and mediums, I have lots of skills and tips to share.

It’s a fun, relaxing, creative morning, so if you like the sound of it and would like to join us, please contact me for more information.

Cost: R300 for the morning; 9.30am – 12.30pm

Simple Book Making

There’s nothing quite like the thrill of working in your own, home-made sketchbook, designed to fit your needs.

In this workshop, we will touch on a variety of simple book-making methods that require no special equipment. Based on traditional, simple methods, there will be plenty of scope to improvise and get creative.

If this workshop interests you, please sign up for my newsletter to be kept up to date on the details of time and place.

STUDENT REVIEWS

MY WRITING

  • “I started reading your blog and was so moved by it Sally. You wrote with such depth…have you ever considered writing a book? I’d so love to hear your story. Thank you for sharing with us. 🙏 I feel truly privileged and humbled to be one of your students 💕🌸 “Jane S
  • “Lovely thoughtful writing which flows effortlessly and expresses the philosophy of your lessons beautifully. There are definitely layers and layers of “magic” to be  experienced in your classes.🤗” Megan L-T

DRAWING CLASSES

  • “Feeling tired, anxious, irritated … Drawing with Sally Scott provides a liberating platform onto which you can release that negative energy into pages of lovely creativity – Ah! The places you can go, and the things you can see 🤓👩‍🎨🎨👨‍🎨  “Louisa C
  • “I love that your classes are helping to build community through art and creative endeavor! I will agree we are all tired, anxious, irritated and feel unease much of the time these days. Outreach like yours is certainly a wonderful antidote to it all! ❤️👍 “ Kathy P
  • “The only challenge I have is how to end off the session. It is such a therapeutic time/space and such a shock to go back to the world.” Megan L-T (Online Drawing Classes)
  • “Always a highlight for me every week.  🌟🌟Tks for all the effort you go to Sally, to keep our drawing sessions going. Greatly appreciated.” Glynis S
  • “I know I was the art student that had been with you for the shortest time, but I wanted you to know how much you have changed my life. When I started at your studio, I was at such a low point, I was exhausted, having been mothering for 13 years without a break. I was burnt out and needed something to change my life and then I found your classes, 2 hours a week just for me in your beautiful studio with new people doing something I didn’t think I could do and being supported and guided by such an amazing mentor/teacher/artist. Your classes brought me out of myself, changed the way I think and helped to heal me better than any doctor could. So, I want you to know before you leave on your new adventure what a difference you have made in my life and how much you have inspired me to become more independent and to believe in myself. Thank you for sharing your magic! ” India R (Studio Drawing classes)
  • “Spoil yourself, put pencil to paper and you’ll be surprised at the results under Sally’s guidance. Two hours of sheer escapism and joy. I love the relaxed style, the hand-holding when required and the insistence on completing exercises that you didn’t particularly enjoy.  They are all learning experiences and benefit you in the end. “Gee Mum, did you really do that – that is so good” are the very encouraging comments from my boys and my grandchildren!  Sally’s classes are very warm and supportive so that I’ve never felt embarrassed to show my work to the rest of the group if it hasn’t worked out – we all just have a good laugh. This makes a world of difference. We get very effective help in technique when we need it and when I’m stuck, Sally just knows exactly what’s wrong and how to correct it. If you’re thinking of joining a class, don’t hesitate. The classes are fun, well-presented, clearly taught, and you’ll surprise yourself if you think you’re too old or too unartistic to learn to draw, Sally will show you you’re wrong.” Helen A (Studio Drawing classes)

  • The Holes In The Sieve“ I recently enrolled in Sally Scott’s Beginner’s Online Drawing course. Her classes are life changing (it’s probably worth pointing out that they are life changing in a good way – what with all the other crappy life changing stuff that 2020 has brought with it). So now I’m on a mission to explain all that is unique and wonderful about Sally because I want others to be able to benefit from her expertise too. 
  1. Sally’s classes are on online. There’s a Pandemic. Do the math.                                                                
  1. This one is obvious. Sally is an amazing artist – check out her work online if you haven’t already.
  1. Sally is a teacher. Being the curious sort, and also having stalking tendencies, I poked around the internet to find out where her teaching experience comes from, and found on Sally’s website that she has taught art for over thirty years at schools, universities and from her private studio.  Characteristically understated credentials I am sure, but as bare boned as they are, they probably go some way to explaining Sally’s professional and confident manner.
  1. Sally is an art teacher. This one is hard to quantify and I am battling to pinpoint the essence of what  I mean. The closest explanation of this quality came to me when I was listening to a TEDx talk by Michael Rastovich in which he quotes Mark Twain:

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. 

It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so”.

Sally has the ability to recognize when what her students know for sure is not so.

 As an artist, Sally can recognize that the holes of the sieve should be ellipses and not circles. As a teacher, Sally can help her students recognize this difference for themselves and lay down new neural pathways for themselves – so that they begin to see ellipses which they were previously convinced were circles.  

Trust me – I know from years of experience – listening to YouTube videos; reading books; trying to draw by yourself – none of it is any help at all for people like me who are markedly most comfortable in left brain functioning. Sally is the link between the sieve and the drawing –  she is able to translate the language of what we know for sure (the holes are round) into the language of what we don’t know (maybe the holes aren’t round) which allows us to start drawing the world as it is so; while still maintaining and enhancing our (the student’s) self-esteem. Which brings me on to my next point – feedback

  1.  Sally gives feedback after her online class has ended. I challenge you to find another art teacher who gives feedback of the quality and/or quantity that Sally gives. 
  2. I’m confident that you won’t find anyone who ticks all these boxes. But if you live in an alternative universe and you come across anyone that fits the bill; have I told you about Sally’s Red Shoe Project? Or her personality? Her sense of humour? I would write more; but it’s time for my next class; and NOTHING can keep me from that..” by Megan Laurent-Terpend (Online Drawing Classes)
  • “… it is the fact that you see the artistic strengths of each individual and then you begin to encourage and draw these talents out of them bit by bit. You present the techniques and you show each talent how they can use these methods to further enhance their OWN individual style. You are never generic in your approach. You see the unique ability and you NURTURE it, you teach them how to Enhance it and then you BRIDGE the gap between private and public by allowing them to use your own platform to introduce themselves to the world… and you entitled this gift :”Some of my student’s amazing work….”  Indeed- show me another art teacher who does this- online or off- and I will be impressed.” Cath H

THE RED SHOE WORKSHOP (Fibre Art/Story-telling)

  • “When I heard about Sally’s Red Shoe Workshop, I intuitively understood the powerful therapeutic process that the workshop would involve.  At the time I was looking for a powerful grounded process that would facilitate my own internal process of re-framing a period of my life that was “hit by a tsunami”.  A process that would facilitate cleaning up all the debris left by the tsunami and in this integrate the deep tearing, searing pain and loss, so that I was able to move on.

    When I checked out Sally Scott’s website and the introduction and explanation of the Red Shoe Workshop in particular, I knew that Sally was more than capable of holding the space for my intentions and expectations, especially the creative and therapeutic processes.  Sally had walked the road already in her own life and would therefore be able to guide others along this road. 

    Sally’s attitude, perspectives, and experience as a teacher allow me exploration, creativity, cathartic expression, healing. Her indelible belief in the healing power of the creative process creates a container where all are safe, all are able to create, all are able to express their own uniqueness (irrespective of age, experience, previous creative exposure, quality and quantity of skills).  Each is able to express from where they are right here and now in their lives and experiences.”  Praline T

  • “This playful energy pervaded and I found myself just having fun, not agonising about the end result – not judging myself for choosing twee hearts and pastel tones. I just smiled and played along! I wouldn’t change any aspect of how you present the workshop. I liked the way it was structured with plenty of time before and in-between to let ideas and thoughts percolate. Your notes and reading gave much inspiration and encouraged us to go beyond just making a pretty or wacky pair of shoes. I enjoyed that you were not prescriptive at all – even turning questions to you, back into questions to us – allowing us the satisfaction of the end result being entirely our own.” Nina McD (Red Shoe Workshop)

  • “The Red Shoe Workshop is an eye opener for anyone who feels depleted of energy and creativity. It is a wake-up call for acting out your dreams. It is awe inspiring and therapeutic. It is the Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra of physical involvement in building one’s own character, getting grip on your life and nursing emotional wounds in “making a Red Shoe”! The Red Shoe is the “Thelma and Louise” of the shoe making industry – it is the same sensation as making a friend [red shoe] for life. “ Dalene M
  • “You’ve done a wonderful job at teaching, conducting and structuring the workshop. The spacious room, the music, the light, the warmth, the inviting garden, the tasteful bathroom (yes even that!) and the tea and lunch breaks were all so important to create the atmosphere needed to let down my stresses and focus on the making of these shoes. I can’t say enough how integral the background music was to my enjoyment and wellbeing during these three days! I am so glad that you offer all these pieces of scrap materials, your sewing machines and other paraphernalia to be able to make the shoes. I would have been out of my depth without this kick start in materials and tools. I have relaxed properly when I saw everything around us was there and available. The materials list was indeed intimidating to me as a total newbie in this field! But I know now it does not need to be! To anyone else considering it, just do it! Even if you don’t know how to sew a button to a shirt! Engage with the The Red Shoe fairy tale and Pinkola’s analysis and be creative. Don’t let inhibitions rule but let the ideas flow out of you into the textiles. Be open to exchange with Sally and the other participants and embrace the atmosphere as it’s so very much part of the 3 day experience.” Virginia D-E
  • “I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop! Once I took the step to sign up and gave myself ‘permission’ to indulge in creative time, I realized how starved I’d been. It fed a deep hunger within me and awakened a self that life/responsibilities/the daily grind had all but suppressed and crippled. It was a sacred space that didn’t require sanction or blessing by any authority other than myself. I could ‘play’, have fun and trust in the ethics of my own instincts.” Leela P