We have an exciting programme of visual arts courses and workshops at Brewery Arts, with sessions for both adults and young people of all abilities. Led by professional, practising artists, you’re in safe hands. Together, our tutors bring a rich mix of experience, creativity, and care into learning spaces that feel welcoming and inspiring for all. Get to know a few familiar faces and some new tutors through our Q&As, where we discuss inspiration, creative journeys, teaching highlights and ideas for the future.
Emily Davies
Emily is a former Brewery Youth Dance member and has been delivering sessions at Brewery Arts, as well as in other settings, since gaining her Dance degree in 2016. She enjoys sharing her love of dance with those she teaches. Emily’s movement style is grounded in contemporary technique, creative dance, and meaningful connection with people.
Q&A
What do you love about teaching?
I love sharing my passion and being able to connect with others through Dance. It is also really great to see the development of participants as they build their skills in Dance, knowing that I’ve had some input or helped facilitate that progression is a privilege.
Tell us about the classes you teach at Brewery Arts and what does it mean to you to work here?
I facilitate our core Dance classes, Brewery Youth Dance, Stage Stars and Mature Movers, with brilliant Freelance Dance Artists delivering Mini Movers and Get Moving.
Working at Brewery Arts means a lot to me, as an alumni of Brewery Youth Dance and Brewery Youth Theatre, the Brewery has always felt like a creative home. It is one of the places that helped inspire me to pursue a career in the arts, and so it is very fulfilling to have come full circle, and be sharing my expertise with the current participants.
What inspires your work?
I am inspired by people, relationships, the human experience, what makes us who we are. Connecting through Dance can be incredibly powerful and empowering. I like to make work about real experiences that others can connect and relate to.
What 3 words best describe your classes/workshop?
Upbeat, Fun and Expressive.
Can you share any impactful teaching highlights while at Brewery Arts?
There are so many highlights from my time at Brewery Arts, it is hard to pin point super specific examples. When individual participants have personal wins it can be very impactful, this can be anything from mastering a move that was challenging them, to performing on stage for the first time, sometimes it’s just witnessing them positively engage with class here, when you’re aware they’re struggling elsewhere e.g. school.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your classes?
Dance has so many benefits, physical and mental, and I’m really aware of this in my sessions. I like that I can provide opportunities for people to feel different when they leave the studio to when they arrived. It could be a sense of achievement at learning a new skill, feeling capable in their body after undertaking an exercise, or even managing to let go of whatever is going on mentally whilst they focus on moving, and feeling uplifted as a result.
Dance with Emily
Emily delivers Brewery Youth Dance classes alongside Get Moving sessions for all ages, and Mature Movers aimed at over 60’s, sharing her love of dance with young people and adults through inclusive, energising workshops rooted in connection and creativity.
Youth Classes
Our youth classes are open for sign-ups throughout the term. Please contact our box office to book 01539 725133.
Stage Stars 4-6 yrs | Thursdays (weekly until 26 Mar) | 4-4.45pm
Brewery Youth Dance 7-11 yrs | Thursdays (weekly until 26 Mar)| 5-6pm
Brewery Youth Dance 11-14 yrs | Tuesdays (weekly until 24 Mar) | 4.15-5.15pm
Brewery Youth Dance 15+ yrs | Tuesdays (weekly until 24 Mar) | 6-7.30pm
Adult Classes
Mature Movers | Tuesdays (weekly until 24 Mar) | 11.30am-12.30pm (Open for sign-ups throughout the term)
Get Moving | Wednesdays (weekly until 25 Mar) | 6.45-7.45pm | Pay-As-You-Go
Catherine MacDiarmid
Catherine has over 30 years’ experience teaching a wide range of art classes, bringing her knowledge as a practising artist into her role as a tutor. She exhibits widely, works on private portrait commissions, and her work is held in collections in the UK and internationally. Catherine is based in Kendal, where she works from her home studio.
Q&A
What do you love about teaching?
Over the years, I’ve met so many wonderful people through teaching—professionals from all walks of life—and made lasting friendships along the way. This creates such an exciting and dynamic atmosphere in the classroom. I love that everyone comes to class at a different stage in life, ready to reconnect with their creative side. Each group is unique and full of surprises, which makes every new course an adventure.
How long have you been tutor at Brewery Arts and what does it mean to you to work here?
I first started teaching at Brewery Arts in September 1995. It was the then Arts Curator who asked me to take on a class—I was only 23 and absolutely terrified! I still remember that first day clearly; some of the learners looked at me with surprise, though maybe that was just my own nerves and disbelief.
Brewery Arts has always been an important part of my life, and I feel incredibly proud to still be teaching here after all these years. I’ve seen a lot of change and met so many inspiring people along the way. It was also the venue for my first solo exhibition in 1998, and since then I’ve had three solo shows, two joint exhibitions, and taken part in many group ones. Winning the very first Brewery Open in 2002 was another unforgettable highlight.
What inspires your work?
My work is inspired by colour, family, friends, neurodiversity, and movement. I’m fascinated by how these elements connect—how emotions, relationships, and the energy of everyday life can be expressed through colour and form. These inspirations continually influence how I see the world and how I translate it onto paper or canvas.
What 3 words best describe your classes/workshop?
Social. Boundary-breaking. Engaging.
Can you share any impactful teaching highlights while at Brewery Arts?
Seeing learners grow in confidence and step outside their comfort zones always leaves an impression on me. I like to teach by breaking down the creative process into manageable steps, and it’s so rewarding when everything clicks for someone. Those “lightbulb moments” are magic.
There have been so many special moments over the years, but one that stands out is from my Drawing for the Terrified group. By week six, they were working at easels and experimenting with a new drawing techniques—and the results were incredible! You could see their pride and amazement in what they’d achieved. That kind of transformation is why I love teaching.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your classes?
Yes—no one should ever be afraid of making art. People sometimes say that creativity has to “be in you,” but I completely disagree. Art is a skill you can learn, just like reading, writing, or maths. Some people might pick it up faster, but everyone can learn it.
I’m dyslexic, yet I still learned to read and write—and I believe anyone can learn to draw or paint. I’ve seen learners start as complete beginners and go on to create portraits or life drawings. Once you understand the basic skills, you can build and adapt them to create whatever you want. So, to anyone hesitating—I’d say: just do it!
Paint with Catherine
Looking for a thoughtful introduction to painting? Explore watercolour, oils and acrylics while building skills and confidence through guided practice.
Painting Figures in Watercolour | Sat 7 February
Portrait in Oils | 28 February
Introduction to Acrylics | Wed | 25 February to 25 March (5 weeks)
Sophie Martin
Sophie is a local artist, illustrator and educator specialising in lively pen and watercolour illustrations, often drawn on location. Alongside her freelance practice, Sophie enjoys experimenting with different media and sharing new techniques through inclusive, creative workshops.
Q&A
What do you love about teaching?
I love to share my passion for art with my students and inspire them to see where their ideas take them.
How long have you been tutor at Brewery Arts and what does it mean to you to work here?
I have been a tutor at Brewery Arts for 8 years now and have enjoyed teaching a wide range of classes from youth arts to adults. I love being a part of the creative community at the Brewery which is such an important arts venue for Kendal and I especially enjoy being a part of the youth arts team helping to inspire our next generation of young creatives.
What inspires your work?
I am inspired by the world around me and love most to draw on location when possible whether it be in new and exotic places or familiar and close to home. Sitting and drawing in a place allows you to capture a particular moment in time through your unique vision and the practice of observational drawing is a transferable skill in to all areas of art. I often work on illustrations in the studio nowadays but always make sure I am keeping up with my observational drawing regularly as well and I encourage my students to do this too no matter which particular artistic media they are most in to.
What 3 words best describe your classes/workshop?
Creative, fun, relaxed.
Can you share any impactful teaching highlights while at Brewery Arts?
I love it when a student takes an idea in a completely new and unexpected direction, it’s inspiring to see budding creativity in action!
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your classes?
I hope that my students enjoy my classes at the Brewery as much as I enjoy delivering them!
Create with Sophie
Art Explorers, for the home education community, and Artseen Tuesday are relaxed, sociable classes that build creativity and confidence through mixed-media making. Participants explore drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, clay and animation in a supportive studio environment, inspired by a wide range of artists and makers.
Art Explorers (Home Ed 10+) | Tuesdays (weekly until 24 Mar) | 1-2.30pm | Pay-As-You-Go
Artseen Tuesday 7-16 yrs | Tuesdays (weekly until 24 Mar) | 4-5.30pm (Open for sign-ups throughout the term.)
Amy Williams
Amy is a professional artist and experienced facilitator, known for her large-scale paper installations and giant parade puppets. Keep an eye out for further sculpting workshops in the future.
Q&A
What do you love about teaching?
Bringing people together, meeting new people and building relationships with the students over time. I also love seeing people’s individual creative expression and sense of achievement.
How long have you been a tutor at Brewery Arts and what does it mean to you to work here?
About 15 years on and off. First started off teaching adults then moved into teaching youth arts. I love working at the Brewery as it makes me feel connected to the community.
What inspires your work?
A lot of different things, it always seems to be involving. The natural world, animals and plants have always inspired me. I am also interested in collecting stories and telling them through my work.
What 3 words best describe your classes/workshop?
Creative, fun and sociable (that’s the hope).
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your classes?
I did an early year’s collaborative workshop with a dance and music facilitator mixing all of the art forms. It was really exciting creatively and the children and parents really engaged with it.
What courses would you like to offer in the future?
Large scale builds and giant puppetry.
Liam Collins
Liam Collins is a local photographer. In particular, he has an interest in landscape, street and experimental photography.
Q&A
What do you love about teaching?
The thing that I love about teaching is that it is a two way street, I bring experience and knowledge, but questions that students pose and their relative inexperience can be rich in possibilities and creativity. If you don’t know the rules of a particular artist medium, you don’t know you have to adhere to them. It’s my job to try and channel and guide those creative energies in a mutually agree direction. I am always amazed at how creative people are, even those who swear they aren’t and think they have little to give, have it, we all have creativity in different ways.
How long have you been a tutor at Brewery Arts and what does it mean to you to work here?
I have been a tutor at the Brewery for about three years or so, maybe a little longer. It is the best job I have ever had, it means more to me than I can say. To work with people interested in photography and filmmaking is beyond a privilege.
What inspires your work?
Being in the world. Everything inspires, the things you love, the things you hate, the people in your life, your upbringing, your culture, other cultures, art is not created in a vacuum. Even things you think don’t inspire you do, they all go in and come out in different ways. Other photographers and filmmakers are inspiring, I am always looking and learning and trying to steal ideas to repurpose in a slightly different way. I believe strongly in iterations, in my own practice and also in the wider art world. I am just doing my version of Martin Parr who was doing his version of Tony Ray Jones who was inspired by Robert Frank, who was inspired by Walker Evans etc etc. There is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your classes?
Brewery Film Crew, is an exciting course for young people, whether they are interested in acting or lighting or sound or cameras or just like managing people, there is a role for everyone in front and behind the camera. Dark Room Sessions are a laid back environment for anyone to come and develop film and create prints, we have members aged from 18 – 70+ and people of all different experience levels and from all different walks of life. Everyone is very supportive of each others work and I am always on hand to provide support and troubleshoot technical issues.
What courses would you like to offer in the future?
I would like to offer a beginners photography course, which we did a version of last year. I would like to do a creative course with other tutors for young people thinking of studying an arts course at college or university.
Explore film and Photography with Liam
Join Liam with a Darkroom membership allowing experienced and professional photographers the opportunity to work in a safe, relaxed, and creative Darkroom environment.
Whether you’re in front of or behind the camera, join Brewery Film Crew to learn filmmaking skills and create your own short films from idea to screen. Filmmaking is for everyone—no experience needed, just a willingness to collaborate and make something brilliant together.
Darkroom Members Access | Thursdays (bi-weekly) | 6.30-9.30pm
Brewery Youth Film Crew 11+ yrs| Wednesdays (weekly until 24 Mar) | 4.30-6pm (Open for sign-ups throughout the term)
New Tutors This Spring
Introducing Danny Clahane
Danny is a stone sculptor whose practice began while studying at Canterbury College of Art, where he developed a deep interest in carving. Now based at his studio in Witherslack, Cumbria, Danny creates stone-based work for exhibitions, public art projects and private commissions, with pieces installed across the UK and throughout the local area.
New This Term: Stone Carving Course & Slate Carving Workshop.
These new additions to our programme are rooted in traditional techniques and sculptural thinking, inviting a slow, considered approach to working with natural materials. Keep an eye out for further carving workshops in the future.
Q&A
Can you tell us about the Creative Learning classes you are teaching?
The initial workshop is relief carving in slate and the longer course is more a three-dimensional object in stone. So, a more sustained and faster to evolve formula, and a more finished sculpture.
Relief carving is essentially taking a slab or a plane of material, transposing a drawing onto it and then releasing the drawing from the background. Essentially, if you keep going with a relief, you make a three-dimensional object. It’s a hybrid probably between drawing and print making. It’s fairly hard, but what we do is we use very light dummy mallets, which are about a pound weight and a carving chisel. So, it’s not really heavy. It’s just more sustained effort.
Do you have templates that people can use?
For the shorter course, we have some set images we can transpose straight on to the slate and then cut in. The initial steps are getting a sense of how the material works. On the B side you can just start making random marks, just to get a feel for it, how it cuts, how it responds to tooling. And then with the other side, we can use a drawing and just go for it. No preciousness, because if you think too much, you may undo yourself, best to just do it.
Do people need really specialist equipment to be able to do it?
It’s one of those trades, businesses, arts where you can have as much or as little as you need. You can get away with one chisel and a hammer or a mallet. Then if you want to make bigger scale work, more specialists, then you need lifting equipment, you can use pneumatics, cutting tools, robots, if you like the whole gamut. It can be from mediaeval or primeval to space age.
How did you get into Stone Sculpture?
I went to Art College. So, I’ve been working in stone for years now. It’s an ongoing process. You’re always learning. When I was at college, it wasn’t the most favoured art form. Back then, steel would be the fashion, it’s more a temperamental thing. You get drawn to stones and material. And now it’s slightly in a revival phase.
It’s never really gone because of restoration. It’s always been the material of monuments. Then it’s readily accessible, highly durable and very beautiful. It’s like a tactile form.
Do you go out looking for a specific stone?
Yeah, I mean, it’s obviously a lot to do with geology and where you are in the country or in the world. So, for example, the Lake District, you tend to think more slate. Which is very beautiful to carve, but lends itself more to the roof cutter. If you move down further to maybe Portland, so Dorset, then it’s more softer limestones, more three dimensional carving. There’s a whole gamut in between as well, granite, sandstones, a whole world of stone.
Do you visit your past commissioned/installed sculptures?
I go and sit, well there’s one here [top of the stairs at Brewery Arts] that I haven’t looked at for a while, but it’s been out in all kinds of weather for a decade now. That’s the thing, you see things and then they just exist. So work that ends up in spaces like that, on buildings, as part of developments, that kind of thing. That’s the primary thing I do, really.
Can anyone do your course?
Yes. And it’s the same principle as any art form, like drawing, everyone’s got their own notions and ideas that they can bring to the material. One of the main differences is that it maybe takes a little longer. It’s not immediate, but it’s a more considered form. It rewards sustained effort. It’s been there forever. It’s often said, it’s not what you do to the stone, it’s what the stone does to you. So, it’s like a contemplation, meditation.
Who inspires your work?
I like ancient work. Quite often, you don’t know who they were, cathedral masons, classical sculpture. It’s a modern notion to have artists add their name. Aztec sculpture, stone age work, nobody knows who made it. There are contemporary women like, Emily Young now.. Who’s the foremost direct carver in stone in the world.
Introducing Helen Clues
Helen is a mosaic artist based in West Cumbria, working with found, collected and traditional materials to create decorative and functional pieces. With over 20 years’ experience running workshops, Helen is passionate about materials, process, and encouraging others to explore their own creative potential.
New This Term: Mosaic Art Workshop
We’re delighted to welcome mosaic artist Helen Clues this term with a hands-on mosaic workshop. Using ceramics, glass and found materials, participants create a finished mosaic piece for indoor display in a supportive studio setting. Keep an eye out for further mosaic courses and workshops in the future.
Q&A
What do you love about teaching?
I love sharing the inspiring and accessible craft of mosaic with everyone. Encouraging creativity in others is so rewarding. Providing the materials, knowledge and environment for them to explore their own ideas, gaining skills, confidence and having fun along the way.
How long have you been tutor at Brewery Arts and what does it mean to you to work here?
This is my first workshop at Brewery Arts, I’m really excited about offering a workshop to a new audience and being part of the 2026 programme.
What inspires your work?
The materials are often a starting point, I often use recycled crockery and china, as well as the more traditional mosaic materials. I like the idea of reusing something that is unwanted or that is damaged but holds special memories, making it into something beautiful so it can continue to be enjoyed.
What 3 words best describe your classes/workshop?
Creative, encouraging, inclusive.
Can you share any impactful teaching highlights?
I have been teaching and making mosaics for 20 years, I have always loved the teaching side of my practice and am always inspired by my student’s projects. It’s so satisfying to see confidence grow and people become absorbed in a creative task.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your classes?
I provide everything you need for the workshop, it’s a very accessible and flexible medium suitable for all ages and abilities, projects can be tailored to suit the needs of the participants.
Beyond the Studio
Our tutors love being part of the wider Brewery Arts community and often make the most of what’s on offer beyond the studio — from live music and events to the independent cinema, bar and restaurant. Amy Williams recently enjoyed seeing Holly McNish perform, while Catherine MacDiarmid, like many of us, describes herself as “a bit of an introvert at heart,” but says that when in Kendal, “the Brewery is definitely the place to be.” It’s the familiar faces that make a difference too. We’re proud of our friendly staff and volunteers — something Emily Davies really values: “I like attending events at Brewery Arts, as the building and staff are very familiar to me, so it is always a very relaxed and enjoyable experience.” As a Kendalian, Sophie Martin also enjoys visiting with her family, taking trips to the cinema and sharing pizzas in the restaurant, making the most of the venue’s welcoming, family-friendly atmosphere. Liam Collins sums perfectly: “the Brewery has so much to offer under one roof!”
Whether you’re joining a class, coming to an event, or simply spending time in the building, we hope you’ll feel as welcome and inspired as our tutors do.
Discover our full programme of professional artists and tutors and the creative opportunities waiting for you here.
