Crafts@Kirkgate: Flower Painting for Beginners
17th January 2026 10:00am (Doors open at 9:30 am)
Kirkgate Centre
Join award-winning artist Celia Burbush for a relaxing and playful workshop designed to introduce you to the joy of painting flowers.Covering some introductory exercises to build up your basic understanding of watercolour painting, how to use colour, and the particularities of various flowers, we will move to a longer painting further into the day, following Celia’s lead. Get ready for fun and relaxation, fuelled by flowers! As with all of Celia’s workshops, the day will be gone in a flash and you’ll be surprised what you can achieve! Step by step all the way, this workshop will suit beginners upwards.
Please bring:
· Pencils
· soft eraser
· sharpener
· board (approximately 50x38cm), if you have one (Celia has plenty of spares)
· portable watercolour set, or handful of tubes – including the following colours: primary red, crimson/pink/magenta shade, blue, yellow, brown, green, ochre, violet/purple shade, or nearest equivalents.
· range of watercolour brushes
Celia will bring spares of items in case and will also bring additional art materials available to purchase at reduced prices. Cash/card accepted. Card payment preferred.
The day, 10am – 3.15pm, will consist of a series of very easy painting demonstrations and exercises ranging from 20 minutes to 1 hr 30 mins in length, using watercolour paints. We will begin by focusing on the colour wheel and how to layer colours on top of one another to make new colours. Studying popular flowers such as daisies, chrysanthemums and roses we’ll practice making subtle shadows and preserving bright highlights using masking fluid. In the second half, we will consider ways to think about how arranging a pattern of colour across an entire painting, before following Celia through a step-by-step process, leading to the completion of a finished flower painting.
Celia’s details
Insta: @celiaburbush & @space2dream
FB: https://www.facebook.com/celiaburbush777
You can ask Celia questions directly: celiaburbush@outlook.com
Originally trained as a painter, Celia works across a broad range of approaches, media and subjectmatter, including portraiture, low-relief sculpture and community art. She became C-Art Cumbrian Artist of the Year in 2017, won her episode in BBC’s inaugural series of ‘Home is Where the Art Is’; and received critical appraisal in Joshua Sofaer’s book ‘Performance, Objects, Participation’ (eds. Mock, R & Paterson, M, 2020, Intellect Live). Most recently, she co-created The Baltic Centre of Contemporary Art’s first remote outdoor art trail and hosted their first online symposium in 2021. She was Director of New Arts North 2009-2015, receiving many funding awards for her art projects, working with the major cultural venues. She continues to work with communities in Cumbria, helping them to further their artistic expression.