Fold, Tell, Create | Spring Workshop
Ages 11+ | 7 April 2026 | 10.30 - 15.00
Description
Concertina Sketchbooks Making Inspired by David Shillinglaw Tutor: Emma J Findley Time: 10.30 – 3.00 Dates: Tuesday, 7 April 2026 Location: Messums Studios, Unit 1, Chilmark, SP3 5DU Recommended Age: 11+ Course Fee: Pay What You Can | £25, £35, £45, £55, £70 This workshop invites young creatives to dive into storytelling as something you can build, stretch, and unfold—not just as a beginning–middle–end, but as a feeling, a rhythm, and a transformation over time. Working with a hand-folded concertina sketchbook, participants will create a piece that reveals itself panel by panel, where each fold holds a moment, a shift, or a surprise. The format encourages thinking in sequences—what changes, what repeats, what connects—as their ideas move across the page. Taking inspiration from the bold, symbolic, and playful visual language of David Shillinglaw, the workshop introduces ways of combining: - words and images. - simple symbols and characters. - fragments of thoughts, colour, and pattern. Participants are encouraged to experiment with how meaning is built—not just through drawing, but through placement, repetition, and contrast. Rather than aiming for a polished final piece, the focus is on an open, exploratory process. Along the way, they will: - Notice small details that suggest a story (a shape, a colour shift, a symbol) - Play with materials intuitively—layering, adding, changing direction - Allow ideas to evolve naturally, letting the unfolding format guide what comes next. The concertina becomes a space where stories don’t have to be planned in advance, but can grow, loop, and transform as they are made. Building on the success of our previous financially supported workshops and our February pilot we are offering once again ‘Pay what you can’ scheme for our Easter workshops. Access to our creative classes for children and youth is very important to us. This is why we have introduced a sliding scale payment in which you can pay any amount from £10 plus. The production cost of the course per child is £60 based on ten attending. When booking please select the amount you are able to pay this time. Thank you Please Bring: Packed lunch and a water bottle
Cancellations Policy
Messums Studios is the educational community-facing branch of Messums.org. As such, the studio operates on a not-for-profit basis, and by booking one of our courses you support the wide work we do. All proceeds from the studio go directly back into the running of the studio. We exist for our creative community. Cancellations, refunds, and the rescheduling of your booked activity add pressure on the administration of the studio. Please check the course information and your availability before booking a course. Thank you. OUR CANCELLATION AND REFUND POLICY: Our regular classes and short courses run according to a schedule. Please check your availability prior to booking your course. Individual sessions missed during your regular term-time course are non-refundable and non-transferable to another person or date. We understand that sometimes cancellation of a full regular class or short course by a student is un-avoidable. In the case you can either request a refund or for your course fee to be held as credit and applied to another course with Messums Studios (admin fee of £25 will apply, Messums Studios reserves the right to withhold this option). A full refund for regular classes or short courses can be requested if cancelling no less than three weeks before the start. A cancellation fee of £25 will be deducted from the full refund. If cancelling less than three weeks prior to the start of the regular class or short course a partial refund of 50% of the course fee can be requested, less cancellation fee of £25. Any bookings cancelled within three working days prior to the start of the course will not be eligible for a refund. Messums Studio reserves the right to resell any vacant sessions. In the case of a tutors absence the class will run with a supply tutor or will be rescheduled around the studio programming.