Dorset Art Course
Tutored residential art course
April 23rd-27th 2026
Join one of Dorset’s finest artists at an unforgettable location, developing your artistic skills and confidence in drawing, life drawing, and colour.
Four days of art classes, suitable for beginners and those with previous experience, led by sculptor and artist Clare Trenchard. Based in Dorset, Clare has exhibited widely in the UK and overseas.
She works on capturing the essence of the subject, finding its strength, power and movement. Her work draws consistent critical praise:
“Clare’s large, bold drawings seem to have been made quickly in charcoal and wash. There is a sense of drama in the making of the drawing as well as in the subject matter where movement, tension and relaxation are all brilliantly evoked. Even the very still creature, watching and waiting, has a strong sense of potential movement.” – Slader’s Yard.
Clare is a gifted tutor, generous and perceptive, whose weekly art classes in Dorset are always oversubscribed. You can see some of her work on her website.
Staying at Rushay
Rushay is an Arts & Crafts country house set in its own gardens and grounds, with nine beautiful bedrooms between the house and cottage. A mile from the Dorset coast, on the edge of the Marshwood Vale, you’ll have plenty of space for quiet work and reflection.
Relax at the end of the day by an open fire in the spacious sitting room.
Dining
Our artists get breakfast, lunch and a delicious supper (wine included) every day, not to mention tea and cake – leaving you free to immerse yourself in your art and work.
Walks
There are beautiful walks in the surrounding countryside, and down to the beach. You might want to explore the Dorset/Devon borders, or go fossil-hunting on Charmouth’s famous Jurassic beach. Bridport and Lyme Regis are each under fifteen minutes away by car, and Charmouth has two pubs and a café.
Rooms
All rooms have very comfortable king size or double beds, apart from the ladies-only attic dorm with four single beds. Two of those doubles, and the dorm, are en suite; the other six doubles share between four bathrooms. There is fibre broadband and wifi throughout the house, cottage and garden, with good 4G phone reception on all networks.
Our schedule
The classes begin at 10am and run, with a short break for lunch, to teatime at 4pm. You are then free to continue working, or perhaps explore this beautiful region of the West Country, until drinks and supper.
Arrive on St George’s Day, Thursday April 23rd, in time to settle in before supper at 7.30pm.
Day 1, Friday April 24th.
Introduction to drawing ideas. Line, tone and mixed media.
Day 2, Saturday April 25th.
Colour, collage, space and shape. Using colour imaginatively.
Day 3, Sunday April 26th.
Drawing with colour using a live model.
Day 4, Monday April 27th.
Shape, line and colour in the landscape — with sculpture in the studio as an indoor alternative.
Depart on Monday 27th after tea.
Getting here
There is ample parking at Rushay, and a taxi from the nearest railway station (Axminster) costs about £15. Axminster is on the Waterloo-Exeter mainline.
Prices
(prices are for four nights, full board)
En suite double £1500
Double bedroom with adjacent bathroom £1250
Attic dorm en suite, single beds (up to four ladies sharing) £750