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Ruth Wheeler

Create and Chat nights

Create and Chat nights

£40.00 GBP
£40.00 GBP
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Create & Chat: Your Monthly Friday Art Social 🎨✨

When: The last Friday of every month | Time: 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Where: In our dedicated, inspiring art studio
Price: £40 per session (includes all materials and snacks)
Hosts: Ruth Wheeler & Kristina Bodmin-Smith (Multi-Media Artists)

About the Event

Kick off your weekend with creativity, connection, and conversation. Create & Chat is our monthly social evening designed for anyone looking to explore their artistic side in a relaxed, low-pressure environment. Whether you are a seasoned creator or haven't picked up a paintbrush since school, this night is for you.
Each month, we open up our dedicated studio space to help you explore different art and craft avenues. It is the perfect opportunity to unplug, experiment with new mediums, and be social with a welcoming community of like-minded people.

What’s Included?

  • Expert Guidance: Highly experienced multi-media artists Ruth Wheeler and Kristina Bodmin-Smith  and other guest artists will be on hand all evening. They are there to guide, support, and inspire you—whether you want step-by-step help or just a bit of creative feedback.
  • All Materials Provided: From paints and canvases to mixed-media craft supplies, everything you need to create is fully covered.
  • Snacks & Socialising: We provide a delicious selection of snacks to keep your creative energy flowing while you chat and connect.
  • BYOB (Bring Your Own Drinks): We invite you to bring along your favourite wine, beer, or alcohol-free drinks to enjoy throughout the evening.
Come for the art, stay for the community. Spaces are limited to ensure a cozy, supportive studio environment, so book your spot today and make your last Friday of the month something to look forward to!
 How Create & Chat Works
Create & Chat is designed to fit entirely around your creative mood and personal goals. There are two distinct ways you can participate each month:
Option A: Bring Your Own Project (BYOP)
Have an unfinished art or craft project, a sketchbook you've been meaning to fill, or a canvas you're working on at home? Bring it along! You get to enjoy our dedicated studio environment, free snacks, and great company while working at your own pace. Plus, multi-media artists Ruth and Kristina are right there if you hit a wall and want an expert second opinion.
Option B: Partake in the Planned Monthly Workshop
If you want to try something completely fresh, dive right into our structured monthly mini-workshop. Every month features a completely different art or craft avenue led by Ruth or Kristina. All specialized tools and materials are fully provided within your £40 ticket entry—you just show up and create.
Meet Your Hosts
Ruth Wheeler is an accomplished wood sculptor, mixed-media artist, and creative tutor with three decades of experience facilitating community art across Surrey. Specialising in unique mediums like woodcarving and pyrography, Ruth's personal work is deeply inspired by the local landscape. She is passionate about helping others unlock their creativity and experience the therapeutic benefits of art. She is the founder of earth studios at Lockwood Studios in Guildford.
Kristina Bodman-Smith, the creative mind behind Kristina's Illustrations, is an accomplished illustrator and fine artist with a Master's degree in Illustration. Her unique work takes viewers on visual journeys through forests, fields, and shorelines, often viewed through a low-fantasy lens that brings a mystical quality to her art. Specialising in mixed media—including watercolour, fine-liner work, and hand-bound artist books—Kristina loves helping participants explore fresh perspectives and discover the joy of visual storytelling.
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Our 12-Month Creative Calendar
Here is a look at what we have planned for the year. Each workshop is beginner-friendly but offers plenty of depth if you are looking to refine your skills.
Classic Line & Shade — Pencil, Pen, & Ink
Strip things back to basics with classic mark-making. We will explore fine-liners, brush pens, and graphite to master cross-hatching, stippling, and ink washes. It is a fantastic way to sharpen your observational drawing skills in a highly relaxed setting.
Pyrography — Drawing with Fire
Led by wood-sculptor Ruth, you will learn the ancient art of wood-burning. Using specialized pyrography pens, you will practice line work, shading, and texture directly onto natural wood slices, taking home your own beautifully scorched artwork.

Clay Plant Pots & Surface Design
Get hands-on with clay to build or decorate a beautiful, functional plant pot. You can choose to assemble your pot from scratch using traditional hand-building techniques or add stunning decorative elements to a pre-formed base. Once your pot is shaped, we will bring it to life using vibrant acrylic pens, intricate line work, and multi-media overlays to match your personal style or home decor.
Shimmering Copper Repoussé
Explore the satisfying metal-craft technique of pushing and embossing sheet copper from the reverse side to create raised, dimensional designs. Using specialized hand-tool techniques, you can craft beautiful botanicals, geometric repeating patterns, or celestial motifs. Finish your shimmering metallic panel as a luxury custom wall hanging, frame insert, or heavy-weight drink coaster.
Eco-Wooden Baubles & Keepsakes
A beautiful, planet-friendly craft session focused on personalizing sustainable wooden blanks. Perfect as heirloom festive decorations or year-round hanging gift tags, you will learn to compose layered miniature scenes and bold folk patterns on natural grain wood surfaces, utilizing a rich library of multimedia markers and finishes.
 Impressionist Speed Study — Short Oil Painting
Demystify oil paints without the stress. In this fast-paced session, we will focus on wet-on-wet techniques using thick, vibrant brushstrokes. You will learn how to capture light, colour, and movement quickly to create a mini-masterpiece in the style of Monet or Van Gogh if you wish.
Expressive Layers — Acrylic Abstract
Let go of perfectionism and embrace the canvas. Using acrylic paints, palette knives, sponges, and scraping tools, we will focus on colour theory, texture, and emotional expression. It is a messy, therapeutic, and deeply satisfying session.
Atmospheric Skies — Watercolour Landscape
Harness the fluid beauty of watercolours under Kristina's guidance. You will learn essential wash techniques, color blending, and how to use wet-on-wet applications to paint stunning, atmospheric horizons, misty hills, and shifting clouds.
The Human Form — Life Drawing Social
A relaxed approach to a classic studio tradition. Working from a live model, we will cycle through rapid gesture sketches and longer, sustained poses. It is a supportive, body-positive environment designed to help you capture form and energy rather than photographic realism.
 Sacred Forms — Clay Goddesses & Mini Sculptures
Get your hands dirty with clay. You will learn foundational hand-building methods like pinching, coiling, and slab construction to sculpt a miniature form—whether that is a traditional fertility goddess figurine, a spirit animal, or an abstract desk sculpture.
The Coptic Stitch — Book Binding Taster
Discover the gorgeous craft of book arts. We will teach you how to fold signatures, pierce paper paths, and use a traditional exposed needle stitch to bind your very own mini notebook from scratch—complete with a decorative, heavy-weight cover.
The Art of the Zine
Tap into the rebellious world of self-published "zines" (mini-magazines). Using a single sheet of paper, clever folding techniques, collage, stamps, and typewriters, you will script and design a tiny, multi-page booklet about any topic that inspires you.
Ancient Amulets — Soapstone Carved Pendant
Soapstone is wonderfully soft and incredibly rewarding to work with. Using basic hand files, chisels, and sandpaper, you will shape, carve, and polish a smooth, tactile pendant or small talisman that feels beautiful to hold.
Texturing Metal — Copper Repoussé
Explore the traditional metalworking technique of pushing and embossing sheet metal from the reverse side. Using hand tools, you will press intricate, raised relief designs into malleable copper sheets, creating a shimmering, metallic wall hanging or coaster.
Festive Foliage — Swedish Willow Stars & Gilded Baubles
Our double-bill Christmas social! First, you will weave rustic, minimalist Scandinavian stars using pliable willow rods. Then, we will switch over to luxury gold-leafing to gild bespoke, hand-painted Christmas baubles, leaving you with gorgeous, handmade festive decor.

❄️ Festive Winter Specials: Scandinavian Nights

To wrap up the year, Create & Chat turns into a cozy Nordic studio. Celebrate the magic of a Scandinavian winter with festive crafts, traditional folklore, and seasonal cheer.
(Please note: Our December session moves to Friday 11th December to align with traditional celebrations!)

Special Date: Friday 11th December — Santa Lucia & Winter Head Dresses

Step into a glowing studio to celebrate the traditional Nordic festival of Santa Lucia. We will spend the evening crafting stunning, festive winter head dresses using seasonal evergreens, berries, and wire frames. The studio will be candlelit, and we will serve traditional Swedish saffron buns (lussekatter) and warm spiced drinks to mark this beautiful festival of light.

Folklore & Craft — Swedish Tomten & Dala Horses

Discover the charming world of Nordic folklore. In this session, you can sculpt or paint your own Tomte (the mythical, bearded Scandinavian winter gnome) or decorate a traditional wooden Dala Horse. Using rich folk-art patterns, acrylics, and mixed media, you will create a timeless piece of festive decor rooted in Swedish heritage.

Eco-Festive — Natural Wreath Making

Ditch the plastic and craft a luxurious, traditional door wreath from scratch. Using a rustic moss or willow base, you will weave together freshly foraged winter foliage, dried citrus slices, cinnamon sticks, seed heads, and pinecones. It is a wonderfully fragrant, tactile workshop that celebrates the wild beauty of nature.

Updated 12-Month Creative Calendar

Here is how our complete year looks, seamlessly blending your core creative workshops with our new seasonal winter highlights:
  • SEPTEMBER
  • Classic Line & Shade — Pencil, Pen, & Ink
  • OCTOBER - Pyrography — Drawing with Fire (with Ruth Wheeler)
  • NOVEMBER -  Christmas Natural Wreath Making 
  • NOVEMBER - Eco-Festive Foliage 
  • NOVEMBER -  Eco Wooden Baubles and Christmas tree decorations.( pyrography, pens, inks and gilding )
  •  DECEMBER - (Special Date: Fri 11th Dec): Scandinavian Nights — Santa Lucia Head Dresses, Tomten, & Dala Horses
  • DECEMBER - Copper Repousse Christmas decorations
  • DECEMBER - Christmas Natural Wreath Making — Eco-Festive Foliage
  • JANUARY: The Human Form — Life Drawing 
  • FEBUARY - Sacred Forms — Clay Goddesses & Mini Sculptures
  • MARCH: Expressive Layers — Acrylic Abstract
  • APRIL Month 9: Desktop Publishing — The Art of the Zine
  • MAY : The Coptic Stitch — Book Binding Taster (Mini Notebook)
  • JUNE :Atmospheric Skies — Watercolour Landscape
  • JUNE - Ancient Amulets - stone pendants - soap stone carving
  • JULY Impressionist Speed Study — Short Oil Painting
  • AUG  - Clay Pots - ceramic plant pot

 

🎄 Create & Chat Festive Winter Series: Scandinavian Nights

This winter, Create & Chat transforms into a cozy, candlelit Nordic sanctuary. Step out of the cold and into a festive studio filled with the scent of pine, warm seasonal spices, and the magic of Swedish folklore.
We have designed four unique festive events to help you craft your own handmade winter treasures. As always, you can choose to dive into the planned festive project or bring your own ongoing crafts to work on in festive company!

The Festive Lineup

🕯️ Event 1: The Santa Lucia Festival & Nordic Head Dresses

  • Special Date: Friday 11th December | 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
  • Celebrate the beautiful Swedish festival of light. We will spend the evening hand-crafting stunning winter head dresses using seasonal evergreens, berries, and wire frames. The studio will be beautifully candlelit, and we will be serving traditional Swedish saffron buns (lussekatter) and warm spiced drinks to mark the occasion.

🪵 Event 2: Folklore Crafting — Dala Horses & Tomten Gonks

  • When: Last Friday of November | 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
  • Delve into the charming world of Nordic mythology. You can choose to paint a traditional wooden Dala Horse with intricate folk-art patterns or craft your own Tomten (the beloved, bearded Swedish winter gnomes/gonks). Using a mix of clay, textiles, and acrylic paints, you will create a timeless piece of festive folklore decor.

🌿 Event 3: Natural Wreath Workshop — Session A

  • When: Mid-November Weekend Special (Date TBC) | 2-Hour Session
  • Ditch the plastic and craft a luxurious, traditional door wreath from scratch. Using a rustic moss or willow base, you will weave together freshly foraged winter foliage, dried citrus slices, cinnamon sticks, seed heads, and pinecones. A wonderfully fragrant, tactile workshop that celebrates the wild beauty of nature. [1]

🎀 Event 4: Natural Wreath Workshop — Session B

  • When: Early December Weekend Special (Date TBC) | 2-Hour Session
  • Due to high demand, we are running a second dedicated wreath-making session. Gather your friends, bring your favourite holiday tipple, and design a bespoke, eco-friendly natural wreath that will stay beautiful and fresh all the way through the Christmas season. [2]

What’s Included in Your Ticket (£40 per session):

  • Expert Mentorship: Full guidance from professional multi-media artists Ruth Wheeler and Kristina Bodman-Smith.
  • Premium Materials: All natural winter foliage, moss bases, ribbons, wood blanks, paints, and specialized crafting tools.
  • Festive Grazing: Complimentary seasonal snacks and treats to keep your creative energy flowing.
  • BYOB: You are welcome to bring along your favourite wine, festive fizz, or warm winter drinks.
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