From Sketchbook to Canvas with Marcelina Amelia

This three-session course is designed for anyone who feels creatively blocked, curious, or simply ready to begin. No previous experience required.

In the first session, students will create their own simple hand-bound sketchbook and learn to use it as a pressure-free space for experimentation, reflection, and creative discovery. Through gentle prompts and material exploration, participants will reconnect with curiosity and rediscover the freedom of making without judgment. The sketchbook becomes a space where thoughts, images, and memories can unfold at their own pace, a personal archive as well as a working tool.

The course also introduces simple reflective and intention-setting practices that support clarity and creative momentum. Research in behavioural psychology suggests that writing down goals increases commitment and follow-through, while visualising ideas activates neural pathways similar to physical action. By combining making with reflection, participants learn how documenting their ideas can help transform uncertainty into direction.

In the second and third sessions, students will translate their sketchbook explorations into a work on canvas. Using mixed-media techniques, including drawing, painting. They will expand their visual language and move from small sketches to confident compositions. Emphasis is placed on process over perfection, encouraging risk-taking, self-trust, and personal expression.

This course welcomes complete beginners as well as those returning to creativity after a break. It offers a supportive, inspiring environment where participants can reconnect with their imagination, build confidence, and develop a creative practice that continues beyond the sessions.

Materials

Most materials, including canvases, are provided. Students are welcome to bring their own paint brushes if they have them. Marcelina will invite everyone to send her photographs from their personal archives that she will print out for them.

Costs: £95

Days: 3 Tuesday evenings

Dates: 9, 16 & 23 June

Times: 18:00 - 21:00

Location: White Room

Maximum: 10

Phoenix Art Space is a registered charity.

When you purchase a ticket for one of our courses, you're directly supporting our work. We work hard to keep our prices as low as possible so our courses remain inclusive.

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Marcelina Amelia is a multidisciplinary artist born in Poland, and based in Brighton. Her practice spans painting, print, textile, photography, installation, video, and performance. Drawing from her Polish heritage, she explores migration, motherhood, mental health, feminism, spirituality, personal rituals, and dreams, and has exhibited internationally. Founder of the art incubator Grupa Łono, member of the Rethinking Eastern Europe Collective, and in 2024 self-published book Mamalia, her work reflects a fascination with memory, both personal and collective, and the transformative power of storytelling.

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