Course Start Dates
Course dates are flexible; please get in touch for the next available date.
Description:
Come and enjoy a one day Introduction to Glass Fusing in the lovely North Cornish village of Kilkhamton, 5 miles from Bude. The fused glass workshops run from 9.45am to 4pm in our lovely and spacious studio.
The methods you will learn include kiln carving- using fibre paper to create a design for a clear glass cheese/food plate for your first project, then exploring the use of frit (ground pieces of coloured glass- think caster, granulated and "posh" coffee sugar sizes!) stringers ( thin strands of glass) and the gorgeous range of coloured fusing glass for your second project.
You will be taught how to cut glass, with plenty of practice ready for the afternoon’s project where you can make a seaside, abstract or countryside scene. Your glass piece will undergo two firings, one to fuse it, then a further firing to slump it onto an “S” shaped curved mould to allow it to free stand on completion. All your creations will be ready for collection in a few days or they can be posted to you if you are unable to collect.
I am a self taught glass artist and share Tregarth Studio with Georgina who holds a BA in Architectural Glass. We also sell our creations through our Open Studio days and to several galleries.
We welcome the naturally creative and those who might need a bit more inspiration-we have designs and ideas aplenty! You just need to bring your enthusiasm, closed in shoes and be prepared for a glassy adventure!
What's included in the price?
On arrival you will be welcomed with delicious homemade biscuits and refreshments, and later a delightful locally sourced two course lunch made by our resident cordon bleu chef! Some people said 'it was worth coming for the lunch alone!'
As well as the lunch and days experience all materials, kiln firings, safety equipment and course booklet are included in the price.
After your days experience you will have made;
A kilncarved cheese/food platter.
A free standing fused glass artwork.
I bought this creative experience day as a birthday present for my daughter. We had an absolutely fabulous day with Amanda who ran the course. She was extremely welcoming, friendly, kind and humorous and made us feel at ease as soon as we walked through the door. We were joined by Vicky who also signed up for the course and we all got on together really well. Amanda guided us through the day and was extremely helpful, encouraging and supportive of all of our creative ideas and efforts and she encouraged us to use our imagination. This was a first class course and I would recommend it to anyone who would like to try out their creative skills using glass. I learnt so much more than I thought I would throughout the day and I would like to take this hobby further in the future. As well as all of this Amanda supplied a first class lunch that I would have gladly paid for in a restaurant. All in all the day was absolutely brilliant and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in working with glass. It doesn't matter if you think you are creative or not. Just go for it and you will surprise yourself. Thanks Amanda the day was absolutely fantastic! Denise
An absolutely fantastic day! Amanda was knowlegeable, excited, friendly and hilarious! She welcomed us into her lovely studio and shared her expertise and enthusiasm! I attended the workshop with my mum who ( having no prior experience in the techniques used) is now looking into taking up the craft at home! In a group of three (all at different levels of confidence and experience) Amanda balanced her time and energy beautifully to ensure we all achieved our desired designs, leaving all of us feeling very proud of what we achieved! And to top all of the wonderful artistic endevours, she is a top notch chef! Serving the most wonderful hot lunch with dessert, and greeting us with tea and homebaked biscuits! What more could you want! A truly wonderful day and experience, leaving us not only with wonderful memories but beautiful souvenirs that we can boast we made ourselves!! If I could I woukd give 6 stars!!!
Our beautiful pieces of fused glass arrived today following our really enjoyable day in the glass workshop, it was like Christmas unwrapping them.
My 15 year old daughter and I made very different pieces that reflect our personalities; we were privileged to be the only students that day so we had Amanda's undivided knowledge. The workshop really lived up to the reviews (lunch included) and was well worth the 3 hour round trip to Cornwall. Thank you for such an enjoyable day.
This course is awesome! I had the most amazing day. Amanda is a fantastic teacher and is really good at giving you the confidence to have a go. I am so inspired by all the things that I learnt. The lunch was delicious as well. Can't recommend this enough!!
I was given a Craft Courses voucher for Christmas and chose this course immediately even though I had to wait until the summer for time to go on it. I am so glad that I did because it is absolutely brilliant! Not only is Amanda a delight to know but she is also generous with her expertise which enabled a complete novice to make two fabulous items.....a glass platter with boxing hares as the pattern and a landscape of Luskentyre on Harris in the Outer Hebrides. Amanda taught me how to cut the glass, use a water cooled grinder to refine rough edges, lots of design advice and knowledge of the annealing process and kilns.
The finished articles are stunning and I can't recommend this course enough. Add to that a wonderful lunch and you have the perfect way to spend a day!
I really enjoyed my day at Tregarth with Amanda and the other ladies in my class, Amanda is a really interesting lady and very patient with all us beginners. I am really pleased with my cheese platter and and stand up glass piece, lunch was delicious and the whole day was fun, it was also very interesting to learn all about the different methods of cutting the glass, ( I was not very good at this) but Amanda was very helpful and I can't wait to go for another session of making glass pictures or whatever Amanda thinks up for a second round of glass fusion (my family all want cheese platters now). I highly recommend this course.
My husband bought this day course for my birthday present and it was brilliant. I don't have an artistic bone in my body nor any imagination on creating, I always use patterns or copy other works. Amanda proved to me that I can be creative and gave me the confidence to produce unique and beautifully Cornish scenescapes that were all my own work! The studios is well equipped and Amanda takes time to explain how everything works, safety is also paramount. Lunch was fabulous and conversation continuous! The course was great value for money and I brought away two beautiful pieces of glass ware that were all my own work, with masses of help from Amanda!!
I had the best time on this course and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to try glass fusing! I bought the workshop as a gift for my mum and we had such a laugh. I researched glass courses in Cornwall around the Bude area and this looked like the best one, the studio was massive and the lunch was amazing with the YUMMIEST chocolate brownies! Amanda made us feel at home right away, and she allowed you to feel confident and stepped in whenever we needed help. When we received our glass makes in the post, all beautifully wrapped, we were amazed at how professional our work looked. Im so proud of my cheese platter! Now Im thinking of coming for my Hen Party next year! ..Thank you Amanda!
A very enjoyable day where I learned some good basics from being an absolute beginner, and also quickly ascertained where my interests and strengths and weaknesses would lie (very important IMO). Amanda is friendly and encouraging, the venue is really neat and lunch excellent. I was delighted and more impressed than I was expecting with the finished product that was sent on to me extremely quickly. Would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to dip their toe in the waters of the glass-fusing world.
A wonderful start to 2016, being creative and attending a day course in Amanda workshop. We created some beautiful things, and learnt much about her particular style of glass creating. It was like being in Aladdin's cave, with so many beautiful materials to choose from to make something very individual. As well as being helpful and supportive, Amanda also makes it fun and very convivial. And the lunch....... wow. Thanks for a great day.
This was a brilliant course. Amanda was so friendly and welcoming and put me at my ease immediately. The background information that she gave us about the different types of glass was really interesting and the course information was very comprehensive. She has a super garden studio and everything was provided for us to "have a go". She was a very patient and encouraging tutor. It was exciting to collect my pieces a couple of weeks later. The coffee and cookies at the start of the course and the 2 course lunch were delicious too. I would thoroughly recommend this course and am looking forward to the Christmas decoration one.
Spent the day with the lovely Amanda. I learned so much in such a short space of time. Excellent explanations, demos and comprehensive notes. I couldn't believe the range of glass available and plenty of inspiration from the glorious creations provided by Amanda. I have already recommended the course to friends.
A thoroughly enjoyable course with Amanda. Great explanation and demos of techniques, lovely studio, lots of examples of work to get your creative juices flowing. Amanda is patient and encouraging and accommodating and with fabulous homemade cookies, cakes and lunch included !!! I was so excited to pick up my glass pieces, beautifully wrapped and presented. Love my cheese board. Will be back for future courses. Thanks Amanda.
Fabulous day! Amanda is a brilliant tutor and I must have been her least artistic student ever. Despite this I have made three wonderful pieces. The workshop at the bottom of the garden is delightful and the lunch provided was excellent. Would highly recommend!
I had a really brilliant day on this course. Amanda was a great teacher and lovely, putting everyone at ease. I am a complete novice at glass but I learnt so much and am very proud of the pieces I made; Amanda's guidance and tuition was so good I was genuinely surprised at how well my pieces turned out - I never thought I'd be able to make something so professional looking in just one day! There is also a really comprehensive hand-out to take home. Lunch was the icing on the cake (there was actual cake with icing too!), way above and beyond anything I've had at any craft course before.
I had the best day with Amanda and now proudly display my little tray, my door hanging and my coaster for all to see. I learnt a huge amount from Amanda and really enjoyed trying out the new skills she taught me. The two other ladies on the course were fantastic and the ice breaker coffee before we started, together with the delicious lunch, put us all very much at ease with each other. Amanda was a brilliant teacher. I had no idea at all what to expect and was thrilled to bits with the items I collected from the kiln a few days later. Highly recommend the day!
This course was fantastic! I learnt so much! Amanda is a great teacher and also a fab chef, the lunch was amazing. The course ran at a good pace allowing you to take time over your glass design and there was a great amount of variety and choice of coloured glass to use. When I collected my fused glass I was so thrilled with it and have been making good use of the cheese board! I am now addicted to glass!!!
