Advanced Oils and Cold Wax with Paula Dunn (3 day course)

This three-day workshop (starting 21 August and concluding on 23 August 2026) is the perfect follow-on from Atmospheric Landscapes. You’ll build on your existing knowledge of oils and cold wax, developing rich, layered paintings with greater depth, movement, and texture.

Under Paula’s guidance, you’ll explore advanced techniques for building complex base layers, refining colour harmonies, and strengthening compositional structure — key skills for scaling up your work and developing your own visual language. Over three days, you’ll work intuitively across a series of paintings, allowing each piece to evolve naturally. The workshop combines demonstrations, technical insight, and plenty of one-to-one support.

What You’ll Learn

· Build depth and movement using texture tools and reduction techniques

· Carve out form and create “quiet spaces” for balance and emotion

· Use colour to convey mood, atmosphere, and dimension

· Work with pigments, marble dust, and loose powders for tactile effects

· Master blending and layering with brushes, squeegees, and palette knives

· Experiment with solvent pours, glazes, and reduction methods

· Explore masking and transfer techniques

· Solve compositional challenges through colour, value, contrast, and shape

· Learn how to mount and finish your paintings for professional presentation

· Create a cohesive series of small works that function beautifully both individually and together

Is This Workshop for Me?

This workshop is ideal for participants who have attended Atmospheric Landscapes or have some experience with oils and cold wax. If unsure, please get in touch for advice.

Paula Dunn is a Yorkshire-based landscape painter whose work is inspired by walking the land and the shifting effects of climate and weather. Working predominantly in oils and cold wax, she creates landscapes that hover between representation and abstraction, using texture, colour, and expressive mark-making to evoke mood and atmosphere.

Her paintings are held in private collections worldwide and feature in the award-winning anthology Waymaking. Paula shares her expertise through workshops, mentoring, and, in 2025, the publication of her debut book Atmospheric Landscapes: Using Oils and Cold Wax (Crowood Press), a practical guide to creating textured, atmospheric landscapes through intuitive, layered painting techniques.

All materials and tools are included in the price of the workshop. Please bring an apron or old shirt that you don’t mind getting paint on.

Please note: Some materials used during the workshop, including the paper, are not vegan and cannot be substituted.

Workshops are held at The Craft House in Bingley, West Yorkshire, where Paula also has her studio. Bingley is easy to reach by road, train, or plane, and participants often travel from across the UK and internationally — including Canada, Ireland, Europe, and the United States — to attend.

There’s plenty to explore nearby if you want to make a weekend of it, including:

· The World Heritage Site of Saltaire, home to original David Hockneys

· The historic village of Haworth, famous for the Brontës

· The Yorkshire Dales, including Malham Cove and the Three Peaks

Occasionally, a workshop may not receive enough bookings to run. In such cases, we will notify you at least 14 days before the scheduled start date. You will have the option to:

a) receive a full refund, or
b) transfer your booking to a rescheduled date or alternative workshop with your agreement.

This 3-day course is not run frequently and demand for places is high, so If you book a place on this course but then want to cancel it, we need at least 30 days' notice in order to process a refund to you. This gives us a reasonable chance to fill your cancelled place.

Please note: Workshops may be cancelled or rescheduled by us with less than 14 days’ notice in exceptional circumstances beyond our control, such as artist illness and unforeseen events at the venue which mean it is not possible to run the session (eg: power failures / extreme weather conditions).

As many participants travel from across the UK and internationally, The Craft House cannot be held responsible for travel or accommodation costs in the event of a cancellation or reschedule. We recommend considering travel insurance to cover any associated expenses.

Event venue & nearby stays

The Craft House, 109-111 Main Street, Bradford, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.

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