Creative Workshops
To coincide with our Expressions in Blue exhibition, we are running several workshops at Petworth House this summer, with expert tutors on-hand to guide visitors and enable them to explore their creativity. The workshops run between 13 June and 5 July. Places can be booked through the links below or by calling 0344 249 1895.
Expressive Line and Mark Making with Felicity Aylieff
Join Felicity Aylieff, the renowned artist behind our Expressions in Blue exhibition, on her one-day drawing workshop that explores line and mark-making through movement, tools, and creative process. This workshop invites you to approach drawing as a physical and intuitive act - an open-ended exploration of where lines, gestures, and spontaneous marks might lead. By engaging with rhythm, motion, and the natural expression of your hand and tools, you’ll begin to uncover patterns, structures, and meanings within your materials.
Saturday 13 June, 10.15-15.45, £75 per person.
Botanical Drawing for Beginners
Join local tutor Amanda Duke to learn a variety of techniques and build self-confidence in botanical drawing. The day will begin with introductory warm up activities before moving onto sketching and analysing your plant specimen in detail. You will practice and learn traditional techniques with a selection of drawing tools including graphite, sketching pencils, coloured paper and white cartridge paper.
Tuesday 16 June, 10.30-16.30, £65 per person.
Indian Block Printing
This hands-on creative workshop is run by Tess from The Indian Block Print Co, and is suitable for beginner, intermediate and advanced block printers. During this workshop you will be hand printing onto fabric and paper using traditional Indian printing blocks that have been hand carved by artisans in India. The workshop theme will be based around ‘An English Garden’ and you’ll be printing with colours and designs inspired by nature, such as botanicals, wildlife and flora.
Wednesday 24 June, 10.30-13.00 & 14.00-16.30, £45 per person.
Willow Weaving: Swallow
Friendly local tutor Ann Twinam-Cauchi leads this worskshop on how to weave your own swallow sculpture to take home. In a small group outside in the beautiful Petworth Gardens, this is an ideal beginners willow weaving project at a gentle pace with plenty of one-to-one tuition.
Saturday 4 July, 10.30-13.00 & 14.00-16.30, £36 per person.
Beginners Foraging Basket Making
Have a go at a heritage craft in this one day workshop to weave your own rustic foraging basket. This workshop is perfect for beginners and an ideal introduction to weaving with willow. Your simply made basket would be useful gathering produce, flowers from a garden or gathering from an allotment or on a walk.
Sunday 5 July, 10.30-16.30, £62 per person.
You might also be interested in
Expressions in Blue: Monumental Porcelain by Felicity Aylieff
Expressions in Blue invites visitors to see Petworth through the lens of these monumental works in porcelain. The exhibition will be on show at Petworth House and Park from 23 May to 27 September 2026. Entry is free after normal admission to the house (free for National Trust members).
The collections at Petworth House and Park
From famous pieces of art and sculpture to decorative arts and furniture, explore some of the most important collections in the National Trust.
Things to know before you visit
From the medieval interiors of the chapel to the rooms of the historic kitchens, find out what you can see on a visit to the house at Petworth.
